By ANTHONY STEVENS
for the Daily Telegraph
RICHMOND, Va. — For the first time since 1924, the Honaker boys will be in a state championship basketball game.
Honaker advanced to the Group 1A state finals on Monday morning with a 69-49 victory over Surry County at Virginia Commonwealth University’s Siegel Center. With the win the Tigers’ winning streak has now grown to 27 games.
“It’s a phenomenal feeling, just to make it to Richmond,” Honaker coach Marcus Dunham said. “To see the excitement of the players in that locker room, knowing they are going to be in the big game on Wednesday to play for a state title.
“It’s great for our players, it’s great for our fans, and it’s great for our community, our school and our school system. To make it to the final game is a great accomplishment, all the credit goes to the nine guys on my team. They deserve all the credit in the world.”
Surry County’s largest lead in the game was three points at 5-2 early in the first quarter. Honaker (28-1) tied it at 7-all on a basket inside by Tanner Robinette. The Cougars went into a press and it resulted in a layup for Hunter Lester to give the Tigers a 9-7 advantage with 3:48 to play in the first. They never trailed again.
“Hunter didn’t shoot the ball well against Galax (in the regional final) on Friday,” said Dunham. “He told me he was feeling good today. When he shoots the ball with confidence, good things happen.”
When Robinette went to the bench with two fouls with 6:58 to play in the first half, the Honaker frontcourt took over. Lester, Caleb Sample and Casey Dye kept the Tigers in front by attacking the basket.
Surry County cut the lead to one, 26-25 with a basket by Timothy Marsh Jr. Sample had a breakaway layup, Lester then scored the next seven points of the game to give Honaker their biggest lead of the first half.
“Luckily my shots were falling,” Lester said. “As usual, my guys do a great job of getting me the ball when I’m open.
“I’ll be the first one to tell you, I was nervous as I could be. After the tip-off it all went away and good things happened.”
Honaker, up comfortably 40-32 at halftime, turned its defense up a couple of notches in the second half. They held the Cougars scoreless for almost six minutes, late in the third and going well into the fourth period, going on a 9-0 run to extend the lead to 19 points.
“When Hunter’s hitting and we have Tanner in there, it’s ‘pick your poison’ for the opposition,” Dye said. “If they double down on Tanner, he kicks it out to Hunter and he knocks down the shots. It’s great to have a shooter and an inside presence, I think that’s why we’re here.”
Although he only played 25 minutes with the foul trouble, Robinette again filled the stat sheet with 13 points, 15 rebounds, five assists and five blocked shots.
Casey Harman also had a huge game with six points, nine rebounds and five assists. Harman did a tremendous job of clogging up the middle on defense when Robinette was out of the game.
“First and foremost both of those guys just want Honaker basketball to win the game,” Dunham said. “Very unselfish big guys. When our perimeter guys throw it inside, they cut to the basket. Our bigs do a great job of finding them.”
Lester had a game-high 24 points. Dye added 12 points and Sample was close behind with nine points.
The Tigers were 26-of-48, making 54 percent of their shots in the game. They also had a 40-31 rebounding edge. Honaker had a total of 21 assists, while Surry County only had eight.
It was a good roll for Surry County (15-9) that started the season with a 1-4 record. Justin Williams (15 points), Eric Whitlow (11 points) and Marsh (10 points) led the Cougars’ offense.
“My kids never stopped playing hard or working hard,” Surry coach Jake Mintz said. “All the credit goes to Honaker. They are great, they play team basketball. The two big boys were too much for us.
“We struggled at times, but Honaker had a lot to do with that. They get back on defense, they push the ball, they just cause some problems.”
Honaker will face two-time defending state champion Altavista in the finals on Wednesday at 10 a.m. in the Siegel Center.
“They are the big dog until someone knocks them off,” Dunham said. “It’ll be a good game. I have a lot of faith in my guys.”

At the Siegel Center
SURRY COUNTY (15-9)
Marsh 5-11 0-2 10, Smallwood 2-7 0-0 4, Whitlow 2-7 7-7 11, Harris 1-10 0-0 3, Williams 6-18 2-6 15, Davis 2-6 0-0 4, Dobie 0-0 0-0 0, Jones 0-0 0-0 0, Claiborne 0-2 0-0 0, Savedge 1-1 0-0 2, Warren 0-0 0-0 0, Henderson 0-0 0-0 0, Smith 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 19-62 9-15 49.
HONAKER (28-1)
Sample 3-3 2-2 9, Dye 6-11 0-0 12, Lester 10-15 0-1 24, Harman 3-7 0-3 6, Robinette 3-7 7-10 13, Hilton 0-0 0-0 0, B. Coleman 0-0 1-2 1, J. Coleman 0-1 0-0 0, Stinson 1-4 1-2 3.
Surry County............14 18 8 9 — 49
Honaker.................20 20 13 15 — 68
3-point goals – Surry Co. 2 (Harris 1, Williams 1), Honaker 5 (Sample 1, Lester 4). Total fouls – Surry Co. 17, Honaker 12. Fouled out - Whitlow. Technicals – none.