AM
G-Girls shoot down Bland County
Graham (62) Vs. Bland County (59)
Jan 31, 2014
By BRIAN WOODSON
Bluefield Daily Telegraph
BLAND, Va. — It was a tough start to both halves for Bland County, and Graham took advantage of it.
Jia Coppola scored 16 points to lead three freshmen with 32 points, and sophomore Emaleigh Gallinger added eight more, leading the G-Girls to a hard-fought 62-36 win over the Lady Bears on Friday night at Bland High School.
Bland County (2-15), which has lost 12 in a row, was 0 for 12 to start the game, but managed to pull with 23-15 at the break.
"I think we came out excited, there was a big crowd here," Bland County head coach Jason Lambert said. "I know a couple of them, if you looked at some of our shots, we just overshot the rim, our feet wasn't under us,and we were just forcing it."
Graham (12-6), which won its fourth straight game, scored the first 11 points of the game before Danielle Russo connected at the buzzer to pull the Bears within 11-2 after a period. Amber Eaton followed with six second quarter points, as Bland County pulled within 17-13 before Dejah Carter scored off an assist from Coppola, and Coppola followed with two late baskets to push the G-Girls up by eight points at the break.
Graham head coach Tracy Raban wasn't surprised to see the Bears refuse to fold.
"Credit to Bland, they are always like that, I told my kids I don't care what the score is, even if we are up by 20, they are not going to quit," Raban said. "You can't take them lightly on any possession and we did. We were not really healthy tonight, we had a couple down and out, but I felt like we fought it. All the credit to Bland tough, they don't quit, they never quit."
It was more shooting woes for Bland County after the break, with the Bears missing their first nine shots, making them 0 for 21 to open the first and second halves.
This time, however, the G-Girls were ready to take advantage.
"I don't know what it took for them to play and find that trigger, but they found it," Raban said. "We did what we are supposed to do. It took a while to get it going."
Graham ran the floor, scoring 23 third quarter points, led by Coppola and Gallinger with eight points each. The lead grew to as much as 23, at 46-23, before settling for a 46-28 lead with a quarter to go.
"If you look at their shots, all their shots were in the lane," Lambert said. "They should make those shots. Most of that is we gambled out front and we are not talented enough to gamble. We have to do a better job with that."
The Bears also missed their first seven attempts of the final period, as the Bland County defense broke down and allowed the G-Girls to keep putting points on the board.
"The first half, you take those three or four shots and we are down eight at halftime it is a different game," Lambert said. "The second half I was more disappointed defensively, we started reaching quite a bit and they went on a 14 or 16 point run.
"It was just defensively, I don't know if we looked up at the scoreboard and we were satisfied or what, but I was frustrated with our defense in the second half, they did a good job."
Graham continues to get production from four of the youngest players on the floor, including Gallinger and a trio of freshman in Coppola (who also had four assists, four steals and three rebounds), Carter (7 points, 10 rebounds, 2 blocked shots) and Lexi Kiser, who had eight points and three steals. The G-Girls got scoring from the entire roster, including six each by Casey Spencer and Alysia Leung and six rebounds from Bethany Evans. Ashley Rasnake also contributed three assists off the bench.
"If we can get our three freshmen going and get Gallinger going and doing what she is supposed to be doing, I feel like we can be pretty tough," Raban said. "Then have the other ones come off the bench and contribute what they can with a few numbers here and there. I feel like we can be pretty tough, but it is a matter of being consistent with those four kids an getting the other ones dealing with them."
Eaton led Bland County with 13 points, while Lindsey Watters and Malee Lambert had six apiece. Lambert had two 3s for the Bears.
"The first half to give up 23 points to a team like Graham I was pleased," said Lambert, whose Bears host Marion on Monday. "The second half defensively we just didn't play well."
Graham faces a key Conference 39 game on Monday by hosting Richlands. Raban hopes to find the consistency she has been looking for in that one.
"Hopefully at some point they can figure that out and keep doing it consistently it with each other," Raban said.

at Bland High School
GRAHAM (12-6)
Lexi Kiser 4 0-0 9, Emaleigh Gallinger 3 2-2 8, Bethany Evans 0 3-4 3, Jia Coppola 7 2-7 16, Dejah Carter 2 3-8 8, McKenzie Roach 1 0-0 2, Alysia Leung 2 2-2 6, Casey Spencer 3 0-0 6, Ashley Rasnake 0 1-2 1, Bailee Poe 2 0-0 4. Totals 24 13-25 62.
BLAND COUNTY (2-15)
Malee Lambert 2 0-0 6, Amber Eaton 6 1-4 13, Tori Smith 0 0-2 0, Kristen Dillow 2 0-0 5, Caitlin Fanning 1 0-0 2, Lindsey Watters 3 0-0 6, Lindsey Faulkner 0 0-0 0, Linsey Dean 0 0-0 0, Rachel Radford 0 2-2 2, Danielle Russo 1 0-0 2, Hayley Hadock 0 0-0 0, Lakyn Patterson 0 0-0 0. Totals 15 3-8 36.
Graham..............................11 12 23 16 — 62
Bland County.....................10 13 17 9 — 49
3-point goals: GR 1 (Kiser 1); BC 3 (Lambert 2, Dillow 1). Total fouls: GR 8; GR 16. Fouled out: none. Technicals: none. JV — GR 30-29.
Nightly Roundup
Game Scoreboard
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 OT SCORE
Graham 11 12 23 16 0 62
Bland County 20 13 17 9 0 59
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