Layken Mathis drives to the basket in the second quarter of Starmount’s fourth-round playoff game in Burnsville. Ava Webb guards Mathis for Mountain Heritage. (Photo credit: Maya Carter | Asheville Citizen-Times)
Mountain Heritage started fast and ended strong in its 54-37 win over Starmount last Tuesday night in the Western Regional semifinals of the North Carolina High School Athletic Association 1A girls basketball playoff in Burnsville.
But in between, the second-seeded Lady Cougars held off a spirited effort from the No. 22 Lady Rams.
Down 32-13 at halftime, Starmount (13-12) got out to a quick start in the third quarter.
First, Morgan Pinnix and Amelia Vanhoy connected on a pair of buckets; then, Pinnix, who led the Lady Rams with 11 points off the bench, hit a pair of free throws to cut the deficit to 15.
Killian Warren closed out an 8-2 run to start the third quarter with a bank shot from free-throw line to cut the deficit to 34-21 midway through the quarter.
“We made a run and got it to a 13-point deficit going into the fourth,” Starmount head coach Nicole Pardue said. “But battling a little foul trouble and the loss of your point guard (Layken Mathis) and one of our main scorers didn’t help.”
Mathis, who has led the Lady Rams in scoring multiple times this winter, was held to just two points on Tuesday. She also missed the second half after the junior sustained a concussion late in the second quarter when she hit her straight on the floor.
Starmount scored more points in the third quarter (14) than in the entire first half, and cut the deficit to as little as 11 (38-27) on baskets from Pinnix and Fantasia Hagler.
Mountain Heritage, who improved to 23-3 with the win, responded in a big way.
Ivy McGee — one of two Lady Cougars in double figures with 12 points — knocked down a 3-pointer and Vega Deyton collected a steal and converted on a layup on the other end.
Keira Wilson extended the lead back to the halftime advantage with a basket.
Ava Webb, Mountain Heritage’s leading scorer, and Avee Silvers hit a triple and a jumper, respectively, to give their team the biggest advantage of the game at 51-29.
Webb finished with a game-high 13 points and connected on three of the Lady Cougars’ eight 3-pointers in the game.
“Mountain Heritage was a very good, solid team. We were trading threes for twos and it’s hard to catch up that way,” said Pardue. “We didn’t make our free throws and missed enough layups to more than make up the difference in the final score.”
After the big third quarter, the Lady Rams only hit one field goal — a layup from Maggie Ray as time expired — in the fourth quarter.
Starmount never led in the game but were tied 3-3 after three-point play from Warren.
But behind 3-pointers from four different players (Webb, McGee, Silvers and Kilee Morrow), Mountain Heritage led 18-5 after one quarter. Every field goal made by the Lady Cougars in the opening quarter came from beyond the arc.
In addition to Pinnix, Vanhoy added 10 points and Warren finished with seven points.
Despite their season coming to an end, Pardue couldn’t help but reflect on the journey of this year’s team, more importantly, her seniors.
Pardue, who just finished her third season as the Lady Rams’ head coach, inherited a program that came off a winless 2018-19 campaign.
Starmount saw a small taste of success that first season under Pardue that saw them make the playoffs for the first time since the 2011-12 season. The six wins in the 2019-20 season were also the most in seven years for the program.
Despite winning just three games in an abbreviated 2020-21 season, the Lady Rams ended the season with back-to-back wins, and were able to carry that momentum over into this season.
“Three years ago, we started to rebuild the women’s program and we are still building. My seniors went from a 0-24 season their freshman year to the elite eight,” said Pardue. “What they’ve done in the last three years is just the beginning for this program. Because of restructuring and the year of COVID restrictions, it’s the first time that any of these girls have experienced state playoffs — in any sport and my hope is that feeling will spill over into their other sports.
“Once you’ve gotten a taste of it, it’s something you want to keep going for. This team came out and fought and gave me everything they had,” added Pardue. “We’re already looking forward to November. I’ve got a good group of girls coming back and a good group getting ready to enter high school — the future looks bright for Starmount.”
Note: Mountain Heritage fell in the Western Regional finals, 48-37, to Bishop McGuinness on Saturday afternoon at A.C. Reynolds High School in Asheville.
Starmount 5 8 14 10 — 37
Mountain Heritage 18 14 7 15 — 54
STARMOUNT: Layken Mathis 0 2-2 2; Amelia Vanhoy 2 4-11 8; Emily Brewer 0 0-0 0; Eden Hutchens 0 0-0 0; Killian Warren 3 1-3 7; Morgan Pinnix 3 5-8 11; Caroline Wood 0 2-2 2; Bella Stewart 0 0-0 0; Fantasia Hagler 1 0-1 2; Lisbeidy Sanchez 0 0-0 0; Hannah Sanchez 0 1-2 1; Ashlyn Abbott 0 0-0 0; Maggie Ray 1 2-2 4; Claire Vanhoy 0 0-0 0. Team Totals: 10 17-31 37.
MOUNTAIN HERITAGE: Vega Deyton 3 1-3 7; Ava Webb 4 2-2 13; Ivy McGee 5 0-0 12; Avee Silvers 3 1-2 8; Keira Wilson 2 0-1 4; Kilee Morrow 1 0-0 3; Nevaeh Buchanan 0 0-0 0; Cloey Morrow 1 0-0 3; Kaydence Kooles 0 0-2 0; Lilly Neill 0 2-2 2; Sarah Forbes 1 0-0 2; Kylie Tayor 0 0-2 0. Team Totals: 20 6-14 54.
THREE-POINTERS: Starmount: None. Mountain Heritage: Webb 3, McGee, K. Morrow, C.Morrow, Silvers.