Devin Pierson scores 1,000th point in Mustangs' road win
SEAMAN — Highland County had a third player this season score their 1,000th career point, and for Lynchburg-Clay junior Devin Pierson, he scored his milestone point on the road and from beyond the arc.
Pierson, who finished with 19 points on the road against North Adams, began what became a spark for the Mustangs, with the junior sinking his 1,000th point basket with a perfect 3-pointer at the 5:50 mark of the third.
The 3-pointer not only set the milestone for Pierson, but he pushed the Mustangs in front for good with a 49-48 lead.
From there, the Mustangs outscored the host Green Devils, 20-13 for a 66-61 Southern Hills Athletic Conference victory.
Pierson spoke with The Highland County Press about accomplishing the feat.
"It was a nice timing of the game to make that shot," Pierson said. "I was so frustrated with missing free throws, but it made it a little better. It is special doing this as a junior, but I want to thank my family, teammates and coaches for making this possible.
"Without them, this wouldn't be possible."
LC head coach Matt Carson said he was "very proud" of the point guard.
"Devin is always in the gym working on his game and on things to make himself a better basketball player," Carson said. "He is a very good basketball player, and before it is all said and done, he's going to be a very great basketball player.
"He keeps fine-tuning his skills. I'm extremely proud of him, and it is well-deserved because he's a great kid."
Though the Mustangs left Adams County with the win, the process of getting the victory was a tough road – on the road, so to speak – with the score being tied nine times, including seven times in the third and one final time in the fourth quarter at 45 points apiece with 7:18 left in regulation.
"Anytime you come here (North Adams), you are going to get their best," Carson said. "Credit them, their big man inside (Trey Meade), he gave us some trouble and that was a difference.
"Credit their guards, they played well, and we knew their guards were their strength. Meade really stepped up and played well against us (Tuesday)."
Before the score was tied at 45 in the fourth, both teams entered the final eight minutes of play with the score tied at 43, but it was the Mustangs who were first to regain the lead with Christian Inman scoring two points on a fast break off a pass by River Mullins. Inman finished the night with 12 points.
"I told Christian before the game to just concentrate on playing as hard as you can play," Carson said. "He was a big spark off the bench.
"A lot of guys came off the bench and played well. Noah Buck gave us some good minutes off the bench. Anybody who got into the game (Tuesday) did something positive for us to win the basketball game."
North Adams answered with two points by Christian Bradford to tie the score up at 45. From there, the Green Devils torched the Mustangs with a 3-pointer by Mikey Sheeley at 6:39 for a 48-45 score. Sheeley finished the game with nine points.
Pierson sank a free throw, then came the milestone 3-pointer to push LC ahead for good at 49-48.
"The three by Devin was the turning point of the game," Carson said. "We came out so lethargic in the third quarter and went down at one point, but from the time Devin sank that three, it made a difference."
LC outscored North Adams, 23-18 in the entire fourth quarter.
Keeping that lead was not easy for the Mustangs, though they did increase their lead to three points following two free throws. North Adams made it a one-point game with Trey Meade making a layup with 4:34 on the clock. Meade led all scorers with 21 points. He was 9-of-11 from the free-throw line.
LC's Zach Blankenship sank two free throws, and Pierson followed with a layup for a 55-50 Mustangs advantage. Blankenship finished with seven points.
With under two minutes left in the conference matchup, LC continued adding points to the away side of the scoreboard with two more free-throw conversions by Blankenship and a layup off a fast break by Inman for a five-point lead for the Mustangs.
With 40 seconds left in regulation, the Green Devils for the third time in the quarter made it a one-point LC advantage with two points by Sheeley, but that was as close as they would get as Mullins scored an open bucket in the paint.
The Green Devils couldn't convert an opportunity to cut into the LC lead in the final seconds, and Brandon Storer topped off the LC win by sinking two final free throws. He finished the game with six points.
In all, LC had eight players net points, including Eric McLaughlin sinking three first half 3-pointers and nine points in the win. Josh Ahrmann finished with eight points, including the first four points of the game.
Mullins finished with four points for LC, and Joshua Goble sank a free throw in the third quarter.
Scoring was scarce in the first quarter with LC leading, 9-8 in a quarter that not only saw Ahrmann score the first four LC points, but saw LC jump out to a 7-0 lead with a 3-pointer by McLaughlin from the corner of the court.
North Adams came back with a 5-0 run of their own, but two points by Inman with 2:46 left in the quarter was enough for LC to led the first frame.
LC followed the first by outscoring the Green Devils, 20-13 in the second for a halftime lead of 29-21. NA came out of the locker room and led the third frame at 22-14.
For North Adams, second in scoring on their team was Isaiah Anderson with 12 points, and McFarland followed with 11 points.
Carson spoke about the play of his team, a team which last played on Jan. 3, a span of 10 days.
"We have three days of practice coming, up so hopefully we can get into the gym and get some things done," Carson said. "It has been a while since we last played, but we aren't using that as an excuse … there's plenty of teams that have gotten games canceled.
"We just have to get better at doing what we like to do."
In JV play, LC fell to the Green Devils, 53-49. Morgan Ryan led LC with 16 points, and teammate Brian Lampkin scored 13 points. Patrick England led North Adams with 11 points.
The freshman game saw LC win over the Green Devils, 48-40. Ethan Garrison led LC with 20 points, and teammate Noble Walker scored 17.