There’s no place like home.
The Mount Airy Bears went 23 days without playing a home game before making their return to the Granite City on January 28. In that time away, Mount Airy also went 17 days without a game of any kind due to various cancellations. The 17-day layoff, beginning after a Jan. 7 game at North Stokes and ending Jan. 24 at Alleghany, came after three-consecutive losses to start the new year.
The Granite Bears didn’t just lose those games to anyone. Two of the losses came against North and South Stokes, which currently have a combined record of 26-6 and are both ranked in the top-10 of MaxPreps’ 1A West poll. The other loss was a three-point game against an East Surry team that just recently dropped out of the top-10 in the 2A West, currently sitting at No. 11 with a 10-4 record.
Despite a rocky start to 2022, the Bears got back on track to defending their Northwest 1A Championship by winning three games in five days.
Mount Airy shook off the cobwebs in a road game against Alleghany on Jan. 24. Defending NW1A Conference Player of the Year Brooks Sizemore scored a team-high 24 points, including five 3-pointers on 45% shooting, to lead the Bears to a 56-50 win.
The next day, Mount Airy simultaneously handed South Stokes (14-4, 7-1 NW1A) its first home loss and its first conference loss. The Granite Bears’ trio of Tyler Mason, Zeb Stroup and Mario Revels combined to score 55 points in the game. Mount Airy held South Stokes to its second-lowest point total of the season in the 73-55 win.
Mount Airy finally made it back home on Jan. 28 to host Starmount.
It was all Granite Bears from the opening whistle. Mount Airy scored first, went up by double digits in the first quarter and held a double-double lead for all but 35 seconds through the next three quarters.
Mount Airy improved to 10-4 overall and 5-2 in conference with the 67-41 win over Starmount.
The Bears’ defense held Starmount to three quarters only scoring single digits, including a four-point first quarter. Mount Airy denied second chances for the Rams while taking advantage of offensive boards themselves. Stroup scored 10 for the Bears in just the first quarter, and 8-of-10 points came from inside the paint.
The Rams (2-12, 1-6 NW1A) got on the board thanks to field goals from Eli Wingler and Xavier King. Starmount cut the Mount Airy lead to 9-4 with five minutes left in the quarter, but after this the Rams went cold. Not only were the Rams not getting second chances, but the Granite Bears didn’t even allow a single shot to be taken on some possessions.
King scored with 5:10 left in the first quarter, and the next Starmount point didn’t come until the 5:32 mark of the second quarter. It wasn’t until the clock read 2:18 in the second quarter that Starmount hit another field goal.
Mount Airy took a 25-4 lead thanks to a 16-0 run that started in the first quarter. Caleb Reid started the run with a made free throw, then scored again off an assist from Mario Revels. Stroup turned the gravity off to get an offensive board and put it back in for two as the lead grew to 14-4.
Tyler Mason scored his first points of the game off an assist from Reece Deaton. Stroup then scored twice in the paint to end the quarter, and Mason pulled up for an elbow jumper to begin the second quarter. The 16-0 run was capped off by a Kasen Taylor 3-pointer that was assisted by Stroup.
Mount Airy’s lead was 32-13 at halftime. Starmount came out fighting in the second half and more than doubled its first-half point total. Zack Armstrong scored from the low post to start the quarter. Bryson Mauck was fouled on the way up and made 1-of-2 free throws, then Zack Dezern got the hoop and the harm the next time down. He converted the old-fashioned three-point play to make it 34-19, with Devyn Joyce scoring Mount Airy’s only points of the quarter thus far.
The Rams were able to get to the basket better in the third quarter and did it over and over. Mauck scored a wide-open layup to force a Bears timeout at 5:05, but the Rams came back out and gave the ball to King for a drive. King drew the double and kicked to Wingler for the 3-pointer, cutting it to a 10-point game at 34-24.
Mount Airy finally got some offense going with baskets from Mason and Revels, but then Mauck and King combined for a 6-0 run that made it 38-30 with 3:28 left in the third.
The 35-second window of single digits ended when Revels nailed a 3-pointer. This turned the tide of the game as Mount Airy closed the third quarter on a 12-2 run. Stroup had two big blocks down the stretch in the quarter, and the Bears again made their presence felt on the boards.
Whatever slump the Bears were in during the first few minutes of the third quarter ended, and Mount Airy went on to outscore Starmount 17-9 in the fourth. The Bears lead grew to 29 at point in the final quarter.
Mount Airy sits in third place in the conference at 5-2, while Starmount is in sixth at 1-6.
Scoring
SHS – 4, 9, 19, 9 = 41
MAHS– 20, 12, 18, 17 = 67
SHS – Eli Wingler 10, Bryson Mauck 7, Zack Armstrong 6, Xavier King 6, Boosie McClinton 4, Darren Shore 3, Zack Dezern 3, Jaylyn Adams 2
MAHS – Zeb Stroup 14, Mario Revels 13, Tyler Mason 12, Caleb Reid 7, Kasen Taylor 5, Yan Nicolas 4, Devyn Joyce 4, Matthew Chapman 3, Brooks Sizemore 3, Jared Pinto 2
Source: https://www.mtairynews.com
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