Rowsey moves up on VHSL scoring list
Anyone bypassing a chance to watch Andrew Rowsey this year is making a mistake.
The Rockbridge County boys basketball star put on a show Tuesday night with 46 points in an 84-82 win at home over Lord Botetourt.
Rowsey missed his first four shots against Botetourt’s box-and-one as the Cavaliers ran an extra defender at the 5-foot-11 guard when he crossed the halfcourt line. Sitting at courtside I thought, ‘This could be a tough night.”
It was. For Lord Botetourt.
Rowsey had 17 points by halftime. He added 20 more in a sublime third quarter when Botetourt junior Justin Goode answered just about everything Rowsey made with a high-degree-of-difficulty bucket of his own. Goode is very impressive.
Then, when the game was almost hopelessly lost, Rowsey scored eight points in the final 23 seconds including a game-winning 3-pointer with 4.7 seconds to play.
After the game, Botetourt coach Chad Conner said next time he will put the box (four defenders) on Rowsey and the fifth man on Rockbridge’s other four players. I think he was joking. Maybe.
One thing jumps out while watching Rowsey this year. His body is much stronger, which allows him to split defenders for drives in the lane and gives him more range on his jump shot. The kid is as good as you will see at making a full-speed dribble, stopping on a dime and popping a 3-pointer with very little room to get off the shot.
It’s basically the same stuff I saw Rowsey do when I went to Lexington on a Wednesday morning in November to watch one of his 6:45 a.m. individual workouts. There were no defenders that day, and it seemed there weren’t any Tuesday night.
Rowsey’s 46 points moved him up to No. 26 on the VHSL career scoring list, passing former NBA stars Moses Malone and Alonzo Mourning. Rowsey’s next 100 points would move him past the likes of Mike Porter (Pulaski County), J.J. Redick (Cave Spring) and Bryant Stith (Brunswick).
Rowsey has a pretty good shot to move into either the No. 3 or the No. 2 spot all-time in the VHSL. He might not hold that position long though. Floyd County junior Caleb Tanner is just 605 points behind Rowsey with a year to go.
Here is the VHSL’s career scoring list, courtesy of state historian Marshall Johnson:
2,687 Stacy Ervin Twin Springs 1994-97
2,530 Odell Hodge Laurel Park 1989-92
2,459 Steve Marsee Pennington 1973-76
2,388 Joel Copeland Southwestern (VIA) 1967-70
2,368 Kenny Hunt Altavista 2000-04
2,346 Jason Lansdown Broad Run 1989-92
2,328 Tyrese Rice Lloyd Bird 2001-05
2,306 Scottie Reynolds Herndon 2002-06
2,290 Brad Nuckles Council 1999-02
2,275 Danis Simmons J.J. Kelly 1986-89
2,258 Tracy Poindexter Altavista 1976-79
2,257 B.A. Walker Nandua 2000-03
2,256 Winston Terry Jonesville 1982-85
2,251 Tyree Evans George Wythe-Richmond 2001-04
2,246 Terry Kirby Tabb 1986-89
2,236 Kevin Madden Robert E. Lee-Staunton 1982-85
2,232 Michael Crawford James Wood 1994-97
2,226 Lavon White Colonial Beach 1991-95
2,221 Bryant Stith Brunswick 1985-88
2,214 J.J. Redick Cave Spring 1999-02
2,177 Mike Porter Pulaski County 1981-85
2,158 Clyde Austin Maggie Walker 1972-76
2,157 Jeff Owen Cleveland 1965-69
2,149 Harold Jefferson Matoaca 1973-76
2,142 Antoine Willie Nansemond River 1993-97
2,138 ANDREW ROWSEY, Rockbridge County 2010-
2,134 Kendrick Warren Thos. Jefferson-Midlothian 1986-90
2,125 Larry Robinson Carver-Price (VIA) 1966-69
2,124 Moses Malone Petersburg 1971-74
2,124 Mike Collins Flatwoods-Thomas Walker 1986-90
2,105 Alonzo Mourning Indian River 1985-88
2,100 Marquie Cooke Nansemond River 2001-04
2,096 Barry Hamler Powell Valley 1972-76
2,094 Travis McKie John Marshall 2007-10
2,083 Montell Watson Alleghany 2000-02
2,080 Barry Wright I.C. Norcom 1976-79
2,073 Hunter Hoggatt Altavista-Staunton River-Varina1994-97
2,072 Darius Hargrove Brunswick 1998-01
2,061 Ricky Barnes Greensville County 1991-94
2,057 Tyler Crawford R.E. Lee-Staunton 2001-04
2,056 Ben Valley Honaker-Lebanon 1951-55
2,033 Adam Hood Rye Cove 2004-07
2,028 Grant Hill South Lakes 1986-89
2,027 Andrew Adkins Coeburn 2006-09
2,016 Leroy Keyes Carver-Newport News (VIA) 1962-65
2,014 David Mitchell Coeburn 1968-71
2,005 Darris Nichols Radford 2001-04
2,003 Frank Mason Petersburg 2009-12
January 9, 2013 - 10:01 PM
Thanks for nice writeup on Andrew.
This is a good article. Robert knows sports, and he knows individual talent.
The list of scorers is nice also.
Thank you.
One ommission is a player who currently plays collegiately in-state. Former First Colonial standout Tristian Cary, originally went to LaSalle, after putting up 2460 points in his HS carrer. He has since transferred to Longwood, where he is a junior starter, and the club’s leading scorer.
You’re right. T.T. Carey, I believe he played at Colonial Beach and led them to the Division 1 title a few years ago, beating Eastern Montgomery in a great championship game.
Been lucky enough to see several of the folks on this list play but without a doubt #3 on the list, Steve Marsee was by far the best. Simply put, the dude was a weapon. He was a threat to score as he was getting out of his car in the parking lot, and without 3 point shots. The late Jeff Owen wasn’t too far behind Marsee……….
I wouldn’t go that far. I’d have to take Moses Malone. Regardless, I interviewed Steve Marsee at Pennington High School somewhere around 1987 or 1988. He was still living in the area at the time. I called his high school coach, Mike Olinger for some stories. He said Steve moved to Lee County from Indiana in the ninth grade. They had him on the JV team until he scored 56 points in his first game. I also talked to Sonny Smith, who signed Steve to come to East Tennessee State. But Steve got homesick and went back to Pennington. Sonny Smith told me he ruined a new pair of boots chasing after him down a mountainside, trying to get him to come back to Johnson City.
Even though he wasn’t a zillion point scorer during his career, prob the best all round player I saw play was Calvin Talford from Castlewood. He was just an all round great athlete. Saw him outscore Chilhowie’s entire team one night, score 5 TD’s in a regional playoff game and was a pretty fair baseball player to boot. And to top it all off, he was a good guy who was unfazed by his notoriety. Went on to star at East Tennis Shoe U, while managing to win the slam dunk contest one year as well.