Three-point baskets are the tools of a comeback in high school basketball.
Friday night in the Cave Spring gym, the Christiansburg Blue Demons used a pair of Matt Herndon bombs to overcome a 4-point Cave Spring lead late in the fourth quarter, then Gabe Quesenberry put the game away with a shot from deep in the right corner with 5 seconds left as Christiansburg topped Cave Spring 53-50 in a key River Ridge matchup.
“Sometimes those kind of shots go your way,” Blue Demon head coach Shawn Good noted afterward. “They were definitely 3 big shots.”
Cave Spring, after early leads in the first quarter that reached six points on back-to-back 3-pointers by Chase Keister and Brody Hicks, saw Christiansburg claw back in the second quarter to take a 31-26 advantage to the break.
“We had some turnovers and took some bad shots late in the first half,” Cave Spring head coach Billy Hicks said in the locker room afterward.
The Knights spent the third quarter trying to play catch up, but still trailed 42-36 entering the final 8 minutes.
Cave Spring opened the fourth quarter with a 5-0 run to cut the Blue Demon lead to one point, and trailed 44-41 before scoring five straight to give the Knights their first lead since the opening quarter.
Brody Hicks followed with a short jumper for a 48-44 lead that seemingly had Cave Spring taking control with just over three minutes left, but the Knights went cold and the Blue Demons suddenly got comfortable from behind the arc.
Herndon connected twice in a row from behind the arc, the second coming from NBA range, putting Christiansburg up 50-48 with just over a minute left. Cager Hicks netted a runner to tie things at 50, and the Blue Demons held for a final shot before rotating the ball to Quesenberry, whose jumper found nothing but net.
Cave Spring had one final gasp, but Christiansburg fouled Brody Hicks with :01.5 left, and his attempt to get behind the arc after missing the first free throw came up short.
“We got the 4-point lead and then took a couple quick shots that gave them the opportunity,” Billy Hicks pointed out. “We needed to get Adam (Sledd) some touches in that situation – it’s a case of a young team being inexperienced.”
“No lead is comfortable against Christiansburg,” Hicks added. “I felt like we defended the late threes. We’re in control if he (Herndon) misses. It’s a disappointing home loss.”
“We had to play a physical game,” Good noted. “We knew we couldn’t handle their big man (Sledd).”
Senior Josh Moore led the Blue Demons with a game-high 17 points, with Herndon adding 16.
Brody Hicks led Cave Spring with 16 points, while Sledd got a double-double for the Knights, scoring 15 and grabbing 10 rebounds.
– Bill Turner
