Black Saturday 
Anthony Holdered  Varsity Sports 

The perfect stage was set for Appalachian State and its quest for a third straight regular season conference title on  Saturday, but it was the defense of Davidson that played the fly in the ointment. 

In the final meeting ever at Varsity Gym for one of the best rivalries in college basketball between the Mountaineers and Wildcats, on national television, for the title, Appalachian’s offense was strangled by Davidson who handed ASU its second loss in a row, 69-54. 

Enroute to failing in clinching the North Division title for the second straight game, the Mountaineers posted their worst offensive performance of the season with a frigid 27 percent field goal percentage and never held the lead. 

“We played very timid today.  One of the last things I put on the board was you’ve got to want it more then them, and today I don’t think we wanted it more than them,” said Head Coach Buzz Peterson. 

The loss to the rival ‘Cats, followed a beating taken from the worst team in the Southern Conference, VMI, who won its first conference game of the season against the Apps Monday night.  “It seems like everything keeps caving in on us, it’s not getting better, it’s getting worse,” said Peterson.  

Appalachian was stifled right off the bat by the Wildcats who put together a run to score the first nine points of the game.  The Mountaineers didn’t score their first bucket until seven minutes into the first half. 

ASU was able to cut Davidson’s lead to three at 16-19, but ice cold shooting by the Mountaineers enabled the Wildcats to climb back up to a 30-21 halftime lead. 

Appalachian’s transition game was non-existent in the first half and the Mountaineers  hit just five of twenty-seven field goals in the first half (18.5 percent).  “They did a very good job of stopping our transition, therefor, we missed a lot of shots.  I think early on, we forced a lot of jump shots which hurt us,” said point guard Tyson Patterson who was just 2-13 from the field scoring only six points on the night. 

“I guess I could never dream of us shooting 5-27 in the first half,” said Peterson. 

Shooting woes continued for ASU in the second half hitting just 36 percent on nine of twenty five field goal attempts.  Once down 32-23 in the second, the lone bright spot for the Mountaineers on the evening, Rufus Leach, stepped up and hit back-to-back three-point baskets to tie the game at 38-38 with nearly 12 minutes left to play. 

Things went downhill from there on out for Appalachian after the Wildcats went on a 28-16 run to close out the game. 

Davidson bigmen tormented the Mountaineers in the post all night outrebounding Appalachian 40-30 for the game and outscoring the Mountaineers in paint 36-12.  Appalachian was only allowed two fastbreak points. 

Forward Landry Kosmalski and center Stephen Marshall combined for 36 points and 23 boards for Davidson, while Leach was the only Mountaineer to score in double figures, leading all scorers with 21 points. 

Davidson shot a red-hot 53 percent from the field, and the Mountaineers shot just 27 percent. 

“It’s a dissapointing loss for us, but I told the guys we’ve got to just hang in there and fight through this,” said Peterson. 

The next opportunity for Appalachian to win the regular season title is Tuesday night against UNC Greensboro.  The tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 at the home of the Spartans. 

Mike's Sidebar 
Mike Boteilho Managing Editor 

That giant thud you heard late Saturday night was all of the fans jumping off the ASU bandwagon. But for true App fans, we know this was just a minor setback. 

ASU wasn’t beaten because Davidson was the superior team, but because they were the bigger team that made their shots. 

“A lot of it was not us shooting well,” said Appalachian State University head coach Buzz Peterson, “but also it was Davidson playing outstanding defense.” 

And simply put, it was just that. 

When you are the best team in the Southern Conference, teams get up for you. It does not matter if it is VMI or College of Charleston, you are going to be assured to get that particular team’s best. 

And although App has won the majority of its conference games this year, they just cannot win them all. 

The Davidson game brought out a lot of weaknesses that Appalachian has, and that is mainly getting the ball down in the post to Cedrick Holmes and Corey Cooper. 

Appalachian’s starting five is the best the Southern Conference has to offer, and regardless of this latest two-game losing streak, this team will be back, and come Southern Conference Tournament time this team will still be the team to beat, regardless if CofC beat us or not. 

App has a chance to turn it around today at UNCG, and to start a string of wins when Western comes to Boone in Varsity Gym’s send-off. 

So for all the fans that jumped off the wagon, the next pickup is on Tuesday night after UNCG. Jump back on, or be left off when we go to the NCAA tournament. 
 

Meet the fans favorite: Kent Phillips 
Brian Meadows  Club Sports 

It’s hard to follow a tough act. It’s even harder to follow-up the great performance of someone you’re related to. 

That was somewhat of the situation that Kent Phillips walked into when he came to Appalachian in 1996. 

Phillips’ brother (Kemp Phillips) was a strong performer for the Mountaineers during his four years at ASU (1987-90).  

The older Phillips is third all-time in career three-point feild goals for the Mountaineers, with 189, shooting the best percentage ever (.433) from behind the arc at Appalachain. 

He also established himself as a good passer, holding the all-time career record in assists (442) at ASU, until this season when Tyson Patterson broke that record. 

Despite all the accomplishments, the younger Phillips never really let the hoopla of his brother’s great career at ASU shadow him. 

“It hasn’t been a big deal,” said Phillips. “After my first year, I didn’t even think about it that much,” added Phillips, who said he thought that Patterson had been hearing more about it than he had because Patterson had broken several of his older brother’s assist records. 

Phillips, a 6-foot-6 inch senior, chose to come to Boone to play for the Mountaineers over Campbell and East Carolina. 

“I knew all about (App.) because my brother played here and he really enjoyed it,” said Phillips, adding that after consulting his brother and the rest of his family, decided that ASU would be the best place for him. 

So when the Mt. Airy native made the transition from North  

Surry High School where he averaged 15.3 points, nine rebounds and 4.1 assists per game as asenior, to ASU as a freshman, there were three expectations he set before himself.  

“Basically I wanted to come help the team win for one thing,” said the fourth year scholarship athlete, adding that he also was looking to play some. 

The main thing though, which Phillips stressed, was to come get a good education. 

Phillips hasn’t been any kind of all-star, nor has he seen much playing time during his four years at Appalachian, but effort can’t always be measured in individual statistics. 

“Coach Peterson wanted the seniors, especially at the beginning of the year, to be a leader and help the younger guys who have never played Division one,” said Phillips about part of his role, as well as being a good influence toward those same players on and off the court. 

Of four seniors this year on the Mountaineers roster, Phillips is one of three, that has been part of the rebuilding process in the men’s basketball program, which began under the instruction of Peterson. 

“It’s meant a lot to me,” said Phillips about being part of the turn-around. “It was real good to start off the first year at .500, and then go on to win probably 20 games three straight years.” 

The Mountaineers are approaching the end of their regular season. The last home game against Western Carolina promises to be an emotional one. It will be the day Mountaineer fans say farewell to Varsity Gym and also this years seniors. 

“It will be a weird day,” said Phillips with mixed emotions. “It’s going to be happy because it’ll be a big game, but at the same time it’s going to be pretty sad for a lot of us because we’ve been together for four years,” said Phillips regarding himself, Matt McMahon and Tyson Patterson, who were part of the same freshman class in 1996.  

“It’s going to be kind of sad knowing that’s going to be your last game ever in Varsity (Gym), or ever in college period.”  

Looking back on his career at Appalachian, Phillips recalled a couple of memorable moments. 

“Scoring at Carolina, especially when you grow up in North Carolina, that’s like every little kids dream,” said Phillips, “and then last year winning against Davidson, and showing them where we (team) had come from the first year into that year, was another big one for me.” 

“This year hopefully we can add a (NCAA) tournament to it, because that’s really the only thing missing from my four years right now, going to the tournament and seeing us get picked on bid day,” said Phillips, adding that that’s the senior’s goal and the younger players having said that they want to send them out on a good note. 

Phillips is graduating next December with a degree in Physical Education. He will be student teaching and helping coach basketball as an assisstant to his brother Kemp, who is the head coach at Mt. Airy High School, next semester. He may also have the opportunity to coach the junior varsity squad there too. 

“I’m looking to just stay involved with basketball as long as I can.” 

Women Suffer Another Heartbreak 
Chris Boyce Varsity Sports 

The Appalachian State women’s basketball team suffered another heartbreaking defeat Saturday, losing a 68-67 thriller at the hands of Davidson College in Belk Arena. 

A last second prayer from Tiffany Chappell was a few inches short of giving the Apps a much needed victory, but the combination of Davidson’s Janna Magette and Jennifer O’Brien 13 straight points at the end of the game proved to be too much to handle for the Mountaineers. 

With just seconds left in the game, ASU’s pressure defense forced the Wildcats to make a poor pass which ended up in the hands of senior forward Tiffany Chappell. 

Chappell caught the ball at the top of the key and immediately heaved it up, where it bounced off the glass and into the basket. 

But replays showed Chappell’s feet just inches in front of the three-point line and the basket was scored as a two. 

The loss is the second close one for the Mountaineers in a row, as they also lost to East Tennessee State in overtime, 85-80 on Senior Day at Varsity Gym. 

Magette’s four-of-four free throws in the final minute of play  helped secure the victory. Davidson was led in scoring by senior forward Katy Kamp, who had 20 points on nine of 18 shooting from the floor. 

Twelve of her points came in the first half. O’Brien chipped in 18 points and 11 rebounds, earning her sixth double-double of the season. 

 She was just one assist shy of a triple- double with nine and also had three blocks and three steals. 

The Wildcats, last in the Southern Conference in free throw percentage, connected on 13 of 16 tries from the charity stripe, including five of six in the final minute of play. 

Appalachian State shot a paltry nine of 18 from the line, including three misses down the stretch. 

Jamie Gagliano led the Mountaineers with 16 points and Chappell recorded a double- double, scoring 15 points and pulling down 10 rebounds. 

Natasha Lettsome rounded out the double figure scoring for ASU with 10 points. 

ASU took a five-point lead, 62-57, with 3:33 left in the game on a Chappell three-pointer and quieted the raucous crowd but the Wildcats answered back. 

Davidson went on a 6-0 run over the next 90 seconds to take a one-point lead, 63-62, with 1:28 left but a pair of Magette free throws with 45 seconds left in the game broke the fifth tie of the half and put Davidson ahead for good. 

 The Wildcats trailed the Mountaineers 42-40 at the break. Davidson shot 51.7 percent in the first half while ASU was equally on fire from the floor, connecting on 50 percent of its attempts. 

With the win, the Wildcats improve to 8-15 overall and 7-9 in the Southern Conference, while Appalachian State falls to 11-14 overall and is now 7-9 in the Southern Conference as well. 

The loss puts the Mountaineers in a tie for sixth place in the Southern Conference and is the Mountaineers’ fifth loss in six games. 

Apps Baseball Drops First Three 
Compiled From ASU SID 

Winthrop scored three unearned runs in the bottom of the seventh inning for a 3-1 come from behind victory over Appalachian State University Sunday afternoon. With the loss, ASU fell to 0-3 overall, while the Eagles are now 5-2 on the season. Appalachian opened the scoring in the top of the third inning as Kevin Jones drove in Cary Hobbs for the Mountaineers’ only run. Freshman Ben Hager (0-1) took the loss for the Mountaineers. Fellow freshman Tyson Blocker got the start for ASU, pitching six innings, allowing no runs on just four hits, walking two and striking out five. Chris Behne, Ryan Duke, Jason Howell and Hobbs had ASU’s four hits on the afternoon. 

On Saturday, the Eagles defeated ASU 4-0. ASU’s Rodney Lemonds (0-1) took the loss while Wes Timmons and Behne each had two hits for Appalachian. Last Wednesday, ASU lost its 2000 baseball season opener, 11-1, at UNC Charlotte Wednesday afternoon. Starter Ryan Kelly took the loss for the Mountaineers. Timmons led ASU with a pair of hits. The Mountaineers travel to Florida State for single games with the 1999 College World Series finalists on Tuesday and Wednesday, before playing a three-game series at Tennessee next weekend. 

Wrestlers Slammed 
Compiled From ASU SID 

James Madison (6-3) defeated Appalachian State University (7-10, 3-2) 25-16 in dual meet action Saturday morning at Broome-Kirk Gymnasium. The Mountaineers end the dual season at 7-10 overall, including a 3-2 Southern Conference mark that is good for a third place finish in the league. Mountaineer 141-pounder Jeremy Hart defeated the Dukes’ Dave Vollmer 6-1, running Hart’s winning streak to 21 matches. Appalachian travels to Chattanooga Saturday for the Southern Conference Championships. 
 
 
 
 

 Return To Top