Thursday, January 5,  2006

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by Lloyd Combs
Sports Reporter

      Basketball teams tend to break seasons down into three parts: pre-district or conference play, district games and then the post-season.
      If the way Twin Valley improved from its first early-season tournament to its third is any indication, it’s more than ready for the BDD and beyond.
       Twin Valley captured the championship of its own tourney, the Ramey Holiday Classic, winning three games last week by an average margin of 29 points, including a 79-41 rout of Chilhowie in Friday’s finals at TVHS.
      The Panthers defeated a strong Bishop McGuiness (N.C.) club, 67-47, in semifinal play Thursday and broke open a close game in the second half of an 83-54 win over Day Spring in first round play on Wednesday.
       “We’ve gotten better since the Virginia High tournament,” said Twin Valley Coach Brian Moore, whose club won at Bristol after splitting two tournament games to open the season in Johnson City, Tenn.
        “We played with a little bit more intensity (last week). We played a little bit better defensively, and we were a little bit more focused on whatever we were trying to do every game.”
        Kent Goodman was focused on the basket in Friday’s finals, even from 25 feet or more out. The senior guard had nine three-pointers through the middle of the third quarter, finished with nine and scored a game-high 31 points, despite spending the fourth quarter on the bench.
        The tournament MVP hit 15 three-pointers and scored 69 points overall in three games. After hitting just one of his first three attempts from behind the three-point arc Friday, Goodman connected on eight of his next nine, all in the second and third quarters, some of them from NBA range.
         “Kent tied Nick Harman’s school record (nine 3s),” Moore said. “Since I’ve been coaching, I’ve never had a player as hot as Kent was.
        “When he shoots that well, it opens up the middle for us, and it really creates a lot of match-up problems for whoever we play.”

For more of the story, see the print edition of the Mountaineer, on sale at newsstands now.  For more information on how to subscribe to the Mountaineer, call 276-935-2123 today.
 

Grundy Claims Third Place in Greenwave Classic with 62-36 Pounding of Wildcats

       Grundy won one nail-biter and dropped another, but bounced back to claim third place in the Greenwave Classic with a 62-36 rout of Pound in the consolation finals Thursday night at Clintwood Elementary School.
        The Golden Wave edged Coeburn, 66-64, in an opening round contest on Tuesday, and fell to Castlewood by an almost identical score, 65-63, in semifinal play Wednesday night.
        Grundy (4-3) jumped out to an early double-digit lead and was able to force the tempo just enough against Pound, starting with a 16-6 run.
        Anthony Mullins scored 14 points and Jimmy Ashby added 10 for the Golden Wave, which extended its lead to 36-20 by halftime and prevented Pound from controlling the tempo.
       “We had a good defensive effort against their half court offense,” Grundy Coach Greg Rife said. “We were able to get the ball out and run when it was there and our shot selection was good, too.”
        Adam Keith paced Pound (2-6) with 14 points.
        In the semis, Grundy trailed Castlewood, 48-35, in the opening minute of the fourth quarter when Jimmy Ashby and Bobby Peck led a 19-0 run that gave the Golden Wave a 54-48 lead.
        “Castlewood absolutely did not miss from the perimeter against us,” said Rife, whose club fell behind 36-28 at the half. “Defensively, I thought we played them tough the whole ballgame and they kind of wore down a little bit.
        “We kept fresh legs, which contributed to our big fourth quarter. But after we got our six-point lead, we made some bad decisions as a team.”
         The Blue Devils got 22 points from Drew Carter and 20 from Chris Smith. Patrick Fisher added 12 points for Castlewood, which held Grundy’s leading scorer, Theo Justus, to four points.
         The Wave, in turn, held Blue Devils star Drew Justice to two points. Ashby finished with 20 points and Peck had 12 for Grundy, all on fourth-quarter treys. Tigh Compton tossed in 13 points for the Golden Wave.
         Grundy opened with a 21-7 first period and held off a physical Coeburn club for its opening round victory.
 

For more of the story, see the print edition of the Mountaineer, on sale at newsstands now.  For more information on how to subscribe to the Mountaineer, call 276-935-2123 today.

by Lloyd Combs
Sports Reporter

       Council finished its run in the Coal Classic with a 9-3 spurt at the end of the final game, and two wins in three tries, after a 53-47 victory over host Appalachia in Friday’s nightcap in the round-robin style tournament at Appalachia High School.
        The Cobras opened play with a 60-49 win over Cedar View Christian on Tuesday and got clobbered by St. Paul, 71-50, on Wednesday.
        Caleb Epling’s basket snapped a 44-44 tie and started Friday’s game-ending run. D.J. Barton added a layup and the Cobras protected the lead by hitting 5-of-6 free throws in the final minute.
        “We finally came out with some intensity,” Council Coach Neil Rasnake said. “We didn’t play with any the first two nights. (Appalachia) killed us on the boards, but, overall, we played a lot better than we did the first two nights.”
        Barton scored a game-high 19 points and Epling finished with 13 points for the Cobras. The Bulldogs got 15 points from Adam Kiser and 12 points and 13 rebounds from Brian Baber.
         St. Paul (8-1) followed a strong finish to the first half with a dominating effort in the third quarter.
         The Deacons opened the second half with a 17-1 run to take a 44-26 lead, thanks in part to its solid post play on both ends of the floor.
         David Williams (15 points, 8 rebounds), Brandon Phillips (12 points, 13 boards) and Ryan Padgett (10 boards) controlled the paint for the Deacons.
          Council (7-2) struggled to run its offense against the bigger Deacons, and that seemed to carry over on the defensive end and on the boards, where St. Paul held a two-to-one, 40-20 advantage.
          “I thought our post players really stepped up for us,” St. Paul Coach Patrick Damron said. “When they scored inside, it opened things up for us outside.”
          Nathan Evans and Josh Moore hit five three-pointers- on just seven attempts for the Deacons. Evans tossed in a game-high 21 points, while Moore added 15 for St. Paul, which, otherwise, shot mostly layups and was a red-hot 70 percent (21-30) from the field after starting 3-for-15 in the first period.
           Barton was the lone double figure scorer with 17 points. The 6-foot-4 senior also pulled down nine rebounds.
 

For more of the story, see the print edition of the Mountaineer, on sale at newsstands now.  For more information on how to subscribe to the Mountaineer, call 276-935-2123 today.