Essex’s Dom Ashlock goes in for a snow bird layup following a Colonial Beach turnover. Ashlock scored a game-high 21 points in the Trojans’ 71-46 victory.
Essex and Colonial Beach got together for a Northern Neck District boys’ basketball matinee Saturday in Tappahannock.
When the final horn sounded, Essex — sparked by a fourth quarter scoring onslaught — collected a 71-46 victory.
The victory vaulted the Trojans (4-5) into third place in the NND standings with one game left to play against Rappahannock on February 18.
The result also clinched Essex a berth in next week’s Region 1A tournament. The Trojans are anticipated to be the seventh seed and will likely face Middlesex in a quarterfinal contest.
Saturday against Colonial Beach, Arek Ashlock drained back-to-back 3-pointers early in the fourth quarter to carry Essex to a double digit lead.
Ashlock’s consecutive treys ignited a 20-3 scoring run that saw a 42-38 Essex lead balloon to 62-41 with just over two minutes to play.
“Those two by Arek really got us going,” Essex coach Tione Meade said. “He’s a big spark plug for us. Him hitting those two 3’s put us in a comfortable position.”
After sinking just 8 shots from the floor during a 65- 27 loss to NND regular season champion Northumberland the previous night, Essex converted 27 field goals while limiting Colonial Beach to 31 percent accuracy from the field.
Essex’s Dom Ashlock, who swished home a trio of 3-pointers, led all scorers with 21 points. Teammate Kyran Howard added 18 points while collecting 11 rebounds.
The 71 points marked a season high for the Trojans who posted 31 points in the final period.
Meanwhile, Northumberland, claimed its first NND regular season crown since 2007
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