Fort Chiswell ends Twin Springs' season in state quarterfinals

DUBLIN, Va — It was win or go home. Twin Springs returned to Nickelsville on Tuesday night for the final time this season after dropping a 75-47 Class 1 state quarterfinal decision to Fort Chiswell on Tuesday night at Pulaski County High School. Fort Chiswell (23-5) will face Patrick Henry on Friday in the Class 1 state semifinals, also at Pulaski County High School, with the winning team advancing to the Class 1 state championship game on March 13 at Virginia Commonwealth's Siegel Center in Richmond. Twin Springs (17-8), which finished second in the Cumberland District regular season and postseason tournament, made its first state tournament appearance since 2023. Owen Jackson, who entered the game averaging 33.6 points a game, led the Pioneers with 29 points, while Kenton Sutphin added 15 points and Landon Eversole tossed in 10. The Pioneers canned 11 3s, including three apiece by Jackson, Sutphin and Eversole. "(Jackson) is really tough, a really special player and he makes it tough on the entire defense because you have got to put so much attention on him and then those other guys are knocking down shots," Twin Springs head coach Tyler Webb said. "You just kind of pick your poison. I thought we did a good job at times of limiting him and trying to make it tough on him, but obviously he is a great player and he started hitting some shots. "When he is hitting shots and everybody else is hitting shots, they are tough to beat." Clay Ross, one of five senior starters for Twin Springs, led the Titans with four 3s and 20 points in his final high school game. Brennan Weddle added two 3s and eight points and Pietro Liberatore added six points in the loss. "Clay does play with a lot of confidence. He was a little leg-dead early in the game, he was short on some of his shots, but he was able to find a way to get some rhythm," Webb said. "I thought after that first quarter he played pretty well." Jackson scored eight first quarter points to lift Fort Chiswell to a 22-10 lead, which was expanded to 40-22 at halftime. Twin Spring fell behind 16-4, whittled the deficit to eight, 30-22, on a bucket by Isaiah Kiser before the Pioneers went on a 10-0 run heading into the break. "We had like three straight possessions there where we turned it over, we missed a long shot and they got a run-out and they scored on all three of those possessions," Webb said. "I thought we did a good job of weathering the storm early and we fought back into the game and I was hoping we could go into halftime around 10 and try to come back in and try to claw our way back into it. "There is goes, they are a really talented team, we know they can really shoot the ball well. They showed it tonight." Fort Chiswell continued to push the lead, continuing to pressure in the backcourt and outscoring the Titans, 26-11, to take a 66-33 lead into the final period. "Twin Springs had a good run. No. 3 (Ross) is a heckuva player," Fort Chiswell head coach Derrick Jackson said. "I am very proud of my kids. We knew what we wanted to do, we wanted to get after them out front in the front court. "I thought they did better early than I thought they would taking care of our pressure, but eventually it got to them. We shot the ball really well." Twin Springs will be rebuilding some next season with all five starters being seniors. "I am really proud of this group," Twin Springs head coach Tyler Webb said. "They have overcome a lot and I think they have exceeded expectations. Those young guys have got some big shoes to fill, but we have been in that position before so we will get back to work and try to get back here."