Why are coaches leaving and kids not playing? Is this a cause for concern?

I wish you'd offer an answer on that one.

VANCEBURG Lewis County junior center Jacob Kiebler was “thrown to the wolves,” as he said coach Joe Hampton put it, in Tuesday night’s season opener against Ashland.

 

Hampton or Kiebler could have been referring to junior big man Jeremy McCann, too.

 

Both ends of the inside duo survived that test. Each posted double-doubles in their most significant varsity action yet, helping the host Lions snap a 10-year, 11-game losing streak to the Tomcats, 65-52.

 

“Honestly, we didn’t know how the two bigs were gonna work together,” Hampton said. “A big key for us, we felt like, is how quickly those two guys matured, because we said if they came in and make that adjustment from JV to varsity quickly and come in and make plays, I feel like our team has a chance to be pretty good, because we’ve got some quick guards.”

 

McCann notched 11 points and 10 rebounds, while Kiebler collected 11 points and 11 boards off the bench.

 

“I thought it was a really good experience for us,” McCann said. “This is our first year starting and everything.”

 

Jordan Davis had 11 points and Trenton Walker scored 10 to join them in double figures.

 

Ashland’s Christian Villers led all scorers with 18 points. Nick Miller notched 12 points and 10 boards for the Tomcats.

 

Lewis County junior guard Jake Parker went down due to injury in the second quarter. That was what spurred the Lions to use McCann and Kiebler together.

 

"We’ve got some size for the first time across the board like that,” Hampton said. “I think this is probably the biggest team we’ve had.”

 

Kiebler, listed at 6-foot-8, is 3 inches taller than the tallest Tomcat, Dallas Knipp, who checks in at 6-5. McCann is 6-4.

 

Combine that with the fact that three Ashland players who coach Buddy Biggs bemusedly used air quotes to describe as what passes for the Tomcats’ “big men” fouled out, and you see how Ashland had trouble handling Lewis County inside late.

 

“Our bigs aren’t as big as their bigs, but three of our bigs fouled out, and that’s part of the maturation process,” Biggs said. “We’re a very, very young basketball team. They have to learn to play aggressively without fouling.”

 

Lewis County (1-0) nearly matched its point total from the first three quarters in the fourth period alone. Ashland (0-1) led a plodding game, 36-34, after three quarters before the Lions racked up 31 in the fourth frame.

 

Lewis County scored the first 10 points of the final stanza and led the rest of the way. McCann hit two charity tosses to tie the score at the 7:47 mark, and Davis splashed in back-to-back 3-pointers before Kiebler canned two more free throws.

 

“You’ve got a team that’s kind of young that hasn’t had all this varsity experience,” Hampton said, “and that’s kind of the point where we got settled down a little bit and not be so tight, and loosened us up.”

 

The Lions relied on defense as well. Villers had 10 points at intermission, but was 1-for-9 from the field in the second half, though he did hit 6 of 7 at the foul line during that time.

 

“(Lewis County) went to the triangle-and-two the whole second half, and it stagnated our offense,” Biggs said. “My hat’s off to coach Hampton and his staff. We tried to adjust as best we could ... and we just didn’t do a good enough job executing.”

 

Aside from Miller and Villers, Ashland’s roster is populated with unknown quantities at the varsity level. As such, Biggs expects to see a whole lot more of the same sort of defensive scheme.

 

"Until other guys step up and prove they can score too, I’d say we’ll see this on a nightly basis,” the coach said.

The win is Lewis County’s first against Ashland since Nov. 30, 2004, and only the second in program history. The teams opened the season against each other for the seventh straight year.

 

Blue moon? Lewis tops Tomcats - The Independent Online: Sports

I wish you'd offer an answer on that one.

 

If I knew the answer, I would provide it. I can therefore only speculate on why and I would probably be wrong anyway.