By BRIAN WOODSON
Bluefield Daily Telegraph
RICHLANDS, Va. — It was pretty obvious the Lady Blues were pumped to play ball after a lengthy layoff due to a long week of wintry weather.
“They were ready to play and they came out in the first quarter, they were geared and ready to play,” Richlands girls basketball coach Dennis Palmer said.
Definitely. Richlands connected on 11-of-12 first quarter shots, while Tazewell was held to 0-for-9, as the Lady Blues built a 24-0 lead after eight minutes, and cruised to a 70-39 Southern Empire Conference (39) quarterfinal win over the Bulldogs on Wednesday afternoon at Richlands Middle School.
“We hadn’t played in two weeks, we went about five days where we couldn’t practice because we were in ‘Code 10’ because the weather was so bad,” Palmer said. “I thought we came out in the first quarter and shot the ball as well as we shot it all year. If we can play like we did in the first quarter, we are going to be a tough out for anybody.”
Olivia Harmon led Richlands (12-12) with 17 points, including eight in the first quarter, while Montana Hearl had nine of her 14 points in the opening period. Hayleigh Whited added 12 points, while Lani Rinehart played her usual stingy defense. Amber Street also had seven first quarter points.
“(Olivia) can shoot the ball and she can drive the ball, Montana can put it on the floor and drive it, and we have got some spot-up shooters that can hit shots,” Palmer said.” Lani doesn’t get as much credit as the other ones, but we put her on their best offensive player and she plays great defense.”
Tazewell (3-19) finally scored on a pair of free throws by Ally Lee to open the second quarter, and got its first field goal on a Lee basket with 5:50 left before the break. Lee led the Bulldogs with 21 points, while Gracey Cline added 18. No one else scored for Tazewell.
Richlands led 45-10 at the break.
“I think we competed a little bit better there in the third quarter, it was just too hard to come back from that, Richlands is a pretty good team,” Tazewell girls coach Jason Southworth said. “It was hard when you have a big lapse in practice like that.
“We didn’t contest many shots, and a varsity player, if you leave them open, there is a good chance they are going to make it. We didn’t contest well, we didn’t play defense well, we just struggled.”
Richlands will play Graham tonight — weather permitting — at Tazewell Middle School at 6 p.m., with the season on the line for both teams. The teams split a pair of decisions this year, with the Blues winning by 6 in Bluefield, and losing by 3 at home to the G-Girls.
“If we can shoot the ball like we did in the first quarter, we are going to be tough to beat, but it doesn’t always happen,” Palmer said. “We have got to play good solid defense and we have got to keep the big girl (Dejah Carter) off the boards and box her out and I think if we can do that we will be all right.
“It is going to be a tough game, they have got a good team, they are coached very well and they play hard.”
The winner will face Grayson County or Grundy in the finals on Friday, and will also play in next week’s Region 2A West tournament, which will be played at Richlands and Tazewell middle schools.

at Richlands Middle School
TAZEWELL (3-19)
Gracey Cline 6 6-9 21, Ally Lee 7 3-7 18, Sarah Ray 0 0-0 0, Adrienne Crouse 0 0-0 0, Cyndee Moore 0 0-0 0, Baylee Sheets 0 0-0 0, Lee Ann Mitchem 0 0-0 0. Totals 13 9-16 39.
RICHLANDS (12-12)
Montana Hearl 6 1-2 14, Lani Rinehart 2 0-0 4, Seania Overton 1 1-4 3, Amber Street 3 0-0 7, Olivia Harmon 8 1-1 17, Ericah Burton 1 0-0 3, Kendra Humphrey 1 0-2 2, Hayleigh Whited 6 0-0 12, Jasmine Hess 2 0-2 4, Alex Hill 1 0-0 2, Bailey Hurst 1 0-0 2, Breanna Richardson 0 0-0 0. Totals 32 3-11 70
Tazewell..........................0 10 15 14 — 39
Richlands........................24 21 9 16 — 70
3-point goals: TZ 4 (Cline 3, Lee 1); RL 3 (Hearl 1, Burton 1, Street 1). Total fouls: TZ 10; RL 15. Fouled out: none. Techicals: Tazewell bench.