By LLOYD COMBS
for the Daily Telegraph
PILGRIM'S KNOB, Va. — Two teams with high expectations entering the regular season still have high hopes after a rough start.
The Twin Valley boys and Twin Valley girls advanced to their biggest games of the season thus far with very easy wins in game one of the post-season.
The Panther girls crushed Council, 83-41, in game one of a Crooked Road Conference tournament doubleheader Wednesday.
In the nightcap the Twin Valley boys put away winless Patrick Henry, 56-26 in front of a sparse crowd at Twin Valley High School.
Both winners move on to semifinal play at Honaker, where the girls will face the host Tigers and the boys will face Northwood with a 1A West regional berth likely on the line. The CRC girls go on Thursday and the boys play Friday.
The outcome of both Wednesday games was decided quickly.
Three staight buckets by Makynzee Cantrell in the middle pf a 16-0 run gave the Twin Valley girls a 27-6 lead by the opening minute of the second quarter.
The Panthers coasted from there, taking a 45-26 lead into the locker room at halftime and more than doubling that margin in the second half against a young Cobras squad that plays four freshmen. The biggest spread was the final margin of 42 points.
Twin Valley placed four starters in double figures, with Lakin Keene tossing in six 3-pointers and scoring a game-high 21 points, while handing out nine assists. Kim Lester added four treys and 19 points.
Six-foot-three post Hannah O'Quinn posted a double-double with 12 points and 18 rebounds and the tall, lanky senior also blocked seven shots.
Senior Leann Hunt hit five 3s and scored 17 points in her final game for the Cobras (1-21). Freshman Bree Ratliff contributed a double-double with 13 points and 14 rebounds.
The Panthers, coming off a year in which it reached the state finals, started this season 3-6, but have gone 9-4 since. The two clubs split two games in the regular season.
"For one, I just think our schedule helped us. Ridgeview, Grundy, Richlands, good 2A teams," explained Twin Valley coach Tommy Crigger.
"We played Northwood early, they're the number one 1A team in the state, they're undefeated. But once we got our identity we started playing a whole lot better.

COUNCIL (41)
L. Hunt 6 0-0 17, Hess 1 0-2 2, B. Ratliff 3 7-15 13, C. Rasnake 1 0-0 3, A. Hunt 0 1-2 1, Stevens 0 0-0 0, A. Ratliff 0 1-2 1, Brown 0
0-0 0, Gobble 0 1-2 1, Hargis 1 1-2 3, Hurley 0 0-0 0. Totals -- 12 11-25 41.
TWIN VALLEY (83)
Matney 2 0-2 5, Lester 7 1-2 19, Vance 6 6-8 18, Keene 7 1-2 21, O'Quinn 6 0-3 12, Cantrell 4 0-2 8, Allen 0-0, Perkins 0 0-0 0, Damron 0 0-0 0.
Council...............................6 20 11 4 — 41
Twin Valley......................25 20 14 24 — 83
3-point goals-C 6 (L. Hunt 5, Rasnake), TV 11 (Keene 6, Lester 4,
Matney). Total fouls-C , TV 17. Fouled out-O'Quinn. Technicals-none