Boyd overcomes deficit to snap 10-game losing streak

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February 2, 2010

By ROCKY STANLEY — The Independent The Daily Independent Tue Feb 02, 2010, 11:18 PM EST

Ashland — Wins may be sparse for Boyd County’s boys basketball team, but coach Dave Wooten sees signs of improvement.

The Lions snapped a 10-game losing streak Tuesday night by defeating Rose Hill Christian 59-43 at Charles Stewart Gymnasium.

“We’re playing stronger with the basketball and our (offensive) spacing is getting better,’’ Wooten said. “The kids are improving and that’s all you can ask for.’’

Boyd County overcame an early nine-point deficit to keep Rose Hill winless on the season.

Two building blocks in Boyd County’s future — sophomore Jacob Mayse and freshman Brandon Lowe — provided inside muscle to make the difference against the smaller Royals.

Mayse, a 6-foot-4, 210-pounder, finished with 13 points and 12 rebounds. The 6-2 Lowe also found plenty of success in the post, scoring a season-high 20 points.

“We tried to feed it down inside all night,’’ Wooten said. “Brandon was sick at the beginning of the year. Now that he’s healthy, he’s a load in there.’’

Lowe scored seven consecutive points to cap a 16-0 run that erased Rose Hill’s 19-10 lead. Lowe converted a three-point play to end the surge.

Mayse supplied nine points in the third quarter, including a driving basket that pushed the lead out to 42-28.

Both of Boyd County’s wins in a 2-16 season have come against district opponent Rose Hill.

“Boyd has been playing some of the teams tougher lately,’’ said Royals coach Mark Watkins. “We’ve just got to put some points on the board as small as we are.’’

The Royals got out to a 19-10 lead as senior Jacob Mullen and sophomore Andrew Wilhoit combined for 14 points, but then the team went cold. Rose Hill failed to score for more than seven minutes to start the second quarter.

Wooten praised the defensive work of reserves Austin Rankin and Matt Middleton during that span.

Watkins, meanwhile, pointed to poor execution on Rose Hill’s part.

“Our decision making in the second quarter and second half were not very good,’’ Watkins said. “There were too many four or five-minute gaps where we were not executing.’’

Even so, Rose Hill (0-12) made it interesting in the second half. Senior Alex Malloy, who came in averaging just under 20 points per game, shook off a slow start with four third-quarter baskets. His 3-pointer helped trigger a 7-0 spurt at end of the third quarter, and Joel Mullen opened the final period with a putback that brought the Royals within 42-37.

The comeback ran out of steam, however, and Boyd County stretched the lead out to 57-39 with 1:54 remaining.

Eric Gindlesperger scored all eight of his points in the second half for the Lions and also grabbed eight rebounds.

Malloy, playing despite a sinus infection, and Jacob Mullen each finished with 13 points for Rose Hill. Mullen also had nine rebounds. Wilhoit added 10 points for the Royals, who shot only 31 percent from the field.

ROCKY STANLEY can be reached at rstanley@dailyindependent.com or (606) 326-2671.

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