By BRIAN WOODSON
Bluefield Daily Telegraph
RICHLANDS, Va. — That broken finger doesn’t seem to be bothering Colby Hill.
“It is broken, but it is all right,” said Hill, with a smile. “I have got used to it. If it gets hit I feel like I could turn it in a circle, but it will be all right.”
It definitely was on Tuesday night, as the Graham senior scored 31 points, including 25 points with sevens 3 in the first half of the G-Men’s 73-48 win over Richlands on Tuesday night at Richlands Middle School.
Hill finished the game making 11-of-16 shots from the field, including 7-for-10 from 3-point range, and also made both of his free throw attempts.
“It was just going in, I didn’t feel good or anything, it was just dropping,” said Hill, with a laugh. “It is what it is.”
Graham (10-3), which had lost two straight, dominated the Blue Tornado (6-10) which entered having won four games in a row.
“It was a kind of a tough week last week,” said Graham head coach Glynn Carlock Jr., whose G-Men lost to Fort Chiswell in double overtime, and then fell to archrival Bluefield during the two-game slide. “We didn’t play very well on Tuesday, I thought at times we played well on Saturday, but it wasn’t good enough to get it done.
“We challenged them a little bit in practice yesterday. We had a real hard practice that kind of got everybody refocused.”
It worked, against another rival for the G-Men.
“It was a big game,” Hill said. “We had lost two games in a row so we definitely needed a game like this to come back. We got our swagger back tonight.”
Richlands took the early lead, on a bucket by Scottie Ball and 3 from Cody Fuller, but the Blue Tornado missed its next 11 shots attempts, falling behind 28-8 before Ball finally broke the scoring drought in the second quarter.
“They are great team, Colby is a great player, he came out on fire, and they took care of us,” said Richlands head coach Jody Fuller, whose Blues lost at Graham 71-60 last month. “They got all the loose ones, they got all the 50/50 balls and they scrapped for it.
“We didn’t match their intensity, and until we do we can’t compete with them.”
Graham was 7 for 12 from the field in the first quarter — including four 3s and 14 points from Hill — and finished 13 for 28 in the opening half, with Hill collecting 25 points, including seven of the G-Men’s nine 3s.
“I didn’t see it coming, but we ran some plays, my teammates set some good screens for me, Coach called out the plays and they were going in so we kept shooting them,” said Hill, who is playing with a broken ring finger on his left hand, an injury suffered last month in a win over Tazewell.
“Colby was hitting shots, he was shooting incredible and there is nothing you can do against that,” Ball said.
Ball, who finished with 100 points in four games last week, finished with 16 points in the game, which was 13 less than the last meeting between the schools.
“They made him work, he wasn’t himself tonight and neither was anyone else,” Fuller said. “We didn’t play with any intensity, I am not taking anything away from them because they are a great club, but we didn’t bring the intensity or the passion that it takes to beat a good team.”
After a 2-9 start to the season, Richlands had won four straight last week, but weren’t up to the task against the G-Men.
“I think it may have played into their favor,” Fuller said. “They had lost two in a row so they came out with their backs against the wall. They were the ones that came out scrappy so they were the aggressor, we were the prey.”
Grant Herndon added 13 points, making three of Richlands’ five 3s, while Cody Fuller and Luke Phillips were limited to five points apiece.
“I thought we did a better job on Ball tonight... and I thought we did a pretty good job on Fuller again, not allowing him to get off,” Carlock said. “He had five total points, those are two focal points for us.
“We know how prominent that Fuller and Phillips shoot the ball, we know what a prominent player Ball is as far as getting in the paint and getting to the basket. We just challenged our guys and fortunately stepped up.”
Graham, which led by as much as 24 in the opening half, outscored Richlands 18-7 to open the third period, building the lead to as much as 33.
“We got our mojo back,” Hill said. “As our coach said, we got it back tonight. That is what we needed.”
Up next for Graham will be Verl Brown-coached Galax on Friday, whose Maroon Tide won consecutive state titles in 2011-12.
“This is a big week for us, Friday night is a big matchup against Galax,” Carlock said. “They are a very good team, very athletic, two really good shooters, run the floor well, long kids.
“We are looking forward to matching up with Coach Brown’s team on Friday. It is always a good measuring stick to see where you are.”
Richlands will visit PikeView on Thursday, having scored 107 points in a win over the Panthers just last week.
“They are going to be there ready for us,” Fuller said. “They weren’t happy with this down here, I am sure, so it is the same deal. If we don’t come with the intensity on Thursday, it is not going to be a good ending.”
Hill was certainly pleased with the ending in this one, especially after another loss last Saturday to nemesis Bluefield. Of course, the goals are still alive for the G-Men.
“That was a tough one,” Hill said. “I was here all four years and lost every time to them, but there are bigger things right now. We are chasing a championship and that is what it is all about.”
bwoodson@bdtonline.com
/ Twitter @bdtwoodson

at Richlands Middle School
GRAHAM (10-3)
Tony Hood 3 1-1 9, Roman Workman 3 2-4 9, Thomas Clarke 2 3-4 8, Colby Hill 11 2-2 31, Tanner Miller 2 0-0 4, Nick Morgan 3 0-0 8, Garrett Dalton 1 0-0 2, Taymon Cooke 0 1-2 1, Nick Shoemaker 0 1-2 1, Chris Jones 0 0-0 0, Israel Harris 0 0-0 0, Jacob Simpson 0 0-0 0. Totals 15 10-15 73.
RICHLANDS (6-10)
Luke Phillips 1 3-4 5, Cody Fuller 2 0-0 5, Ethan Ratliff 1 0-0 2, Scottie Ball 7 2-4 16, Landon Lowe 1 0-2 2, Grant Herndon 5 0-0 13, Austin Atkinson 1 0-0 2, Ben Thomason 1 0-0 3, Will Moir 0 0-0 0, MacKenzie Smith 0 0-2 0, Caleb Altizer 0 0-0 0, Brennan Richardson 0 0-0 0, Luke Herndon 0 0-0 0. Totals 19 5-12 48.
Graham...........................22 18 21 12 — 73
Richlands.........................8 10 11 19 — 48
3-point goals: GR 11 (Hill 7, Morgan 2, Workman 1, Clarke 1); RL 5 (G.Herndon 3, Fuller 1, Thomason 1). Total fouls: GR 16; RL 12. Fouled out: none. JV Graham 38 (Chandler Cooper 21, Logan Surface 7); Richlands 21 (Daniel Brown 7).