Strong second half lifts Titans

The Asheville Cougars scratched and clawed and stayed in the game with the McDowell Titans for the first 16 minutes Tuesday.
But in the second half, the Titans went on a big-cat safari that would have made even Ernest Hemingway proud.
McDowell (9-0 Mountain Athletic 4A/3A Conference, 19-0 overall) outscored Asheville 52-30 after the break, turning a two-point halftime lead into a 77-53 blow out win. The victory moved the Titans within one win of clinching the MAC's overall regular-season championship; they have already won the 4A league title.
The third-ranked Titans (NCPreps.com) shot a withering 68 percent (19-of-28) in the second half, and put the clamps on the Cougars (4-5, 7-10) with their scramble defense.
Post Chavis Hamilton had another in a long line of dominant performances with game-highs of 26 points and nine rebounds. Hamilton shot 8-of-11 from the floor and 10-of-10 from the line.
Guard Brandon Dockery (4 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals) scored 13 and McDowell got at least four points apiece from seven other players.
"We were a little lethargic in the first half," said Titans head coach Lloyd Church. "Our defense just wasn't as active and intense as I want it to be. Second half, we picked it up and I thought we did a much better job of creating some offense with our defense. It's hard to find a lot in the second half to complain about."
Asheville jetted out to a 16-8 advantage after one quarter, and the Titans didn't take the lead for good until the closing moments of the first half.
McDowell led 25-23 at the break.
The game was as close as 32-29 when the Cougars' Austin McGrayne (16 points) hit a 3-pointer with 5:15 to go in the third quarter.
Hamilton answered with a bucket in the paint off an assist by Eli Miller (6 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists) at the 5-minute mark, and the basket touched off a 23-2 run over the next 6:30 that put the Titans firmly in command.
Hamilton scored six during the decisive rally, while Dockery and Randall Conley (5 points, 4 rebounds) tossed in five each, Dakota Arrowood (6 rebounds, 2 assists) chipped in four and Tre' Young (7 points, 5 rebounds, 2 steals) scored three.
By the time Dockery made a steal and layup with 6:30 left in the game, the Titans led 55-31.
Church said it took a team effort to turn the game around.
"It took everybody," said Church. "I thought the guys that came off the bench really helped us. Tre' did another good job of posting up inside. He's really starting to come on offensively and helping Chavis out, and of course, Brandon and E (Miller) did what they always do and got the ball inside."
McDowell shot 56 percent (28-of-50) for the game, while the Cougars hit for 40 percent (19-of-48). The Titans out-rebounded Asheville 38-22 overall and 12-9 offensively.
The Cougars were a solid 9-of-20 from 3-point range, with McGrayne and Zavian Brown (17 points) combining to shoot 7-of-12 from downtown. They were the only two Asheville players in double figures.
McDowell is on the road at A.C. Reynolds tonight (4 p.m. start-jayvee girls). The game was originally set for Friday, but has been bumped up a day because of impending bad weather. The Titans have two games next week to round out the regular-season - at Enka Tuesday and at home against Erwin Wednesday.

Asheville (53) K.J. Walton 0-2 0-0 0, Mike Darity 2-5 1-3 5, Zavian Brown 6-14 2-6 17, Austin McGrayne 6-12 0-1 16, Malcolm Blair 1-4 0-2 2, Deveron Roberts 3-5 0-0 7, Sam Rurdin 0-3 3-4 3, Trey Bowden 0-1 0-0 0, Joe Glatstein 1-2 0-0 3, R.J. Harvin 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 19-48 6-16 53.
McDowell (77) Tyler Hopkins 1-4 2-2 4, Tre' Young 3-8 1-2 7, Chavis Hamilton 8-11 10-10 26, Brandon Dockery 4-7 3-5 13, Eli Miller 3-6 0-2 6, Dakota Arrowood 2-2 0-0 4, Randal Conley 2-5 0-2 5, Zack Brown 2-3 1-1 5, Matt Ledford 0-0 0-0 0, Caleb Harris 1-1 1-1 3, Ryan Lambert 2-3 0-0 4. Totals: 28-50 18-25 77.

Asheville 16 07 08 22 – 53
McDowell 08 17 26 26 – 77

Rebounds: Asheville (22) McDowell (38) Rebound leaders: Asheville (Blair 6) McDowell (Hamilton 9) 3-point goal: Asheville (9-20) McDowell (3-9) Asheville (Darity, Blair 0-1, Brown 3-4, McGrayne 4-8, Roberts 1-1, Rurdin 0-3, Glatstein 1-2) McDowell (Miller 0-2, Dockery 2-4, Conley 1-2, Lambert 0-1) McDowell assist leaders: (Dockery 3) McDowell steals leaders: (Dockery 3) Turnovers: Asheville (23) McDowell (20) Technical foul: Asheville (Brown, bench)