AM
Grayson at Graham
Grayson County (27) Vs. Graham (33)
Feb 10, 2012
By BRIAN WOODSON
Bluefield Daily Telegraph
BLUEFIELD, Va. — The lid on the basket opened just enough for the Graham G-Girls.
Liz Workman scored 13 points and Alysa Leung gave a lift with nine points and scrappy defensive play off the bench, as the G-Girls survived a shaky shooting night with a 33-27 Mountain Empire District win over Grayson County on Friday night and Senior Night at Graham Middle School.
Graham (13-9, 7-3) was able to finish second behind Galax in the MED and earn a first round bye in the district tournament slated to start next week. Graham will play at home next Thursday in the semifinals against either Bland County or Narrows.
While Graham made just 13-of-68 shots in the game, the G-Girls forced 30 turnovers to get many more attempts then the Blue Devils, which made just 9-41 from the field, with four of those and 13 of their points coming in the final period.
“We just couldn’t buy anything. We were getting open shots, running our offense and getting the looks that we wanted,” Graham head coach Tracy Raban said. “I don’t feel like we forced too many of them, we had good open looks, we just didn’t knock them down.
“It was horrendous shooting night. Our defensive end of the floor kept us in the game and kept us a lead there. They came back there at the end, but we were just able to hold them off just enough.”
Graham never trailed in the game, with the Blue Devils tying the score twice at 2-2 and 7-7. Workman, who came off the bench with the seniors inserted into the starting lineup, scored their final eight points of the half, including all six in the second quarter for the 13-9 lead at the break.
The G-Girls forced 19 turnovers in the opening half, led by aggressive defense from Leung, Workman and Candace Lewis, all of whom had three steals apiece before the break.
“That is something I feel like (Alysia) could have been doing all year so hopefully she can get consistent with that and give Leah (Gillespie) a spell so we don’t lose too much when we can do that.” Raban said. “I felt like she was the game-changer tonight, she came in and gave us that spark and got up and down the floor and she gave us a great effort tonight.”
Four points by Workman and Leung helped Graham extend its lead to 23-14 after three quarters, and the G-Girls built the margin to 13, at 27-14 on a basket by Lewis. They still led by 12, 30-18, on a free throw by Leung before the Blue Devils started finding the range.
Madison Shupe, who led Grayson County with nine points off the bench, had seven in the final period, canning a 3, a two-point basket and a pair of free throws, helping the Devils narrow the margin to three, 30-27, with 36.5 seconds on the clock.
Grayson County was forced to foul, and Workman was able to sink a trio of free throws in the final seconds to help the G-Girls pull away for the win. The G-Girls made 7-16 from the charity stripe, including 5-8 for Workman.
“That is the Liz I know, she has struggled all year,” Raban said. “It is a different team that she has been with this year compared to the past, but that is her game is to take it the basket. If we can get her to do that in the postseason we might surprise some people.”
Camryn McGrady added eight points for Grayson County (8-13, 4-6), which showed improvement from their previous matchup, a 46-24 loss at home in Independence.
Up next is tournament. The G-Girls will be ready.
“We have had a rough year, but to finish 13-9 and finish second in the district, I will take that,” Raban said. “If you would have said that the way the season started I wouldn’t have believed it, but we’ll take it and hopefully we can pull off the second round game there and move on to the championship game, maybe against Galax, or maybe they can get upset.
“We just have to come and bring our “A” game into the tournament and see what we can get.”
— Contact Brian Woodson
at bwoodson@bdtonline.com

At Graham Middle School
GRAYSON COUNTY (8-13, 4-6)
Meredith Frost 2 1-2 5, Sarah Eller 2 0-0 4, Autumm Halsey 0 0-0 0,
Natasha Moore 0 0-1 0, Camryn McGrady 2 4-4 8, Mary Meier 0 1-4 1, Lydia
Flippin 0 0-0 0, Madison Shupe 3 2-2 9. Totals 9 8-13 27.
GRAHAM (13-9, 7-3)
Tori Repass 0 0-1 0, Candice Lewis 1 1-2 3, Leah Gillespie 2 0-1 4,
Kaylan Stanley 0 0-2 0, Hannah Stowers 0 0-0 0, Karly Morgan 2 0-0 4,
Erin Wilson 0 0-0 0, Alysia Leung 4 1-2 9, Liz Workman 4 5-8 13, Taylor
Williams 0 0-0 0, Ashley Matthews 0 0-0 0. Totals 13 7-16 33.
Grayson County………………4 5 5 13 — 27
Graham………………............7 6 10 10 — 33
3-point goals: GC 1 (Shupe 1); GR 0. Total fouls: GC 15; GR 14. Technicals none. JV– GR won.
Nightly Roundup
Game Scoreboard
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 OT SCORE
Grayson County 4 5 5 13 0 27
Graham 7 6 10 10 0 33
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