Southern Conference

Tournament:

Bring the energy
By Steve Behr
sports@wataugademocrat.com

Appalachian State head coach Houston Fancher hopes history repeats itself this weekend when it comes to Jeremy Clayton.

The 6-foot-7 senior forward goes into the Mountaineers’ Southern Conference Tournament game against UNC Greensboro looking to repeat a performance from the last time he played in the event. Clayton was named second-team All-Tournament team when the Mountaineers reached the semifinals last year.

Clayton, who was named SoCon Media Association third-team All-SoCon, is a key ingredient if Appalachian State wants to return to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2000. He doesn’t have to score a lot of points, but he has to score enough to be a threat down low.

He doesn’t have to lead the team in rebounds, but he can’t afford to go without.

It also would not hurt for Clayton to spend any time in foul trouble.

That was a problem the last time the Mountaineers played UNC Greensboro. While Clayton, Appalachian State’s top defender inside, got into very early foul trouble, UNCG’s Kyle Hines was scoring 26 points on the way to the Spartans’ victory.

But defense, rebounding and some scoring are not the only things Clayton has to bring to Saturday’s game.
He has to bring his energy to the court.

“Coach has said I need to be the energy-type guy,” Clayton said after the Mountaineers beat Western Carolina last Saturday. “I have to get rebounds that are not in my area, get blocked shots, run down court and get dunks and everything. When I do things like that, the other guys feed off the energy I bring and it gets everybody up.”

Clayton showed energy in the Mountaineers’ win last Saturday. He scored eight points, blocked three shots and pulled down 13 rebounds. Two of his points came on a reverse-slam dunk.

“I didn’t know I was going to do it until I got up in the air,” Clayton said. “I wanted to get the home crowd up on their feet.”

Clayton also showed he can do the little things, such as dish out four assists and steal the ball one time.
He also showed some durability by playing 35 minutes.

“Jeremy has got to be visible,” Fancher said. “He’s got to be tipping rebounds, he’s got to be blocking shots, he’s got to be running the court. He’s got to be a guy that you see, because going back to his AAU days, he tended to disappear. When he disappears, he’s a non-factor.”

Appalachian State’s win over Western was a contrast to the last time the Mountaineers played UNC Greensboro, which the Spartans won 79-55. Clayton scored just three points, grabbed six rebounds and had seven turnovers, though he also had four assists, two blocked shots and three steals.

It wasn’t nearly enough. Hines hit 11-of-15 shots and had a game-high nine rebounds.

Saturday is a chance for the Mountaineers to prove they belong in the
“We definitely have something to prove,” forward Doug McLaughlin-Williams said. “Nobody in this locker room has ever been to the NCAA Tournament. We won the SoCon North, but we lost seven games in the conference, so we’ve got that to make up.”

All-League
Whitney Tossie was named to the first-team All-Southern Conference team by the league’s coaches, while Sam Ramirez was named to the All-Freshman team.

Tossie was second in the conference in scoring with 13.7 points per game and 3.1 steals per game. She finished the season with 27 points in a loss to Georgia Southern last Saturday.

Ramirez scored 8.1 points per game. She had 37 3-point baskets and had 34 steals this season.

SoCon Tournament:
Men’s championship
Friday, March 7
Game 1: Wofford (8) vs. Western Carolina (9), 3 p.m.
Game 2: Elon (7) vs. Furman (10), 30 minutes after Game 1
Game 3: College of Charleston (6) vs. The Citadel (11), 30 minutes after Game 2
Saturday, March 8
Game 4: Davidson (1) vs. winner Game 1, 2 p.m.
Game 5: Appalachian State (4) vs. UNC Greensboro (5), 30 minutes after Game 4
Game 6: Chattanooga (2) vs. winner Game 2, 7 p.m.
Game 7: Georgia Southern (3) vs. winner Game 3, 30 minutes after Game 6
Sunday, March 9 (Both games on SportSouth)
Game 8: Winner Game 4 vs. winner Game 5, 6 p.m.
Game 9: Winner Game 6 vs. winner Game 7, 8:30 p.m.
Monday, March 10 (On ESPN2)
Championship game
Game 10: Winner Game 8 vs. Winner Game 9, 9 p.m.

Women’s Tournament
Thursday, March 6
Game 1: Furman (7) vs. Wofford (10), 3:30 p.m.
Game 2: Appalachian State (8) vs. UNC Greensboro (9), 30 minutes after Game 1
Friday, March 7
Game 3: Western Carolina (2) vs. winner Game 1, 10 a.m.
Game 4: Chattanooga (1) vs. winner Game 2, 30 minutes after Game 3
Saturday, March 8
Game 5: Georgia Southern (4) vs. College of Charleston (5), 9 a.m.
Game 6: Davidson (3) vs. Elon (6), 30 minutes following game
Sunday, March 9 (Both games on SportSouth)
Game 7: Winner Game 4 vs. winner Game 5, noon
Game 8: Winner Game 3 vs. winner Game 6, 2:30 p.m.
Monday, March 10 (On SportSouth)
Championship game
Game 9: Winner Game 7 vs. winner Game 8, 5 p.m.