Epic night

The best screenwriters in Hollywood would have been hard pressed to come up with a script as dramatic as this.

The McDowell Titans rallied from a 14-point, second-half deficit to beat the Asheville Cougars 76-72 Tuesday on Senior Night in front of a huge home crowd, clinching the conference championship in the process.

McDowell (9-1 Mountain Athletic 4A/3A Conference, 15-6 overall) secured the split conference’s top 4A spot with the victory, and – thanks to A.C. Reynolds’ upset of Enka – the Titans can do no worse than tie for the league’s unofficial overall title.

McDowell has now won regular-season conference championships in three of the last six years. The Titans also wrapped up a spot in the State 4A Playoffs for the 25^th time in the last 27 seasons.

Appropriately enough, it was a pair of seniors who helped spark McDowell’s rally. Wing Cedarius Avery (9-of-12 FGs, 9 rebounds, 3 steals) scored half of his game-high 24 points in the fourth quarter. Point guard Ethan Freeman (6 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals) scored 22 points and made some crucial free throws down the stretch.

Junior Dalanta Rodriguez played a brilliant all-around game with 14 points, nine assists, eight rebounds and a block.

“I thought it was fitting that, on senior night, we won the game because of character and because we have kids who are just competitors,” said Titans head coach Brian Franklin. “In a game where they had all kinds of opportunities to quit, there was just no quit in us. We kept fighting and battling the whole time.

“I’m happy to be able to win a conference championship. And I told them in the locker room, ‘you’ll be able to say on your senior night, you won a game against a great team that clinched a conference championship, and you won it coming from behind double digits because you had great character and because you were a true team.’”

It took all the teamwork the Titans could muster to overcome the Cougars (6-3, 14-5), who shot lights-out from the perimeter in the first three quarters. Asheville went 9-of-18 from 3-point range in the first half alone, and was still clipping along at 50 percent (11-of-22) at the end of three quarters.

Behind the sharpshooting of Micah Gardner (22 points, 6-of-12 3-pointers) and Austin McGrayne (20 points, 5-of-13 3-pointers), Asheville built a 56-42 lead with 2:54 to go in the third.

But the Titans responded with an epic 18-2 run.

Avery scored seven and Freeman six during the surge. Avery’s layup off a Rodrgiuez assist gave McDowell its first lead since the opening quarter at 59-58 with 6 minutes to play.

The Cougars twice recaptured the lead, but Avery’s driving layup made it 64-63 with 3:54 to go, and McDowell never trailed again.

Still, Asheville got as close as one point on three separate occasions, the last one coming when Garrett Collins (12 points) made a follow shot to get the Cats within 73-72 with 33 seconds left.

Rodriguez made one of two free throws at the 21-second mark for a 74-72 advantage. Asheville had a chance to tie when Deveron Roberts (11 points) penetrated the lane, but Roberts dribbled the ball off his knee and out of bounds.

Freeman then made one of two foul shots to stretch the advantage to 75-72 with 14.7 ticks remaining.

Roberts squeezed off a potential game-tying trey, but his shot was off the mark. Freeman grabbed the rebound and made one more free throw with 2.2 seconds left to make it a two-possession game and seal the deal.

The Cougars, who seemingly couldn’t miss for the first three quarters, went just 2-of-10 from downtown in the fourth to finish 13-of-32 for the game.

Meanwhile, the Titans struggled at the free throw line, making just 6-of-12 in the fourth period. But McDowell’s transition game was in high gear, and many of the baskets the Titans made in the second half came on layups after dribble-drives to the rim. McDowell was 9-of-11 from the floor in the final period.

The Titans also out-rebounded Asheville 36-21 overall and 14-6 on the offensive glass. McDowell committed just one turnover in the second half and none in the fourth quarter.

The Titans travel to A.C. Reynolds Friday (4 p.m. start—jayvee girls). McDowell is at Enka in the regular-season finale next Tuesday. A win in either of those games would give the Titans the outright league title (the conference recognizes both a 3A and 4A champion, but does not officially recognize an overall champ).

Asheville (72) Deveron Roberts 5-11 0-1 11, Garrett Collins 5-6 2-2 12, Micah Gardner 7-17 2-2 22, Jeff Hutchins 0-1 0-0 0, Devonte Battle 2-5 0-0 4, Austin McGRayne 7-16 1-3 20, O’Brian Watley 0-1 0-0 0, K.J. Walton 1-3 0-0 3, Loody Woody 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 27-60 5-8 72.

McDowell (76) Cedarius Avery 9-12 3-4 24, Michael Simolke 0-0 0-0 0, Daniel Jackson 2-4 1-1 6, Matt Carroll 1-3 1-1 3, Ethan Freeman 8-22 6-10 22, Dalanta Rodriguez 6-13 1-3 14, Jared Helms 0-0 0-0 0, Josh Pyatt 3-5 1-2 7, Johnny Cooper 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 29-59 13-21 76.

Asheville             21   19   18   14 – 72

McDowell           13   22   16   25 – 76

Rebounds: Asheville (21) McDowell (36) Rebound leaders: Asheville (Roberts 5) McDowell (Avery 9, Rodriguez 8) 3-point goals: Asheville (13-32) McDowell (5-11) Asheville (Roberts 1-4, Gardner 6-12, Battle 0-1, McGrayne 5-13, Walton 1-2) McDowell (Freeman, Pyatt, Carroll 0-1, Rodriguez 1-2, Avery 3-5, Jackson 1-1) McDowell assist leaders: (Rodriguez 9) McDowell steals leaders: (Freeman, Avery 3) McDowell blocked shot leaders: (Helms 2, Pyatt 1) Turnovers: Asheville (12) McDowell (13)