Boys:
Richlands 82, (1A) Twin Valley 37
Race Moir drained six 3-pointers in scoring 26 points and also hauled down 14 rebounds as the Richlands Blue Tornado opened the season with a convincing road win.
Taylor Horn added 16 points and 15 rebounds for the Blues, which used a 29-4 third quarter run to turn a 10-point game into a no-doubter. Caleb Horn (13 points) also scored in double digits.
Trevor McGlothlin had 16 points for Twin Valley.
Grayson County 74, Virginia High 54
A 12-point, 16-rebound, 10-assist masterpiece from Wes Ayers sent the Grayson County Blue Devils to an easy victory over Virginia High.
Seth Phillips added 24 points for Grayson County.
Virginia High (0-2) was led by 17 points apiece from Alex Inman and Tyler Strong.
Girls:
Buffalo Wild Wings Bearcat Tip-Off
John Battle 47, (1A) Honaker 39
By Anthony Stevens BHC Sports Correspondent
BRISTOL, Va. – The John Battle Trojans advanced to the semifinals of the Buffalo Wild Wings Bearcat Tip-Off girls basketball tournament with a 47-39 victory over Honaker on Thursday, a win which featured a milestone.
John Battle head coach Jeff Adkins picked up his 200th career win as a girls coach. In this 36th year as a boys or girls head coach, Adkins is quickly approaching 400 career wins.
“I never thought I would see 200 wins though,” Adkins said. “I didn’t do it, all the kids through the years did it.”
It appeared Adkins may have to wait for the momentous win as Honaker (1-2) never trailed through the first three quarters of play. However, the largest lead for the Tigers was just six points.
“It was a struggle, the kids played hard,” Adkins said. “I kept telling them, we’re there, we’re within four. We didn’t play good in the first half, didn’t play good in the third quarter, in the fourth quarter things finally started clicking.”
After scoring only 21 points through the first 24 minutes of play, the Trojans exploded for 26 points in the fourth quarter. After a three-point play by Honaker freshman LeeAnna McNulty, who finished with a game-high 24 points, the Tigers were up 28-23 with 6:21 left to play.
Callie Haderer who had one point through the first three quarters, drove to the basket to drop in a layup for Battle and start a game-clinching surge.
“She hit that layup and I told her it’s time, it’s time you start playing,” Adkins said. “You’re the leader and after that everyone settled down. Everyone was rushing their shots, playing in a hurry and you can’t do that.”
Michaela Monk’s putback put Battle ahead 29-28, putting the Trojans ahead to stay.
“I knew we could do it,” Haderer said. “This team just has that fight, just working together I knew we could get it done.”
Monk led John Battle with 15 points, 11 of those came in the fourth quarter. Bethany Smith contributed 14 points in the win, while Haderer added 10 points in the fourth quarter to finish with 11 in the game.
“We really wanted this game,” Haderer said. “We’ve been working on our defense and fundamentals a lot in practice. We knew if we did the little things right, we could win the game.”
Honaker’s nine-player roster includes six freshmen and no seniors. Their inexperience showed with 26 turnovers to only eight for John Battle.
“We controlled the game until the fourth quarter,” said Honaker coach Misty Davis Miller. “I felt we gave up some easy buckets, some right around the goal that let them back in it.”
John Battle faces Eastside at 7 p.m. in tonight’s semifinals.
Lebanon 49, (1A) Patrick Henry 31
Alyssa Padilla fired in 17 points as the Lebanon Pioneers opened the tournament with a victory.
Kara Long added 15 points for the winners, who play Virginia High in tonight’s semifinals.
Freshman Breanna Yarber led Patrick Henry with 11 points.
Virginia High 48, (1A) Holston 28
Jada Campbell scored 14 points as host Virginia High pulled away in the second half in vanquishing the Holston Cavaliers.
Amaya Lee added 10 points for the Bearcats. Holston was led by Ally Manuel’s 10 points.
(1A) Eastside 68, (1A) George Wythe 63
In the nightcap, Eastside took a hard fought win over George Wythe.
After finishing as VHSL 1A state runner-up last season, there are a lot of new faces on the George Wythe roster.
“The team we had last year was seasoned,” said George Wythe coach Doug Campbell. “I told my girls, that was last year. I’m very excited about the team I have this year. I see flashes, but sometimes we will go into a little funk where we make some mistakes. But if they give me the effort every night I will come away happy.”
Eastside took control of the contest after beginning the second quarter on a 7-2 run.
“They came and pressed us like George Wythe does,” said Eastside coach Barry Ruff. “We didn’t respond to it early and then we got the lead and got comfortable. They made a run and I knew they would.”
Seniors Emily Moore (17 points) and Wyrick (16 points) were the leaders for Eastside. Wyrick scored on a key three-point play late.
“We got the ball into our playmakers hands,” Ruff said. “Hannah is struggling, she’s trying to find it, but we’re still winning games. When she struggles she has to get to the rim and she was able to do that tonight.”
Drea Betts (17 points), Mariah Miller (13 points) and Maleah Kirtner (11 points) paced the Maroons.
“George Wythe has a lot of freshmen, we’ve all been in that boat,” Ruff said. “I had my four seniors in there and I kept them in the game when we stepped up there. We won a big game; this is a big game for us.”
Powell Valley National Bank Tip-Off Classic
Wise Central 75, Graham 31
Gracie Mullins scored 21 points -- including recording the 1,000th point of her career with six minutes remaining in the third quarter -- as the Wise Central Warriors earned a 75-31 girls basketball win over Graham on Thursday night in the first round of the Powell Valley National Bank Tip-Off Classic.
The defending VHSL 2A state champs, Wise Central (2-0) led 24-9 after the first quarter and never looked back. Dee Cvetnich added 13 points, 14 rebounds and four steals in the win, while Brooke Porter (12 points, five steals) and Hannah Carter (10 points) also played well.
Wise Central shot 48.4 percent from the field and forced 28 turnovers.
Ridgeview 59, East Ridge (Ky.) 38
Bailey Frazier stuffed the stat sheet with 23 points, eight rebounds, five steals and four blocks as the Ridgeview Wolfpack easily won in the first round of the Powell Valley National Bank Tip-Off Classic.
Nikole Counts added 18 points and four rebounds for Ridgeview, which forced 30 turnovers.
Union 58, Jenkins (Ky.) 17
Abigail Webb scored 18 points as the Union Bears annihilated Jenkins in the first round of the Powell Valley National Bank Tip-Off Classic.
Union put the game away with a 23-2 second quarter run and also received 11 rebounds from Ashley Chester.
Jenkins shot 15.2 percent from the field and coughed up 29 turnovers.
Shelby Valley (Ky.) 55, (1A) Rye Cove 46
Rye Cove's Lexi Rhoten torched the nets for 29 points, but it wasn't enough as the Eagles were overpowered in the first round of the Powell Valley National Bank Tip-Off Classic.
Rye Cove held a 42-29 rebounding edge, but committed 23 turnovers.
(All briefs from the Bristol Herald Courier)
Richlands 82, (1A) Twin Valley 37
Race Moir drained six 3-pointers in scoring 26 points and also hauled down 14 rebounds as the Richlands Blue Tornado opened the season with a convincing road win.
Taylor Horn added 16 points and 15 rebounds for the Blues, which used a 29-4 third quarter run to turn a 10-point game into a no-doubter. Caleb Horn (13 points) also scored in double digits.
Trevor McGlothlin had 16 points for Twin Valley.
Grayson County 74, Virginia High 54
A 12-point, 16-rebound, 10-assist masterpiece from Wes Ayers sent the Grayson County Blue Devils to an easy victory over Virginia High.
Seth Phillips added 24 points for Grayson County.
Virginia High (0-2) was led by 17 points apiece from Alex Inman and Tyler Strong.
Girls:
Buffalo Wild Wings Bearcat Tip-Off
John Battle 47, (1A) Honaker 39
By Anthony Stevens BHC Sports Correspondent
BRISTOL, Va. – The John Battle Trojans advanced to the semifinals of the Buffalo Wild Wings Bearcat Tip-Off girls basketball tournament with a 47-39 victory over Honaker on Thursday, a win which featured a milestone.
John Battle head coach Jeff Adkins picked up his 200th career win as a girls coach. In this 36th year as a boys or girls head coach, Adkins is quickly approaching 400 career wins.
“I never thought I would see 200 wins though,” Adkins said. “I didn’t do it, all the kids through the years did it.”
It appeared Adkins may have to wait for the momentous win as Honaker (1-2) never trailed through the first three quarters of play. However, the largest lead for the Tigers was just six points.
“It was a struggle, the kids played hard,” Adkins said. “I kept telling them, we’re there, we’re within four. We didn’t play good in the first half, didn’t play good in the third quarter, in the fourth quarter things finally started clicking.”
After scoring only 21 points through the first 24 minutes of play, the Trojans exploded for 26 points in the fourth quarter. After a three-point play by Honaker freshman LeeAnna McNulty, who finished with a game-high 24 points, the Tigers were up 28-23 with 6:21 left to play.
Callie Haderer who had one point through the first three quarters, drove to the basket to drop in a layup for Battle and start a game-clinching surge.
“She hit that layup and I told her it’s time, it’s time you start playing,” Adkins said. “You’re the leader and after that everyone settled down. Everyone was rushing their shots, playing in a hurry and you can’t do that.”
Michaela Monk’s putback put Battle ahead 29-28, putting the Trojans ahead to stay.
“I knew we could do it,” Haderer said. “This team just has that fight, just working together I knew we could get it done.”
Monk led John Battle with 15 points, 11 of those came in the fourth quarter. Bethany Smith contributed 14 points in the win, while Haderer added 10 points in the fourth quarter to finish with 11 in the game.
“We really wanted this game,” Haderer said. “We’ve been working on our defense and fundamentals a lot in practice. We knew if we did the little things right, we could win the game.”
Honaker’s nine-player roster includes six freshmen and no seniors. Their inexperience showed with 26 turnovers to only eight for John Battle.
“We controlled the game until the fourth quarter,” said Honaker coach Misty Davis Miller. “I felt we gave up some easy buckets, some right around the goal that let them back in it.”
John Battle faces Eastside at 7 p.m. in tonight’s semifinals.
Lebanon 49, (1A) Patrick Henry 31
Alyssa Padilla fired in 17 points as the Lebanon Pioneers opened the tournament with a victory.
Kara Long added 15 points for the winners, who play Virginia High in tonight’s semifinals.
Freshman Breanna Yarber led Patrick Henry with 11 points.
Virginia High 48, (1A) Holston 28
Jada Campbell scored 14 points as host Virginia High pulled away in the second half in vanquishing the Holston Cavaliers.
Amaya Lee added 10 points for the Bearcats. Holston was led by Ally Manuel’s 10 points.
(1A) Eastside 68, (1A) George Wythe 63
In the nightcap, Eastside took a hard fought win over George Wythe.
After finishing as VHSL 1A state runner-up last season, there are a lot of new faces on the George Wythe roster.
“The team we had last year was seasoned,” said George Wythe coach Doug Campbell. “I told my girls, that was last year. I’m very excited about the team I have this year. I see flashes, but sometimes we will go into a little funk where we make some mistakes. But if they give me the effort every night I will come away happy.”
Eastside took control of the contest after beginning the second quarter on a 7-2 run.
“They came and pressed us like George Wythe does,” said Eastside coach Barry Ruff. “We didn’t respond to it early and then we got the lead and got comfortable. They made a run and I knew they would.”
Seniors Emily Moore (17 points) and Wyrick (16 points) were the leaders for Eastside. Wyrick scored on a key three-point play late.
“We got the ball into our playmakers hands,” Ruff said. “Hannah is struggling, she’s trying to find it, but we’re still winning games. When she struggles she has to get to the rim and she was able to do that tonight.”
Drea Betts (17 points), Mariah Miller (13 points) and Maleah Kirtner (11 points) paced the Maroons.
“George Wythe has a lot of freshmen, we’ve all been in that boat,” Ruff said. “I had my four seniors in there and I kept them in the game when we stepped up there. We won a big game; this is a big game for us.”
Powell Valley National Bank Tip-Off Classic
Wise Central 75, Graham 31
Gracie Mullins scored 21 points -- including recording the 1,000th point of her career with six minutes remaining in the third quarter -- as the Wise Central Warriors earned a 75-31 girls basketball win over Graham on Thursday night in the first round of the Powell Valley National Bank Tip-Off Classic.
The defending VHSL 2A state champs, Wise Central (2-0) led 24-9 after the first quarter and never looked back. Dee Cvetnich added 13 points, 14 rebounds and four steals in the win, while Brooke Porter (12 points, five steals) and Hannah Carter (10 points) also played well.
Wise Central shot 48.4 percent from the field and forced 28 turnovers.
Ridgeview 59, East Ridge (Ky.) 38
Bailey Frazier stuffed the stat sheet with 23 points, eight rebounds, five steals and four blocks as the Ridgeview Wolfpack easily won in the first round of the Powell Valley National Bank Tip-Off Classic.
Nikole Counts added 18 points and four rebounds for Ridgeview, which forced 30 turnovers.
Union 58, Jenkins (Ky.) 17
Abigail Webb scored 18 points as the Union Bears annihilated Jenkins in the first round of the Powell Valley National Bank Tip-Off Classic.
Union put the game away with a 23-2 second quarter run and also received 11 rebounds from Ashley Chester.
Jenkins shot 15.2 percent from the field and coughed up 29 turnovers.
Shelby Valley (Ky.) 55, (1A) Rye Cove 46
Rye Cove's Lexi Rhoten torched the nets for 29 points, but it wasn't enough as the Eagles were overpowered in the first round of the Powell Valley National Bank Tip-Off Classic.
Rye Cove held a 42-29 rebounding edge, but committed 23 turnovers.
(All briefs from the Bristol Herald Courier)
