Commentary

Mountaineer roster lacks a go-to guy

Chris Boyce

In the game of basketball, every team needs a star.
A player who consistently delivers big plays when the team needs them most and a performer who knocks down clutch shots at the right times.
In Monday night’s 79-71 loss to the Western Carolina University Catamounts, it appeared the Appalachian State University Mountaineers are still searching for such a player.

The Mountaineers played a tough, competitive contest, with the only difference being the Catamounts clutch shooting at the end of the game and the Mountaineers’ inability to make key shots down the stretch.
Layups rimmed out, free throws clanked off and second, even third chance put-backs fell short en route to the defeat.

On the other end, the Catamounts hit big shot after big shot to keep the surging Mountaineers at a safe distance.

Toward the end of the ballgame it became very clear the Mountaineers needed someone to rely on and match Catamount freshman Kevin Martin’s back-to-back three point shots that put Appalachian State down 67-56 with only 4:31 left to play.

But that did not happen as the Mountaineers fell to their fourth conference loss of the season.

In years past, a player such as Marshall Phillips, Cedrick Holmes and Tyson Patterson provided the spark and leadership to close out tough, physical conference games.

Appalachian State has had impressive solo performances this season.
Noah Brown’s 25 points against Georgia Southern University, Donald Payne’s 13-point, 13-rebound performance against East Tennessee State University or Graham Bunn’s 15-point, 10-assist night against East Carolina University all have shown flashes of the heady ability and clutch performance needed to win big games.

It is consistency that lacks.

Appalachian State’s leading scorer entering Monday night’s showdown with the archrival Catamounts was center Josh Shehan, with 9.6 points per game.

The Mountaineers don’t have a scorer in the top 30 of the Southern Conference in points per game or a rebounder in the top 15.
Some of this can be attributed to the large amount of minutes the Mountaineers bench logs on any given night. Donald Payne’s team-leading 25 minutes per game, is on average, seven and a half minutes less than any other SoCon team leader in minutes.

But the lack of a consistent go-to threat on offense could hurt the Mountaineers down the stretch.

And although the Mountaineers are still a relatively young team, typically starting two sophomores and giving big minutes to freshmen and first-year players, experience is an ally and not an enemy to this season’s squad.

The team returned three members of Appalachian State’s Southern Conference Tournament championship team that made an appearance in the NCAA’s “Big Dance” in 2000.

A three-hour team meeting last week yielded an impressive 81-67 victory over Chattanooga last Saturday, and both point guard Jonathan Butler and head coach Houston Fancher feel strongly that this team has found its identity.

“We fought hard and competed but we just didn’t get shots to fall down,” said Fancher. “I think this team knows who it is and who they’re about. They’re in it for each other and I think brighter days are definitely ahead for them.”

“I feel we found our identity,” said Butler. “We just ran into a tough team tonight.”

But the question remains: Who will emerge as the Mountaineers go-to performer when another tough team comes to play?

Paul Sherar - Chief Photographer

Appalachian guard Noah Brown struggles to get off a shot against a Western Carolina defender. Brown led the Mountaineers defensively with four steals in the 79-71 defeat.

Paul Sherar - Chief Photographer

Appalachian forward Donald Payne (23) has a shot rejected by WCU center Rans Brempong (13) during the Catamounts’ SoCon win Monday evening at the Holmes Center.

Slow start, dismal shooting, hinder ASU in loss

Chris Boyce - Sports Beat

The Appalachian State University Mountaineers could not buy a shot Monday night against Western Carolina University.

The Catamounts took advantage of 37 percent shooting by the Mountaineers to grab a 79-71 win over their conference rivals in the Holmes Convocation Center. The victory is Western’s first against the Mountaineers in 11 tries and the first in Boone since January 1996.
Western Carolina improves to 9-7 overall and 3-2 in the Southern Conference while Appalachian drops to 5-10 and 1-4 in conference play.

“I can’t say anything bad about my team because they fought hard,” said Appalachian head coach Houston Fancher. “But we just didn’t make plays around the goal.”

The night started poorly for Appalachian as the Catamounts jumped out to an 11-1 lead in the opening five minutes and held the Mountaineers without a field goal until Jonathan Butler’s three-pointer with 14:35 remaining in the half.

Appalachian managed to fight its way back into the game with hounding defense, forcing 15 Western Carolina turnovers. But the Mountaineers struggled to convert those turnovers into points, missing layups and taking forced shots.

“We had a hard time early breaking into their zone defense,” said Butler.

The Mountaineers’ poor shooting was magnified under the basket as Appalachian struggled to make layups.

The team’s poor shooting may have been due in part to the performance of Catamount center Ran Brempong, who had four blocks in the first half, said Fancher.

“When you get your shot blocked a couple of times, it can make you a little gun-shy,” he said. “We missed a lot of easy shots.”

Despite such a woeful first-half performance, the Mountaineers were able to cut the lead to 36-31 at halftime.

Appalachian shot better in the second half but were never able to make enough baskets to tie the score or take a lead. The closest the Mountaineers came was 52-50 with 7:59 remaining. But as soon as Appalachian narrowed the score, Western Carolina managed to stomp out any momentum with key baskets.

Late in the game, the Mountaineers cut the lead to 61-56, but two three-pointers by Western freshman Kevin Martin in a span of 30 seconds made the score 67-56.

“Western deserves all the credit,” said Fancher. “They made the big shots when they needed to quell our runs.”

Western Carolina coach Steve Shurina said he was concerned about his team’s fitness coming into the game because the Catamounts were coming off a 105-97 double overtime loss to The Citadel Saturday night.

“Our energy was so drained from that Citadel game,” he said. “I think a key to the win was our ability to get contributions from the bench so we could give our starters some rest.”

Kevin Martin led the Catamounts with 22 points and Willie Freeman had 12. Cory Largent chipped in with 12 points for Western Carolina.
Donald Payne led Appalachian with 14 points and Jonathan Butler scored 12.

The Mountaineers go on the road next for a Jan. 19 game against Furman at 7 p.m. They return to Boone for a two-game home stand against Virginia Military Institute on Jan. 21 at 7:30 p.m. and Gardner-Webb University Jan. 23 at 7 p.m.

James Nix - Sports Beat

It is difficult to keep up with the No. 2 team in the Southern Conference when your leading scorer and rebounder is missing.

The Appalachian State University women’s basketball team found this out Tuesday night when it faced off against the Wofford College Terriers, minus one Joanie White.

The Terriers (11-5, 5-2 SoCon) walked out of the George M. Holmes Convocation Center with a 96-73 victory.

White, who leads the Mountaineers (6-9, 2-4 SoCon) with an average of 12.6 points a game and 8.5 rebounds a game, was not present at the game due to what head coach Barbie Breedlove called internal problems.
“I found out right before game time Joanie would not be able to play,” said Breedlove. “She is having internal problems of some sort, and our trainer did not give her permission to play.”

Breedlove said she did not know the status of White or when she would be back on the court.

The Mountaineers could not get things going early on against the Terriers and trailed by nine at the 10-minute mark in the first half.
Appalachian’s lack of defense allowed the Terriers to close out the first half leading 47-36, shooting 45 percent from the field. Appalachian only shot 33 percent from the field.

“I was really displeased with our defensive effort tonight,” said Breedlove. “We dug a hole, and we let them score early.”

The Mountaineers damaged Wofford’s halftime lead at the start of the second half with seven quick points from Ashleigh Fuller and Tiffani Johnson.

The Terriers responded with a 13-point run that ruined any confidence Appalachian may have regained.

Terrier’s senior forward Jenny Nett made her offensive presence known on the court. Nett averages over 20-points per game. She left Boone with 29.

Three other Terriers posted double digits against the Mountaineers as well.

“This was a question of defense,” said Breedlove. “It’s going to be tough, but we need to work on some things in practice.”

Breedlove went to her bench late in the second half when the outcome was painfully obvious. The reason, she said, was to persevere her starter’s legs for upcoming games.

The Mountaineers have two games on the road against Furman University and Western Carolina University before returning home Monday evening to face the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.
After Breedlove turned to her bench players, the Terriers did not seem to let up. Nett stayed in the game until the final minutes for a total of 31 minutes of court time.

Breedlove said this move by the Terriers was intentional.

“Wofford wanted to make a statement to the league tonight.” she said. “To come to Boone and hand us this kind of defeat; they wanted to make a statement and they did.”