AM
Graham rides past Green Wave
Graham (81) Vs. Narrows (42)
Jan 06, 2015
By BRIAN WOODSON
Bluefield Daily Telegraph
BLUEFIELD, Va. — What rust? It had been 15 days since Graham had played a basketball game. The G-Men didn’t forget how to shoot during that layoff.
Thomas Clarke had 17 points, including four of Graham’s 12 3s, and the G-Men scored 50 first half points on their way to a convincing 81-42 win over Narrows on Tuesday night at Graham Middle School.
Up next is a visit tonight from Bluefield (3-4), which gave Graham (8-1) its lone loss of the season, a 67-55 setback on Dec. 9.
“We are looking forward to getting them in this gym,” said Graham head coach Glynn Carlock Jr., whose G-Men have won seven in a row. “We are looking forward to having a chance to match up with them again. I thought we played well the first game, they have got a terrific team.
“I watched them play Fairmont Senior, who is one of the top teams in 2A and they had a chance to beat them on a shot at the end with a well-designed play.”
Narrows (4-6) was able to keep it close early, trailing 14-9 after the first quarter despite numerous misses from close range for the Green Wave.
“We felt like we were in the ball game there in the beginning,” Narrows head coach Chris Gautier said. “There were a lot of missed opportunities that I felt like really could have given us some momentum going into the second quarter or late into the first.
“Shots weren’t falling, and they got on fire and one thing led to another and before you know it it ballooned to about a 20-point game.”
How about 32? The lead grew to 50-18 in the second quarter, with the G-Men making their first seven shots and 11 of their first 12 attempts in the period, finishing the quarter with 36 points, including eight 3s.
Graham was 20-for-30 — making 10 3s — from the field in the opening half, including 14-for-18 in the second period. The only negative for the G-Men in the opening half with a 50-22 lead at the break was 0-for-5 shooting from the free throw line. Graham did improve to 9-for-16 for the game.
“Tonight was a good tune-up to get ready for the rest of the week, and hopefully tomorrow night against Bluefield,” Carlock said. “I challenged the guys after the slow first quarter. In the huddle we talked that we wanted to get a 30-point second quarter and we ended up with 36 so that was a big quarter for us.
“They responded well to that challenge, and that is a lot of points for a quarter. I think some of those came on 3s, I think at halftime we had 10 3s, we shot the ball well, we shot the ball better from 3-point range than we did at the foul line, and that is not going to get it done.
“We have traditionally this year shot foul shots really well. It was an off night for us, but that has to be shored up for tomorrow night.”
Narrows struggled from the field in the opening half, making just 9-of-26, led by Cody Collins with seven points. Collins finished the game with 10 points, while Kyle Hall led the Green Wave with 13.
“They shot the ball extremely well, there was not much we could do in some instances, in others we didn’t close out as well as we needed to,” Gautier said. “They are a great team, give them credit, they return a bunch of guys, a ton of experience, a well-coached ball team and at the end of the day that adds up.
“We are going to have to go back to the drawing board and figure out some things. There are a lot of things we did poorly tonight, things that we can fix.”
Ten of 12 players scored for Graham, including Roman Workman, who had 16 points, four assists and three rebounds, while Tony Hood added nine points, six assists and three steals, and Nick Morgan tallied 10 points.
Colby Hill provided 10 points, six rebounds and two assists despite playing with a broken finger on his right hand, an injury suffered in a game against Tazewell last month.
“It was dislocated, come to find out it was broken. It is his shooting hand, but at this point it is basketball, it is your last go-round, you tape it up and play,” Carlock said. “It hasn’t affected him as much as you would think, he has had pain with it, but he is tough, he is a gamer and he is going to put that out of his mind when it comes time to play.
“I am proud of that toughness ability. We have had some other people step up that have been able to assist him, but his presence on the floor is extremely important to us.”
Narrows also returns to the court tonight, hosting Rural Retreat, with the Green Wave having lost five of its last six games.
“Every night is going to be a battle for us,” Gautier said. “We have got to be ready to step up and play.”
Ditto for the G-Men, whose current class of seniors have never beaten the Beavers. This is their last chance.
“Bluefield, irregardless to what people think, yes they lost a lot of guys, but they are still a very good basketball team,” Carlock said. “They play extremely well, (Jordan) Ponder is a tough nightmare match-up anyway you cut it.
“He is the best athlete on the floor, we have to find a way to stop him and their other shooters and we have to run the floor and do the things that we do.”
bwoodson@bdtonline.com
/ Twitter @bdtwoodson

at Graham Middle School
NARROWS (4-6)
Brandon Spangler 2 0-0 4, Kyle Hall 6 0-0 13, Aaron Collins 2 0-0 4, Cole Blaker 2 1-2 5, Chase Lawson 1 0-0 2, Cody Collins 3 4-5 10, Jackson Blankenship 1 0-0 3, Morgan Welch 0 1-2 1, Jordan Sowers 0 0-0 0, Ethan Lowe 0 0-0 0. Totals 17 6-9 42.
GRAHAM (8-1)
Tony Hood 4 0-0 9, Roman Workman 7 0-1 16, Thomas Clarke 6 1-4 17, Colby Hill 4 0-0 10, Tanner Miller 0 0-0 0, Nick Morgan 4 2-5 12, Taymon Cooke 2 0-0 4, Chris Jones 2 0-0 5, Israel Harris 1 0-0 2, Jacob Simpson 0 4-4 4, Nick Shoemaker 0 0-0 0, Garrett Dalton 0 2-2 2. Totals 30 9-16 81.
Narrows............................9 13 7 13 — 42
Graham..........................14 36 16 15 — 81
3-point goals: NR 2 (Hall 1, Blankenship 1); GR 12 (Clarke 4, Morgan 2, Workman 2, Hill 2, Hood 1, Jones 1). Total fouls: NR 13; GR 16. Fouled out: none. JV—GR 55 (Chandler Cooper 12, Emil Curtis 11), Narrows 18 (Steven Dunford 8).
Nightly Roundup
Game Scoreboard
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 OT SCORE
Graham 14 36 16 15 0 81
Narrows 9 13 7 13 0 42
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