Titans edge North Buncombe

WEAVERVILLE – One championship down, one more to go.
The McDowell Titans edged the North Buncombe Blackhawks 82-76 Wednesday night in a thrilling, pressure-cooker of a game in front of a large and boisterous crowd, and captured the Mountain Athletic 4A/3A Conference's 4A regular-season championship in the process.
The overall league title is still up for grabs, but the third-ranked Titans (NCPreps.com) put themselves in prime position to claim it as well with their cliffhanger of a win over the red-hot Blackhawks.
McDowell (8-0 MAC, 18-0 overall) – off to its best start since the 1991-92 team won its first 28 – got a monster performance from Chavis Hamilton. The senior post scored 28 points on 13-of-16 shooting. He also pulled 14 rebounds to ring up his twelfth double-double of the season and his eighth in the last 10 games.
But it took a total team effort to slip past the 3A Blackhawks (5-3, 11-5), who had won seven straight since losing at McDowell Dec. 18.
Tre' Young (8-of-10 FGs) also recorded a double-double with 18 points and 10 boards, scoring 12 of his points in the fourth quarter. Tyler Hopkins had 12 points, seven rebounds, three assists and two steals, and Randall Conley came off the bench to score 11.
Their performances, and that of Dakota Arrowood (5 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals), were especially important: Senior guards Eli Miller (2 points, 2 assists, 2 steals) and Brandon Dockery (6 points, 6 rebounds, 7 assists, 3 steals, 3 blocks) both fouled out in the fourth quarter.
"They're a heck of a team, on this court especially," said McDowell head coach Lloyd Church. "I thought we showed an amazing amount of courage and heart, and they did, too. Both teams played as hard as they could play. Neither one deserved to lose. Obviously, I'm happy we won, but you won't see many harder-fought games than that. Everybody was going at it as hard as they could."
North Buncombe took advantage of 18 first-half turnovers by the Titans to build a lead that reached as many as seven points in the second quarter. But McDowell fought off foul trouble to get within 35-33 at the break.
McDowell still trailed 39-35 after the Blackhawks' Kevin Bailey made one-of-two free throws with 6:07 left in the third.
That's when the Titans embarked on an epic 14-0 run that put them in control. Hamilton scored on three straight possessions, and then Conley scored on consecutive trips down the floor. Dockery and Hopkins each had a steal and layup, and the Titans led 49-39 with 2:12 left in the third quarter.
It was 53-43 after three, and the tide of the game had turned decisively. North Buncombe shot just 2-for-17 from the field in the period.
"We just couldn't get the freaking thing to go in the basket," said North Buncombe head coach David Rhoney. "That's what I told the kids. I told them I'm not disappointed in you. It just didn't go in. There were so many times when it looked like it should go in and it just didn't, and unfortunately, because it didn't, we couldn't get in our press, and our press kind of gave them some trouble. So it was a double-edged sword."
Despite North Buncombe's shooting woes, the game was just getting started.
The Titans led by as many as 13 in the fourth, but North Buncombe's Sam Rector scored 16 of his team-high 21 in the final stanza to help get his team right back in the game.
Rector's steal and layup cut the deficit to 79-76 with 47 seconds left, and the Titans turned the ball over on the ensuing possession. Bailey misfired and Seth Fox rebounded, but his follow shot was off-line and Arrowood grabbed the carom. The senior canned one of two free throws to make it a two-possession game with 24 seconds to go. Another missed shot by North Buncombe led to two more foul shots by Arrowood that sealed the deal with five seconds left.
"Tyler and Dakota stepped up, and Chavis, bringing the ball up the floor," said Church. "And Tre' got huge rebounds in the fourth quarter. We just collectively pulled ourselves together without Brandon and E, and showed a lot of courage. I told them before the game this would be the toughest game we've had all year, and I'm convinced it was."
Christopher Bridges hit all 10 of his free throws and scored 14 points for the Blackhawks, who also got double-figure scoring from Bailey (11) and Kyle Ward (11).
But North Buncombe shot just 32 percent (22-of-69) from the field, while the Titans hit for 60 percent (33-of-55). McDowell also out-rebounded the Blackhawks 42-21. The Titans were much better against North Buncombe's pressure after the break, turning it over 10 times in the second half.
"We played better defense (in the third quarter) and we certainly handled their pressure better," said Church. "We struggled with the press, and that surprised me. We made some adjustments at halftime with the way we attacked their full-court pressure and the way we handled it was much better. We had 18 turnovers at halftime, and that's just ridiculous for us. We knew if we could get down the court and get in our offense we could get good shots."
And they did, especially when Hamilton and Young got the ball in the paint.
"They're a heck of a basketball team," said Rhoney. "They're well coached, they play hard and they get the ball where they need it to be. In order to beat them, you've got to have those breaks, and the ball's got to go in. I'm disappointed in the outcome, but not in the effort."
The Titans host Erwin tonight (4 p.m. start—jayvee girls), weather permitting. All the other MAC teams have at least three conference losses each, so McDowell would clinch the outright championship with two wins in its final four games.

MHS BOXSCORE
McDowell (82) Tyler Hopkins 6-10 0-0 12, Tre' Young 8-10 2-4 18, Chavis Hamilton 13-16 2-3 28, Brandon Dockery 2-9 2-2 6, Eli Miller 1-3 0-0 2, Dakota Arrowood 0-1 5-8 5, Randall Conley 3-6 5-8 11. Totals: 33-55 16-25 82.
North Buncombe (76) Darien Bodenhurst 1-2 0-0 2, Sam Rector 7-16 2-2 21, Seth Fox 1-17 4-6 6, Kevin Bailey 3-7 5-6 11, Kyle Ward 4-13 1-2 11, Christopher Bridges 2-4 10-10 14, Tim Palmer 2-5 3-4 7, Collin Lilly 2-5 0-0 4. Totals: 22-69 25-30 76.

McDowell 21 12 20 29 – 82
North Buncombe 19 16 08 33 – 76

Rebounds: McDowell (42) N. Bunc. (21) Rebound leaders: McDowell (Hamilton 14, Young 10) N. Bunc. (Fox 6) 3-point goals: McDowell (0-2) N. Bunc. (7-28) McDowell (Arrowood, Conley 0-1) N. Bunc. (Rector 5-12, Fox 0-10, Ward 2-6) McDowell assist leaders: (Dockery 7) McDowell steals leaders: (Dockery 3) McDowell blocked shot leaders: (Dockery 3, Hamilton 1) Turnovers: McDowell (28) N. Bunc. (17) Fouled out: McDowell (Miller 4:46—fourth, Dockery 1:54—fourth) Technical foul: McDowell bench