By TOM BONE
Bluefield Daily Telegraph
BLUEFIELD, Va. — Defense carried the day on Tuesday for the Bland County Bears, who will move on to the Mountain Empire District semifinals after beating the Graham G-Men 53-48 in a first-round tournament game at Graham Middle School.
Graham (10-12) committed 10 turnovers in each half and could not get the ball inside regularly after the first couple of minutes of play. They were cold from outside, too, making just one three-pointer in the game.
Bland County (11-11) head coach Rich Hankins said, “Defensively, I thought our guards, out front in particular, were very good. Graham has a couple of really skilled people on the perimeter who like to penetrate, and I thought we did a fantastic job of shutting down dribble-penetration, particularly.”
Graham head coach Glynn Carlock Jr. said, “I thought their half-court defense was probably a difference maker. They really stepped their game up defensively, especially in the post. That’s a credit to their staff and their kids.”
The Bears started the game 0 for 6 shooting, and Graham took a 6-0 lead in the first three minutes. But Bland County then hit five straight shots, including consecutive treys by Asher Dillow, Tyler White and Darryl Clark, to lead 14-7 after one quarter.
Hankins said, “Once that first shot went in ... we gained a little bit of confidence. I thought the key for us was that first eight minutes. We played them twice, and they jumped out on us both times, early in the game, so that was a big key for us.”
Dillow said, “We played very good defense, probably some of the best defense we’ve played all year. Usually, we’ve been having terrible starts to games, and we had a terribly bad start tonight, but we bounced right back and kept it close.”
Dillow said, “We played good help-side defense. Everybody was coming up, stopping the ball when they would penetrate. We took some charges, that really helped get them in foul trouble. Tyler White and them got some good pressure on the ball out front. Yeah, we played good team defense.”
Dillow had three steals of the Bears’ six steals in the first period. Bland County would end up with 11 steals, four by White.
The BC guard scored 23 points and Clark added 14, going 8 for 8 at the foul line. Chase Hankins made 6 of 12 free throws.
“We knew that they were a great defensive team, very quick out front, their guards are very quick,” Dillow said. He said his teammates “just set me some ball screens and got me a few open looks. We ran our motion game pretty well and got some open shots.”
With 35 seconds left in the half, Graham’s Zach Proffitt drove the lane and brought the G-Men within three, 22-19, at intermission.
A hook shot by Graham center Corey Coppola closed the gap to 24-23 with 5:40 left in the third period, but the Bears closed out the quarter with an 8-2 run.
The visitors were ahead 46-36 with three minutes left in the game when Graham staged a final comeback try via a full-court press, defensive rebounds and three field goals. Coppola stole the ball and pushed a shot over the rim to narrow the BC lead to 47-46 with 1:13 left.
The Bears were 6 for 10 at the foul line after that and Graham was 1 for 6 from the field to draw the curtain on the game.
Hankins said, “You’ve got to give Graham a lot of credit. They really turned up their defensive intensity, and played that diamond-and-one press and got some steals and got a little bit of momentum.
“But our kids came back to this end and nailed some big foul shots, and really iced it away at the line.”
Carlock said, “We tried to pressure them, full court, and a couple of times it worked. It just seemed like the basket had a lid over it at times, and we couldn’t get it to fall.”
He said about his team, “They played their hearts out tonight. It simply wasn’t our night. A lot of the credit, in my opinion, has to go to Bland.
“As they had done all season, Asher Dillow and Darryl Clark played tremendous basketball for them tonight, and Chase Hankins was very solid from the foul line there in the fourth quarter.”
Clark said, “We really picked it up. We’d struggled here lately, but we came together as a team and had five guys on the floor playing where they were supposed to be.”
The first two games had gone Graham’s way — one in overtime and the other on a last-second shot.
Carlock said, “We knew what it was going to be, coming in. We’re two very evenly-matched teams, and they got the best of us tonight. Hats off to Coach Hankins; he’s a class act, and these guys, I wish them nothing but the best. They have what seems like a great group of kids. ... I wish them all the luck in the world [Wednesday] in the semifinals.”
“I hate it that our kids couldn’t play another night ... but it simply wasn’t our night.”
Coppola led Graham in scoring with 11 points and rebounds with 19. Tony Hood added nine points. He and Coppola each had three steals.
Carlock was on the sidelines hours after his mother, Ann B. Carlock, died at her home in Bluefield.
Carlock said showing up to coach the game “was never a question for me. If you’re in sports, you have two families. You have the family that you provide for and love and care for at home and you have the family that you provide for, love and care for on your team.
“When I got here today, I had a group of 16 players and an entire staff of coaches who were waiting on me, and showed genuine care and concern for me and my family situation right now.
“There’s nothing in the world that can match that, that can match the care and concern that we have in our team family here. I told them that I loved them, and they told me the same. I wouldn’t have any group of kids in this world than what is in this locker room right now.”
The Bears advance to the district semifinals today at 6 p.m., also at Graham Middle School, to take on top-seeded Galax (20-2, 9-1). The championship is Friday on the same court.
Clark said, “They’re a good team. They’re No. 1 for a reason, but we’re going to come in here and play with everything we’ve got.”
Hankins said, “It’ll be a tough task, playing in less than 24 hours. But if our kids come in with the right attitude, and play hard and play together, we’ll have a chance.”
Dillow said playing back-to-back tournament games should not be a problem. “We’ll just go home, get some rest and come back,” he said. “You’re just tired between the ears.”
— Contact Tom Bone at
tbone@bdtonline.com

At Graham Middle School
BLAND COUNTY (12-11)
Asher Dillow 8 5-7 23, Raymond Greene 0 0-2 0, Tyler White 2 0-0 6, Darryl Clark 2 8-8 14, John Robert Miller 1 0-2 2, Chase Hankins 1 6-12 8. Totals 14 19-32 53.
GRAHAM (10-13)
Tony Hood 3 2-2 9, Spencer Sheets 2 2-2 6, Gray Baker 1 1-2 3, Gabe Hurt 0 2-3 2, Brad Yost 0 0-2 0, Colby Hill 3 1-2 7, Lamont Edwards 2 2-4 6, Zach Proffitt 2 0-0 4, Corey Coppola 4 3-4 11. Totals 17 13-21 48.
Bland County.................14 8 10 21 — 53
Graham.............................7 12 6 23 — 48
Three-point goals: BC 6 (Dillow 2, White 2, Clark 2); GHS 1 (Hood 1). Total fouls: BC 15, GHS 21. Fouled out: J.R. Miller.