HENDERSON — After all the fans were cleared from the gym during a dramatic first half, Vance County came close to completing the comeback against Carrboro, but fell short to the Jaguars 71-67 Friday night.
After being pushed around, the Vipers showed pure grit, according to their coach, to cut it to a two-possession game in the second half.
“Under the circumstances, and everything we went through tonight, it was good to see some fight in them,” said Vance County head coach Chad Wilson. “I guess they were just irritated with the whole situation, and it lit a fire under them.”
During halftime, Carrboro athletic director Jon Evans took a microphone to center court and pleaded with both Vance County and Carrboro fans to stop heckling the players and officials. Attempting to deescalate, Evans ultimately, removed all fans from the gym.
“Fans were very upset, and I wanted to get things to calm down — I thought we had passed that moment,” said Evans. “We had gotten to a point where we lost control of the gym. I made a judgment call at that moment.”