TAZEWELL, Va. — It was experience in a system against youth in a new system.

Experience won.

Big.

The Graham G-Men looked like a team with all its starters back from last season, scoring at least 22 points in the opening three quarters and eventually finishing off rival Tazewell 90-36 in the opener for both teams on Tuesday night at Tazewell Middle School.

Roman Workman led the G-Men (1-0) with 22 points, including 16 in the first half, along with six steals and four assists. Colby Hill added 16 points and seven rebounds, Tony Hood contributed 11 points, three steals and three assists — including an eye-opening lefthanded breakaway dunk — and freshman Garrett Dalton had a double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds.

“I am proud, you are always nervous for the first game because you don’t really ever feel like you have enough practices before you start playing,” Graham head coach Glynn Carlock Jr. said. “I think every coach in America feels that way. I know Tazewell’s coach, we talked before the game, and he felt the same way.”

It didn’t show for long. Workman put Graham up to stay with a drive to the hoop, and Nick Clarke followed with a layup off a fullcourt pass from Workman for a 4-0 lead. Dakota Griffith would then can a 3 to pull the Bulldogs within one.

That was the highlight of the night for Tazewell (0-1), as the G-Men went on a 13-0 run, building a 22-6 lead after the opening quarter, led by Workman with seven points and six from Hood.

Meanwhile, Tazewell — playing its first game under head coach J’me Harris — struggled to hit shots, making just 2-of-11 in the first period, and managed just two points in the second quarter, finally getting on the board with 2:16 left until the break.

“I thought we came out a little amped up, we had good shots, but we didn’t knock any down,” Harris said. “We kind of rushed through the offense and they rushed through their shots. I think they were amped up with the crowd and with who we were playing tonight.”

Graham used defense — 15 steals — and crisp passing — 17 assists — while keeping the pressure on the Bulldogs for much of the first three quarters, taking a 48-8 lead into the break, and still led 76-24 going into the final period. The G-Men’s biggest lead was 55 points, at 76-21.

“I was really proud of the defensive intensity and the effort out of our main fullcourt defense, it was able to equal layups for us.” said Carlock, whose G-Men scored 22, 26 and 28 points in the opening three periods. “We held them to eight points at halftime..

“We had three 20 point quarters, our goal was to get four, we came close, we didn’t quite get it.”

Harris, who is Tazewell’s third coach in three years, has installed a uptempo offense, but the Bulldogs had trouble executing against the G-Men.

“The second half we played much better, now granted he put in some of his subs, but I thought we played much better in the second half,” Harris said. “In the first half we didn’t run the offense, we were at a way slower tempo than what we need to be.

“That is an adjustment period, it was their first time through it all.”

Juwan Jordan led the Bulldogs with 15 of Tazewell’s 36 points, while Griffith added nine, all from 3-point range. T.J. Kitts added seven.

“They are a well coached team, very experienced,” Harris said. “I actually thought we handled the press well. I think we came away with 11 turnovers tonight, I thought we did well handling the press, we just didn’t shoot the ball very well tonight.

“They took us to school offensively, our defense was not good at all and not acceptable and their experience showed.”

Graham got production from all 11 players that saw action, with Nick Morgan adding eight points — including two of the G-Men’s four 3s — and three assists, while Thomas Clarke contributed seven rebounds and three assists. Israel Harris had five points and Jacob Simpson pulled down five boards.

As with any coach, Carlock found plenty for Graham to work on in the week ahead, with a visit on tap next Tuesday to face two-time West Virginia Class AA state champion Bluefield at the Brushfork Armory.

“We still have a lot we have got to work on that we have to shore up in our halfcourt sets, but that is going to come with time,” Carlock said. “If we have defensive pressure we can work with that.”

Tazewell has little time to lick its wounds. The Bulldogs visit Fort Chiswell on Thursday, and Bland County on Friday.

“We have got three in the first four so we don’t have a time to correct what went wrong tonight, but we will get after it,” Harris said. “We have to coach them up better and make sure they understand what we are trying to do here.”

Graham also won the junior varsity game 58-29. Darrin Martin and Emil Curto led the G-Men with 12 points apiece.

at Tazewell Middle School

GRAHAM (1-0)

Tony Hood 5 1-2 11, Roman Workman 10 2-5 22, Thomas Clarke 2 0-0 4, Colby Hill 5 5-6 16, Tanner Miller 1 2-2 4, Nick Morgan 2 2-2 8, Israel Harris 1 2-6 5, Jacob Simpson 2 0-0 4, Nick Shoemaker 1 0-0 2, Garrett Dalton 5 4-4 14, Chris Jones 0 0-3 0. Totals 34 18-30 90.

TAZEWELL (0-1)

Juwan Jordan 5 5-8 15, Gee Tucker 1 0-0 2, Dakota Griffith 3 0-0 9, Ben Samaniego 0 0-0 0, T.J. Kitts 2 2-4 7, Nick Elkins 1 0-0 2, Dakota Crouse 0 1-2 1, Hunter Mullins 0 0-0 0, Josh Murray 0 0-0 0, Spencer Necessary 0 0-1 0, Drew Mullins 0 0-0 0, Craig Poskas 0 0-0 0, Clifford McPeak 0 0-0 0. Totals 12 8-15 36.

Graham.........22 26 28 14 — 90

Tazewell...........6 2 16 12 — 36

3-point goals: GR 4 (Morgan 2, Hill 1, Harris 1); TZ 4 (Griffith 3, Kitts 1). Total fouls: GR 14; TZ 24. Fouled out: none. JV—Graham 58, Tazewell 29.