BY ANTHONY STEVENS
for the Daily Telegraph
BRISTOL, Va. — The Lady Tigers are in the “Final Four”.
Honaker used a big fourth quarter to notch a 56-48 win over Galax in the Region 1A-West girls semifinals at the Bearcat Den on the campus of Virginia High School.
“We’re excited,” said Honaker coach Misty Miller, who is taking a Honaker team to the final four for the first time since she played in 1997. “I think we have a good shot, this is a really good group of girls. We just thank God for the opportunity.”
The first half was a turnover-fest. The teams combined for 33 turnovers in the first 16 minutes. Honaker had 17 turnovers in the first half, but still held a 26-22 lead at halftime.
“We were turning them over too, our defense gave them a lot of trouble,” Miller said. “I knew if the girls would just calm down and play like we’re capable of playing we would be okay.”
Things didn’t look good for the Lady Tigers when Galax (12-11) went on an 8-0 run at the start of the third quarter, taking a 30-26 lead.
Megan Ray scored inside for Honaker for their first points of the second half at the 4:18 mark of the third. Leah Elswick canned a 3-pointer and Ray added a floater in the lane and Honaker (22-6) was on their way.
“We knew we had to stop their momentum,” stated Miller. “We had to step up and start making something happen on our end of the floor and that’s what we did. The girls came through.”
Ray was huge for the Lady Tigers in the fourth quarter. Putting the game away with several drives to the basket. Ray had 12 points in the final eight minutes and finished with a game-high 22 points and six rebounds.
Laken Robinette was huge inside with nine points and 15 rebounds for Honaker. Kaytlyn Shelton tallied nine points, six assists and four steals.
Madison Shupe (15 points) and Sydney Lindsey (12 points) were leaders for the Maroon Tide.
Honaker will face Chilhowie at Virginia High on Saturday for the 1A-West championship. Regardless of the outcome the Lady Tigers advance to the state semifinals.

at the Bearcat Den
GALAX (48)
Davis 3 3-4 9, Ayers 2 0-0 4, Hanks 2 0-0 4, Shupe 7 1-1 15, Lindsey 4 4-6 12, Garvey 0 0-0 0, Pack 0 0-0 0, Larrowe 2 0-2 4. Totals 20 8-13 48.
HONAKER (56)
Deel 2 0-0 5, Ray 8 6-12 22, Shelton 2 5-9 9, Miller 0 0-0 0, Robinette 1 7-8 9, Musick 0 0-0 0, Elswick 1 2-2 5, Meade 3 0-0 6. Totals 17 20-31 56.
Galax...............................8 14 14 12 — 48
Honaker...........................7 19 11 19 — 56
3-point goals – Galax none, Honaker 2 (Deel 1, Elswick 1). Total fouls – Galax 23, Honaker 11. Fouled out – Hanks, Lindsey.
none.