By LARRY HYPES
Bluefield Daily Telegraph
TAZEWELL, Va. — Give Tazewell an “e” for effort but Southwest District-leading Carroll County left town with the “W.”
Collapsing to the ball on defense and living in three-point land (four in the opening quarter), the steady Lady Cavaliers scored the first 8 points and opened an early 11-point lead over Tazewell. Marc Motley’s squad showed its versatility, as well, with four different starters going downtown for Carroll.
Crysta Guynn paced a balanced Carroll County attack with 14 points including three treys.
Tazewell (7-8, 1-4), however, refused to back down and played virtually even with Carroll (14-4, 6-0) in the second quarter. Hard-working Haley Christian teamed with Katie Snapp to battle inside for rebounds with
Carroll’s Shyann Dalton and Crysta Guynn. Steady Lady Dog point guard Taylor Catron had to work through down-low double team defense all evening against a much deeper Cavaliers’ bench with a host of fresh players coming at her.
“We knew coming that Tazewell didn’t have as many on the bench as we did so we tried to press them, especially in the second and third quarters and get their legs tired,” observed Cavalier coach Marc Motley. “Chrysta stepped up and Shyann helped a lot. She can score and when she comes in, she draws a lot of attention. That helps our other shooters get open. It worked out for us tonight. We switched to a zone in the fourth quarter after Tazewell slowed down, forcing them to shoot long shots and we kept our advantage.”
The Lady Bulldogs sizzled at the free throw line, making 15-of-19, including 6-for-6 by Catron, who finished with 9 points.
Autumn Hash scored the opening points for Tazewell in both halves and put in 11 points to lead Tazewell. After the Lady Cavaliers jumped in front it was Hash who powered underneath with a left-handed lay-up on a neat assist from Whitney Saunders to cut the CC advantage to 8-2.
Carroll jumped out to a 15-point cushion, 30-15, scoring a fast five points at the start of the third period on a trey by Lindsey Martin and a pair of freebie from Rachel Dalton before Hash took an offensive rebound back up for the Lady Dogs. Catron notched two free throws, Hash fashioned a three-point play, and Tazewell stayed even with the Lady Cavs in the third quarter.
Hash said, “They (Carroll) play smart. They knew the way to bring the defense against, using their depth. We just have to work our way around the numbers and keep playing hard.”
Catron’s free throws pulled Tazewell to within 7, 35-28, at the 6:30 mark, before Shyann Dalton muscled in bucket underneath and then grabbed a crucial rebound at the other end, allowing Guynn a chance to score two. Guynn posted up on the next series, drilling a long trey from the side and converting a four-point play as Carroll County increased the edge to 13, at 43-30 against the weary Lady Dogs.
“We tried to play hard defense against Tazewell, especially in the paint,” noted Guynn. “Offensively, I wanted to drop in some three’s and help our scoring. We played a lot of man-to-man, trying to wear them down. We were really concentrating on stopping No. 10 (Catron) because she directs their attack. We knew what we had to do.”
Tazewell’s Haley Bradshaw, who chipped in with an early trey, said, “We gave it all we had. Maybe we can meet again in the tournament and we can put together something a little better for them”
Lady Dog mentor Jason Southworth concluded, “Give Carroll credit. They stuck to their game plan. We didn’t contest some of those second-half shots like we should have. Our match-up 2-3 zone worked well for us earlier in the game and we played as hard as we could all the way through. I am pleased with the effort.”
The Lady Cavaliers play Saturday at Richlands while Tazewell travels to Bluefield tonight to take on the Graham G-Girls.

at Tazewell Middle School
CARROLL COUNTY (14-4, 6-0)
Rachel Dalton 7, Taylor Martin 7, Crysta Guynn 14, Cassidi McCann 4, Lindsay Martin 6, Rachel Sellers 3, Shyann Dalton 4.
TAZEWELL (7-8, 1-4)
Haley Christian 1, Autumn Hash 11, Katie Snapp 2, Whitney Saunders 5, Bre Sparks 0, Taylor Catron 9, Haley Bradshaw 5, Kim Ruble 0.
Carroll County.............16 9 10 10 — 45
Tazewell.......................7 8 10 8 — 33
Three-point goals: CC, 7 (Guynn 3, L. Martin 2, T. Martin, Dalton). TZ, 2 (Catron, Bradshaw). Fouled out –none.