By JONATHAN GREENE
Bluefield Daily Telegraph
ROCKY GAP, Va. — It was suppose to be Asher Dillow and the Bland County Bears night. The junior was a point away from a 1,000 points and the Bears were looking to get a crucial Mountain Empire District win.
Dillow was able to get his 1,000th point, but Colby Hill and the Graham G-Men spoiled the rest of the night with a 68-64 win at Rocky Gap High School.
“This was quite an environment over here to play in,” said Graham head coach Glynn Carlock, Jr. “They have a definite home-court advantage here and we tried to prepare our kids for it for the last couple days. We knew it was going to be dog fight.
“They have tremendous basketball team and they shoot the ball extremely well. Coach [Rich] Hankins does a great job. I though our guys scrapped hard tonight and played great defense at times. We kind of flustered them a little bit and we hit the shots we needed to hit.”
Graham built a 11-point lead in the fourth quarter, but Bland County wouldn’t go away quietly. Dillow hit a three which sparked an 11-4 to run bringing the Bears within one at 58-59 with 1:36 remaining. Moments later, they would take a two-point lead on a three from Tyler White.
Hill would answer for the G-Men with a three, but Dillow connected on two free throws to give Bland County a slim 63-61 lead with 44 seconds left. With the clock running down, Hill came up big for Graham again as he hit his fourth three pointer of the night.
“I don’t know who hit the last shot but it was tremendous shot for Graham,” said Bland County head coach Rich Hankins. “Just a big time shot at a crucial time in the game. We had a little bit of momentum coming down stretch there and it was one possession game.
“We had our chances to win, but you have to give Graham a lot of credit for sticking in there.”
Graham bolted out to a 7-0 lead as the Bears were looking to Dillow his 1,000th point. Dillow was able to end the G-Men’s run when he hit John Robert Miller to make it 7-2. Tony Hood hit a three to squash any moment for the Bears.
Dillow would finally get the point he need to achieve the milestone when he drove to the basketball with 2:18 remaining in the first.
“It was great,” Dillow said. “Some of the coaches knew that I could I do it this year as junior. I really wanted to do it this.
“I’m glad it got to happen. This is the best place I’d want to happen at home, quad game and big crowd. We just couldn’t win.”
Bland County continued to battle back as they trailed by one, 17-16, after the first.
The Bears would regain the lead in the second after consecutive three pointers by Darryl Clark and Dillow. The lead would be short lived as the G-Men closed the half on a 16-8 run.
Graham opened the third quarter on a 12-1 run before Chase Hankins and Dillow each hit a three. After a Hill lay-in, Dillow sprinted the length of the court and hit a floater at the buzzer which brought the Bears within 10 at 49-39.
It looked as if the G-Men were going to run away with the game up 10 midway through the fourth, but Bland County mounted their furious comeback.
“We’ve haven’t been playing well,” coach Hankins said. “We haven’t been playing hard. My kids showed a lot of heart tonight.
“They showed tremendous amount of character from battling back from 10-point deficits in both halves. They gave us a chance to win in the end.”
The Bears regained the lead twice on a three by White and two free throws by Dillow, but Hill’s two three pointers in the final minute was the difference. Graham then added three free throws down the stretch to secure the victory.
“These guys are growing up week by week,” Carlock said. “I got a good group of kids who work hard and listen well. They’re getting better game by game. We’re hoping to play our best ball come tournament time.”
Hill led Graham with 23 points. He was the only G-Men in double figures, but 11 Graham players finished the night with two or more points.
Dillow had a game-high 29 points. Hankins added 13 while Clark finished with 12.
The Bears (10-8, 2-6 MED) visit Northwood Monday while Graham (9-11, 4-4) heads to Fort Chiswell on Tuesday.
— Contact Jonathan Greene
at jgreene@bdtonline.com

at Rocky Gap High School
GRAHAM (9-11, 4-8)
Hood 5, Sheets 8, Baker 2, Hurt 2, Yost 3, Edwards 6, Hill 23, Thompson 6, Day 2, Proffitt 5, Coppola 6.
BLAND COUNTY (10-8, 2-6)
Dillow 29, White 7, Clark 12, Miller 2, Hankins 13, French 1.
Graham............................17 18 14 19 — 68
Bland County...................16 14 9 25 — 64
3 pt field goals: GRA 6 (Hill 4, Hood, Sheets); BC 8 (Dillow 5, White, Clark, Hankins).