By BRIAN WOODSON
Bluefield Daily Telegraph

BLUEFIELD, Va. — With the game on the line, Graham put the ball in the hands of a freshman point guard who hadn’t attempted a free throw in two previous games.

No problem.

Lexi Kiser scored a game-high 16 points, making 8-of-11 free throws, including six straight over the final 52 seconds for the G-Girls, who won their first game of the season, 45-34, over Tazewell on Friday night at Graham Middle School.

“We took a couple of tough losses to open up with against some veteran teams,” said Graham head coach Tracy Raban, who is starting three freshmen and sophomore. “As long as we keep developing and growing each game I will be pleased.

“I don’t want to see any setbacks, but I think we are getting better each game.”

Graham (1-2), which had lost to PikeView and Bluefield, used a 12-0 run that began on an offensive rebound and putback by 6-foot-3 freshman Dejah Carter with 1:44 left in the second quarter to pull away from the Bulldogs.

“(Dejah) missed a couple of things inside, but they are all over her and I told her she wasn’t going to get those calls at this level,” added Raban. “She will get better as each game goes, but having that big inside and the perimeter play together, once they get used to each other I see some good things in the future.”

Tazewell took its lone lead on a 3 by Ally Lee with 4:35 left in the second quarter to cap a 9-0 run that saw the Bulldogs overcome a 12-4 deficit. The Bulldogs didn’t score again until Hash canned a 3 with 1:20 left in the third, a scoring drought that lasted 11 minutes and 15 seconds. Graham took advantage, going on a 15-0 run to take a 29-16 lead.

“We had shots that we wanted, but we just didn’t make the shots,” Tazewell head coach Jason Southworth said. “That is all you can ask for is get the shots that you want and if don’t make them, you can’t do anything about it.”

Six different G-Girls scored points in the third quarter, and Graham took a 35-22 lead into the final period, led by Kiser, who was able to limit turnovers and allow Graham to work the ball for open looks.

“She is a good ball player,” Southworth said, “handles the ball well.”

“I knew it was in her,” added Raban. “We just had to give her a couple of games to get used to the high school style of play and kind of like tonight, she kept her composure and didn’t force anything.

“She let the game come to herself. She got in foul trouble early, The difference between that game and the Bluefield game is she was smart. She grew up a lot tonight and we were able to keep her in the ball game, which was big for the rest of us.”

Carter also approached double figures in rebounds and was able to bother Tazewell’s own force in the middle, 6-1 senior Autumn Hash, who was limited to seven points.

“She just didn’t finish well tonight, but that happens,” Southworth said.

Tazewell did trim a 14-point deficit to seven at 39-32 with 1:34 to play, but Kiser’s free throws meant the Bulldogs could never get closer.

“They went on a run and that run we came back with in the fourth quarter to bring it back to within eight or something, it just wasn’t enough, it was too late,” Southworth said. “It happens and we have to get ready for the next game.”

Any hopes for the Bulldogs were dashed by Kiser, who made a runner in the lane to extend the lead to 39-29, and then canned six straight free throws to secure the win.

“I wanted to keep the ball in her hands there at the end,” Raban said. “She was knocking them down. Our free throw percentage isn’t very good.

“She hadn’t shot one free throw the whole year so I think we wanted to keep the ball in her hands and let her keep knocking down at the end.”

Emaleigh Gallinger and Bethany Evans had six points apiece for Graham, which will play Auburn in the opening round of a tournament on Wednesday at George Wythe.

Tazewell, which was led by Lee — with a game-high two 3s — and Whitney Saunders with nine points each, has been road warriors through six games, beating Marion and Bland County to sit at 2-4 with a home game finally on tap Monday with Grundy.

“We have just got to relax and play basketball,” Southworth said. “Every opportunity that we have to make something happen, we totally freak out, we just need to relax and play basketball.”



at Graham Middle School

TAZEWELL (2-4)

Whitney Saunders 4 1-2 9, Kaley Holloway 2 0-2 4, Haley Christian 0 0-0 0, Autumn Hash 2 2-4 7, Ally Lee 2 3-4 9, Gracie Cline 2 0-0 5, Laken Sparks 0 0-0 0. Totals 12 6-12 6-12 34.

GRAHAM (1-2)

Lexi Kiser 4 8-11 16, Emaleigh Gallinger 2 2-2 6, Bethany Evans 3 0-0 6, Jia Coppola 1 0-4 2, Dejah Carter 4 1-2 9, Alysia Leung 1 0-0 2, Casey Spencer 1 0-0 2, Ashley Rasnake 0-0 0, Bailee Poe 1 0-0 2. Totals 17 11-19 45.

Tazewell.............................4 12 6 12 — 34

Graham............................12 5 18 10 — 45

3-point goals: TZ 4 (Lee 2, Hash 1, Cline 1); GR 0. Total fouls: TZ 15; GR 12. Fouled out: none. Technicals: none