The first Hidden Valley-Cave Spring regular season matchup was originally scheduled for January 20, 2015.
Monday night, a twist of bracketology fate moved the Southwest County rivalry shootout up three weeks to Tuesday night’s semifinal round of the K-Guard Holiday Hoopla at the Salem Civic Center.
By virtue of wins by both teams Monday night in the Hoopla’s opening round, The Knights and Titans will face off in the 7:30 nightcap with a spot in the tournament final on Wednesday assured for the winner.
Playing in the fourth and final game Monday night, Cave Spring punched its way to the winner’s bracket with a hard-fought 67-53 win over Jefferson Forest.
The Knights, using their run-and-gun style, scored the game’s first nine points and never looked back in dispatching the Cavaliers.with sharp ball movement and the hot hand all night from senior Cager Hicks.
Cave Spring led 33-24 at the halftime break and pushed their advantage to 17 late in the third quarter before heading to the final frame up 53-36. The Knight lead reached 18 with just over three minutes left before JF finished on a 8-4 run to establish the final margin.
“We had guys step up tonight,” Cave Spring head coach Jacob Gruse noted afterward. “Our kids were getting up and down the court, and we stayed in attack mode. They really got after it. Cager Hicks had a coming out party tonight.”
Hicks had a game-high 26 points for the Knights, while brother Brody Hicks followed with 13. 6-foot-6 sophomore Baker Haviland threw down a career-best 11 points to solidly suppliment the Cave Spring scoring.
Senior Malik Stewart paced Jefferson Forest with 18 points, with junior Navy Jones adding 8 for the Cavs.
In the preceding game, Hidden Valley held off a late charge by Alleghany to defeat the Mountaineers 53-50.
The Titans looked to be in complete control after surging to a 24-7 halftime lead that saw Alleghany limited to 2 points in the first quarter and 5 in the second.
The Mountaineers trailed 40-26 after three quarters before staging the comeback. The Titans still led 50-41 with 2:03 left, before 3-pointers by Alleghany’s Aaron Nichols and Tyran Young, and a layup by the Mountaineers combined with missed Titan free throw opportunities, cut the Titan lead to 51-49 with 1:03 left.
Alleghany’s Carson Cogar hit one-of-two from the charity stripe to make it 51-50, and a Hidden Valley turnover had Alleghany set for the potential game-winner before Titan Luke Marston saved the day for Hidden Valley with a steal at mid court and layup with 16 seconds left that pushed the Titan advantage to 53-50. Looking for a trey to force overtime, Alleghany missed from behind-the-arc at the buzzer.
Hidden Valley was led in scoring by Jaret Lipps’ 18 points, with Camden Sine adding 8.
Nichols led Alleghany with 11 points, while Austin Lefler netted 9 for the Mountaineers.
Earlier in the day, “Big-11” member William Fleming advanced to the winner’s bracket with a runaway 67-48 win over the Broadway Gobblers. Steven Jones and Warren Craft led the Colonels in scoring with 19 and 18 points, respectfully. Fleming battles Franklin County in Tuesday’s other winner’s bracket matchup set for 6:00 pm.
– Bill Turner
