BLUEFIELD, Va. — Colby Hill’s stick back at the buzzer lifted the Graham G-Men to a 55-53 win on Senior Night over the Galax Maroon Tide, Tuesday night at Graham Middle School.
Hill, along with Tony Hood and Jacob Simpson played their final regular-season home game against their Mountain Empire District foe.
“We were pinned against the wall a little bit, we were down big and really fought and showed a lot of fight, heart and effort to get back. We crashed the boards at the end off of a miss and put it back in,” said Graham head coach Glynn Carlock. “I’m proud of the effort, proud of our three seniors, all three contributed, and it’s what you want to see on Senior Night.”
Things did not start well for the G-Men who were sluggish from the outset, committing turnovers and failing to convert on shots. Galax opened an 8-0 lead before Nick Morgan scored Graham’s first points on a three ball with 2:38 left in the first quarter.
Clif Conley paced the Maroon Tide and their patient offense with 11 first quarter points, including two threes and led 16-3 after one.
Galax maintained its lead in the second and led 26-16 at halftime.
Graham slowly fought back and whittled away the lead. Roman Workman’s bucket midway through the quarter made it a seven point game and Hood’s basket with just under three to go made it a four-point game. The G-Men got even closer on Hood’s reverse layup in traffic, pulling to within three. Hill’s trey with 59 ticks left on the third quarter clock knotted the game at 35. Galax led 37-35 at the end of three.
The G-Men took their first lead 41-40 just into the fourth quarter when Hood made one-of-two free throws and for the next five minutes the teams battled back and forth with one taking the lead, the other charging back and retaking it.
Thomas Clarke’s fast break layup with 2:00 to go once again made it a two point game in favor of Galax. The Maroon Tide then milked the clock for nearly a minute before Conley sank two free throws to put Galax up again by four. Seconds later Morgan sank two free throws to bring Graham within two, but literally 10 seconds later Conley again made two free throws to push Galax back ahead by four, 51-47.
Hill and Workman trapped the ball near midcourt and Workman came away with the steal and basket to make it a two point contest with 38.7 on the clock. Galax fouled on the inbound play, sending Morgan to the line. The sophomore made both shots to tie the game at 51. Graham fouled on the inbound play and William Brown made both free throws to put Galax back on top 53-51.
The G-Men moved the ball across midcourt and called their final timeout with 30.7 showing on the clock and Clarke’s bucket with 15.7 tied the game. Morgan picked up his fifth foul, but Galax missed both shots. Graham pushed the ball up court. Two shots missed, but on the second miss Hill was there for the rebound and put back as the buzzer sounded, giving Graham the win.
Hill led Graham with 15 points, Hood had 14 and Morgan 12.
Conley led Galax with 27 and Brown added 10.
“What you see from them (Galax) is what you get,” Carlock. “They have had some tremendously talented teams over the years there, but the one thing that is a constant is their pace of play and their patience and most importantly, their half court defense. They run a set of principles that make it hard for teams to score.”
Galax head coach Verl Brown said, “They (Graham) fought back , got back in it. We had our chances and the kids played hard, we never quit. We make a couple of free throws we go out on top, but that’s the kind of game we needed. I told Coach (Carlock) this is what we need, this is what they need because we won’t see each other after Friday night in the playoffs. It helps us and it helps them too. He’s got a great ball club and we always go hard against each other.”
The two teams meet again Friday night in Galax. Both Tuesday night’s game and Friday’s are makeup games. Carlock, like Brown, believe that the games are vital to their respective teams.
“We are both in full agreement that both of these games this week are going to get us both tested in a tournament-style game,” Carlock said. “It’s always a measuring stick to play them because you know what you’re going to get.”

At Graham Middle
GALAX (12-7)
Keyshawn Brown 0 0-0 0, Caleb Bartlett 3 0-0 8, Clif Conley 7 8-9 27, William Brown 5 2-4 12, Charles Harris 1 0-2 2, Dominic DiGiacomo 2 0-0 4, Jacob Brown 0 0-0 0, Totals 18 10-15 53.
GRAHAM (19-2)
Tony Hood 5 4-6 14, Nick Morgan 3 5-6 12, Roman Workman 4 1-3 9, Thomas Clarke 3 0-1 6, Colby Hill 6 1-1 15, Jacob Simpson 0 0-0 0, Tanner Miller 0 0-0 0, Garrett Dalton 0 0-0 0, 21 11-17 55.
Galax..............................16 10 11 16 — 53
Graham..........................3 13 19 20 — 55
3-point goals: Galax 7 (Bartlett 2, Conley 5); Graham 3 (Morgan, Hill 2)
Technical fouls Graham: Clarke. Fouled out: Graham: Morgan