By BRIAN WOODSON
Bluefield Daily Telegraph
RICHLANDS, Va. — For the last two seasons Olivia Harmon’s contributions to Richlands girls basketball may have been overshadowed somewhat by talented teammates.
Not anymore. She still has teammates who contribute, but it is now Harmon’s turn to shine, and she’s doing just fine.
“It has been a process, from her freshman year she stepped up one level and then she had to step up another level this year so it has been a three-step process for her to get where she is now,” Richlands head coach Dennis Palmer said. “We expect her to do a lot, she had to play point guard for nearly a month because one of our points guards was hurt.
“She had been playing point at that time and she led really well.”
All Harmon has done this season is average nearly 18 points and five rebounds a game for the Lady Blues (8-9), who have just five games remaining in the regular season, with big goals awaiting in the postseason.
Two of those games next week are with Graham and Virginia High, which will determine if the Lady Blues have a bye or a home game in the opening round of the Southern Empire Conference tournament.
“We are definitely planning to win the conference,” said Harmon, a 5-8 junior and three-year starter for the Lady Blues, who will visit Tazewell tonight and host Union on Saturday. “We set three goals at the beginning of our season and that was one of our goals so we really need to start off by winning the conference.
“We really need to get these next couple of wins in the books.”
If it happens Harmon will be a big reason why. Also a talented volleyball player, Harmon led the Blues to two wins in three games last week, averaging 16.3 points a contest to earn the Pocahontas Coal Association/Bluefield Daily Telegraph Player of the Week award.
“It makes me feel great,” Harmon said. “It makes feel like my hard work is really paying off.”
Harmon, who first began playing basketball in second grade, has been a starter since her freshman campaign, which happened to be the final season for Brittany Allen, the school’s all-time leading scorer, who is currently playing at Radford University.
She learned plenty from watching Allen’s aggressive all-out style on the court.
“When I was a freshman I thought ‘Man, she is all over the floor, she is everywhere’ and she is playing at Radford right now.” Harmon said. “I thought if I step up and do what she did maybe I will have the opportunity to go to college and play to so she inspired me a lot to move with the ball and do what I need to do to get my team the win.”
She learned well, elevating her game last season for the Blues — who finished runner-up to Grayson County in the SEC tournament — and has gotten even better as the lights are now shining on her.
“She has evolved up until she is our leader out there,” Palmer said. “She is probably our best as far as scoring goes, she can shoot the ball, she slashes it and can drive it. She can do both of those which helps you and makes her tough to guard.”
Harmon had her normal steady performance last week, collecting 24 points in a 40-point win over Grundy, which avenged an earlier loss to the Lady Wave. That was followed by seven points and six rebounds in a 46-36 victory over SEC-leading Virginia High and then added 18 points in a close loss to Union the following night.
Her attitude on the floor is simply to do whatever it takes for the Lady Blues to finish on top, and is serious about her role as a leader on the court.
“I was very happy with how my team played, we really wanted to win to that one,” said Harmon, on the win over Grundy. “We lost to them so we obviously wanted a little revenge on them and get a victory.
“I kind of took over leadership and that is the big thing about it. Coach Palmer has always told me that leadership is a big part of the team and I thought I needed to take over that role so I tried my best to and it happened.”
That is typical of Harmon, who simply loves the game and wants to win any game she plays in.
“When somebody shoots I try to crash the boards to get a rebound, if I see somebody open I will dish to them for the points,” Harmon said. “I would rather have an easy point basket than me trying to drive to the lane and get killed and not knowing if you are going to make it or not.
“If somebody else is open I will get it to them. If I need to rebound, I will get the ball and rebound. If Coach Palmer wants me to drive it then I will take it. Whatever opens up and whatever I need to do I do it.”
Just don’t expect Harmon to accept a lot of praise for a job well done.
“She is pretty laid back, she is not in it for herself,” Palmer said. “She is a team player, she is going to be just as happy if she scores 10 and somebody else scores 20, she is still just as happy.
“If we win the game, she is happy. It matters how she plays, but she is all about winning. She is not a selfish player, she is a team player and it is fun to coach her that way.”
Harmon followed up last week’s performance with two more solid games earlier this week, including 20 points in a loss at Bluefield and 14 points and five assists in a win against Twin Valley.
Could her play be peaking at the right time?
“We played a five-game stretch where we played five really good teams and she had five good games,” Palmer said. “She is probably averaging anywhere from 14 to 22 points in all those games. We pretty much know we are going to get that from her game in and game out, and she has games where she might explode for 25 or 30 points, she can do that too.”
Up next for Richlands is a visit from struggling Tazewell, followed by a rematch with Union, which defeated the Lady Blues last week. Remember that 40-point win over Grundy after a loss to them earlier in the season.
Harmon remembers.
“Tazewell is the best game of the year, we always look forward to it,” said Harmon, who had 20 points and six assists in the Blues’ last win over the Bulldogs. “It always comes down with a big crowd, it is a backyard brawl pretty much in every sport so it is the most exciting game of the year.
“Saturday night’s game (with Union) is one that I am very excited for, I have been excited for that since the time we left there. Losing to a good team like that when you are very close is hard and it makes you really want to come back and beat them.
“I just plan on leading (us) and getting them back and winning that game for sure.”
While Harmon also thrives on the volleyball court, basketball is her sport of choice. There is little else she would rather be doing.
“It is the excitement, it can go from a low to a high in five seconds,” she said. “It is just up and down and I just love the game itself. It is exciting being able to be out there running and I like the contact, I like everything about it.”
Especially the winning. Her ultimate goal is a trip to the state tournament, which is something Allen helped the Lady Blues do three years in a row.
“I would love that, that has been my goal since I have been here is to get back to the state tournament,” Harmon said. “I think we have a lot of potential to go there, we have just got to keep working hard and keep doing our thing.
“Teamwork is the main thing. As long as we are playing good as a team I think we will have a good shot of going to the state tournament.”
bwoodson@bdtonline.com
⁄ Twitter @bdtwoodson

Player of Week Honorable Mention

Girls - Week 9
Bland County: Malee Lambert scored eight points in loss to Grayson County. Syndey Walker had nine vs. Graham.
Bluefield: Dani Janutolo scored 24 points and grabbed 14 rebounds in an 82-71 win over No. 2 Summers County. Jia Coppola scored 17, Alyssa Lester added 15, Autumn Spangler 12 and Emileigh Gallinger 11.
Graham: Dejah Carter scored 19 points in a loss to Galax. Lexi Kiser scored 17 and added 24 in a win over Bland County. Carly Moretto tallied 16 and Karrah Large canned 10 vs. Bland.
Grundy: Lexi Boyd had 33 points and 22 rebounds in a 1-1 week. Autumn Sperry had 26 in the two games.
Hurley: Alison Bandy scored 11 points, Breanna Stacy 16 rebounds in loss to Twin Valley.
Mercer Christian: Allison Mills scored 29 points in 2 wins.
Montcalm: Heather Nicewander had 21 points in two games. Stormy Carver had 11 rebounds in loss to Man.
Mount View: Jasmine Lash scored 16 points vs. River View. Kaitlyn Gillespie added 11.
Narrows: Maggie Guynn had 79 points in two games, including a school record 41 in a loss to Fort Chiswell. Guynn had 10 rebounds and six steals to go with 38 vs. Auburn. Carrie Orey had 14 points vs. the Eagles.
PikeView: Madison May had 20 points, 10 rebounds vs. Wyoming East. Brittany Moore scored 12 points.
Princeton: Kaleigh Barker scored 20 points in a win over Nicholas County. Jaime Vest added 14 and Danielle Hall had 12.
Richlands: Nadia Ashiq scored 28 points in two games, including 17 points and nine assists vs. Grundy. Haleigh Whited scored 26 points in 2 games. Ericah Burton scored 23 points in 2 games.
River View: Katie Dobbs had 32 points, 20-plus rebounds in 2 games; Kiersten Roberts had 31 points in 2 games, including 14 points, nine rebounds, five steals and four assists vs. Westside.
Summers County: Whittney Justice scored 77 points in 3 games. Brittney Justice added 52 points. Morgan Miller scored 20 points vs. Shady Spring. Hannah Taylor added 15 points, 10 rebounds, seven assists, Jordan Sigmon had 12 points, 13 rebounds vs. Shady.
Tazewell: Gracey Cline scored 19 points in loss to Lebanon.
Twin Valley: Kim Lester scored 59 points in 3 games. Lexy Vance had 48 points in 2 games. Hannah O’Quinn had 19 points and five blocks vs. Hurley.
Wyoming East: Jasmine Blankenship had 24 points vs. PikeView. Kara Sandy and Katie Daniels scored 10 points each.

2015-16 Girls Winners
Week 1: Maggie Guynn, Narrows
Week 2: Madison May, PikeView
Week 3: Jia Coppola, Bluefield
Week 4: Katie Dobbs, River View
Week 5: Brittney Justice, Summers County
Week 6: Lexi Kiser, Graham
Week 7: Kaleigh Barker, Princeton
Week 8: Heather Nicewander, Montcalm
Week 9: Olivia Harmon, Richlands