By LLOYD COMBS

for the Daily Telegraph

GRUNDY, Va. — It was a big win for Haysi.

It was an even bigger loss for Grundy.

Guage Hill's layin off a feed from Hunter Sutherland gave Haysi the lead for good with 19.3 seconds remaining and the Tigers held off Grundy in the final seconds for a 53-52 win in Black Diamond District play Wednesday night.

Jalen Sykes hit one free throw with 13.9 seconds left to play and Sutherland and hit two more with 3.4 seconds on the clock. Christian Jackson hit a 3 for Grundy at the final buzzer to account for the final margin.

Grundy turned the ball over and missed the front end of a one-and-one on its two previous possessions.

Haysi improved to 10-6 on the season. The loss was a costly one for Grundy (11-7).

While everyone plays one another and standings determine a winner in Haysi's Crooked Road Conference that isn't the case in Grundy's league. The Southern Empire Conference uses a ratings points system, since most of the teams don't square off during the regular season.

"It was a good win for them and a bad loss for us," said Grundy coach Brian Moore, whose club led most of the way in a game where it turned the ball over 20 times. "But you get what you deserve."

Defense was the key for the Tigers, who got steals from every starter, including five from Sutherland, who also tossed in 16 points and handed out six assists.

"Grundy has a really good team, and they whipped us there earlier in the year, but I thought our kids stepped up and got some stops," Haysi coach David Robinette said. "Our offense struggled there at the start of the fourth quarter, but we got stops defensively and stayed in the game."

Charles "Bub" McCoy scored 19 points and had five assists for Grundy. Baylen Dillow added 10 points.

The Golden Wave led by as many as nine points, 26-17 in the first half before Sutherland and Hill led a 13-4 run that tied the score at 30-30 at halftime.

Grundy took a 39-32 lead in the third period before the Tigers slowly, but surely worked their way back. A driving layup by Travis Conaway gave Haysi a 48-47 lead with 1:49 remaining. Grundy regained the lead, 49-48 on two free throws by Dillow with 58 seconds left after scoring just three points in the first 7:02 of the final period.

"You stand around a whole half of basketball you can't expect to have too much given to you," Moore said. "We shot six free throws, they shot 22 and it had nothing to do with officiating.

"They were aggressive and we weren't. We weren't attacking the basket and if you don't attack the basket you can't expect to win."

Will Ratliff claimed several key rebounds for Haysi in the fourth quarter and finished with a double-double of 14 points and 12 boards.

Grundy hosts Clintwood in a makeup game tonight.

At Grundy

HAYSI (53)

Sutherland 16, Hillman 3, Conaway 4, Ratliff 14, Hill 13, Sykes 3, Yates 0.

GRUNDY (52)

Duty 4, C. McCoy 19, J. McCoy 7, Jackson 8, B. Dillow 10, Wolford 4, Cleek 0.

Haysi..................12 18 10 13 — 53

Grundy................18 12 14 8 — 52

3-point goals-H 2 (Sutherland 2), G 7 (C. McCoy 3, Jackson 2, Dillow,

J. McCoy). JV Game-Haysi, 52-33.