Grundy opened up a 15-point first quarter lead and needed every bit of it by the time the day was over, holding off a couple of late Carroll County rallies and hanging on for a 68-58 Southwest District win Saturday evening in Hillsville.
  Grundy (12-4, 5-0 SWD) took advantage of a makeshift Carroll County starting lineup right after the opening tip. Because of Senior Day, the Cavs started with three regulars on the bench.
  Cody Billiter opened the game with eight straight points, including a pair of three-pointers, and his layup off an Ashby steal gave the Wave a 12-0 lead barely three minutes into the game. Billiter finished with a game-high 26 points.
  The Golden Wave held on in the second half as the Cavaliers (6-10, 2-3) overcame their horrid start and got as close as a single point early in the third period.
  Tyler Woods and Brett Rogers scored for the Cavs to open the second half, and following a Jimmy Ashby bucket in the paint for Grundy, Rodgers drilled a three-pointer to pull Carroll County to within 32-31 with 6:18 left in the third.
  The remainder of the game was a yo-yo affair, with Grundy pulling out to leads of five to seven points, only to be reeled back in by the Cavaliers. A 5-0 Grundy run that led to a 37-31 lead was answered by four Jacob Singleton points for the Cavaliers.
  The two teams traded buckets until Jared Strickland’s putback at the third-quarter horn sent Carroll County into the fourth quarter down two, 45-43.

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
  A little extra board work, a little defense and clutch free throw shooting from sophomore guard Sydney Gilbert went a long way for Twin Valley Friday night.
  The Lady Panthers turned things around in the second half of a 38-33 win over Haysi in a low-scoring Black Diamond District contest Friday at Sandlick Elementary School.
  Twin Valley also picked up a 57-43 non-district win over Graham last week at Twin Valley High School.
  The Lady Panthers withstood a late rally by the Lady Tigers when Gilbert hit three of four free throw attempts in the final 20 seconds, including two that sealed the win at the 2.6 second mark.
  Haysi (5-12, 2-3 BDD) out-rebounded Twin Valley 28-12 in the first half, but could do no better than forge a 14-14 tie after shooting just 14.3 percent (4-of-28) from the field in the first half.
  The Lady Panthers flexed a little muscle in the second half. Samantha Vandyke scored seven of her nine points, Kim Street got seven of her 11 boards and Nikki Honaker got three of her four steals in the second half as Twin Valley built a 10-point lead twice after the break.
  Twin Valley (7-10, 2-3) forced 10 turnovers in the third quarter and gained control inside with a 17-13 edge on the boards in the second half.
  “They killed us in the first half on the boards,” Twin Valley coach Rick Goodman said. We let ourselves get pushed around a little bit. When the shot would go up we wanted to stand and look.

  Carroll County dominated Grundy defensively over the final three quarters and handed the Lady Wave a 43-27, Southwest District setback Saturday evening in Hillsville.
  The win kept the Lady Cavaliers (9-8, 5-1 SWD) within a game of first place Graham heading into this week’s showdown (Tuesday) with the G-Girls.
  Grundy (6-12, 0-3) took an 11-10 lead into the second \quarter, but scored just 16 points the rest of the way as Carroll County held the Lady Wave to three field goals over the final three periods.
  “Defense is what made us go,” Carroll County coach Mark Motley said. “We didn’t have a lot of turnovers [17] and