Blue Comet boys learning lessons from growing pains

ASHEBORO — There are many challenges high school basketball coaches face each and every season. One of the most crucial, if that team is going to have a successful season, is to not allow a loss on one particular night be the cause of a loss the next night.

With more and more teams squeezing games into their schedules, that pitfall certainly pops up for nearly every basketball coach.

Asheboro High School varsity boys coach Brian Nance was a bit worried last week when the Blue Comets hosted Eastern Randolph one night after a disappointing 58-56 loss at Thomasville, a team AHS had defeated by 12 points two weeks earlier. The Blue Comets even enjoyed a double-digit lead in the game they eventually lost and that can linger for a while.

With Eastern Randolph hitting from outside and AHS looking sluggish at best, it appeared the Blue Comets were going to fall into that pit after trailing 19-10 at the end of the first quarter against the Wildcats.

“It was very physical, sloppy for the most part,” Nance said of his team’s start that would eventually become a 63-47 victory. “We had to play two games without practice because of Monday’s (Dec. 8) weather situation, so that wasn’t good. Then you come off a road game and last night against Thomasville was a very physical game. We lost (starting point guard) Derrion (Johnson) at the start of the second quarter because of an injury and he didn’t even dress tonight. Eli (Johnson) fouled out and we need him on the floor. 

“I told them the good thing about basketball compared to football is you don’t have to wait a week, you get to play. Now granted, we hadn’t been in the gym, so no time to work on it. It was just talking. All those things factor into a sluggish start.”

With Tyler Gee hitting three 3-pointers and Colton Godwin adding two more, ER looked refreshed while jumping out to that 19-10 lead.

That lasted until the start of the second quarter when AHS went on a 13-4 run to tie the game at halftime. The Blue Comets then outscored the Wildcats 11-5 in the third quarter for a 34-28 lead and led by 10 before the Wildcats, behind Gee, came back and forged a 45-45 tie with four minutes to play.

But AHS outscored ER 18-2 the rest of the way as sophomore Nirey White scored 11 of his 24 points in the period and Jewell Barrett-Riggins added six of his 11 points. And the Blue Comets, who had hit just 10 of 28 free throws, saw Johnson quickly turn that number around by hitting all 10 of his charity tosses to keep the Blue Comets safely in front.

“We kept struggling, we kept struggling and I was waiting for our run and we finally made a run,” Nance said. “I told them that they are going to answer, just wait. That’s what happened to us last night (against Thomasville). We were up by 12 and they came back and took the lead and tonight they came all the way back and we made a run at the end. Basketball is a game of runs and we made the last one.”

The win gave Asheboro a 6-3 record heading into the two rivals’ rematch, which was scheduled for Tuesday night at Eastern Randolph High School. Asheboro opened the season with a pair of wins over Trinity and Rockingham County and one over Thomasville while falling to Northwest Guilford, High Point Central in overtime and to Thomasville by two points.

Asheboro was slated to play Randleman this Wednesday before returning for the SportsTone Christmas Invitational Dec. 27, 29 and 30 at AHS.

The Wildcats, who didn’t start the season until Dec. 2 because of the success of the football program, slipped to 0-3 with the setback, looking for revenge in that game that was scheduled for Tuesday.