By BRIAN WOODSON
Bluefield Daily Telegraph
RICHMOND, Va. — Dennis Palmer had reason to like the final comment from Richlands junior Cassidy Richardson during the Blue Tornado’s post-game press conference.
“I am proud of my team, I am going to miss the seniors, but we will be back next year,” Richardson said.
“I liked that last statement,” added Palmer, Richlands’ first year head coach.
Richlands rallied from a 16-point third quarter deficit to pull within four with 3:39 to play, but Liberty-Bealeton pulled away for 42-34 Group AA, Division 3 state semifinal victory over the Lady Blues on Tuesday afternoon at Virginia Commonwealth University’s Siegel Center.
Liberty-Bealeton (27-1), the defending Division 4 state champions, won for a 27th straight time, and will play Robert E. Lee-Staunton in the Division 3 finals on Saturday.
“This has been our goal since the beginning of the season to end our senior year with another state championship and another ring,” Liberty senior standout Liz Wood said.
Richlands, which finished 18-10, made its further progression as a program since reaching the same point in the fall of 1986.
“I thought we played very well, that team we played is a very good team,” Palmer said. “I thought our girls played tremendously hard and I thought we played well.”
Jordyn Cole, the only senior starter for the Blues, led Richlands with 11 points and nine rebounds. Cassidy Richardson added nine points, four assists and three steals, while Brittany Allen tallied eight points, three assists and three steals. Rachel Alley added six rebounds.
Even though Richlands took 19 more shots (48-29) than Liberty, the Lady Blues made just 29.2 percent (14-48) of their shot attempts against the taller Eagles, who were led inside by 6-foot-4 Bri Croushorn, who had 12 rebounds and three of Liberty’s seven blocked shots. Wood also blocked three shots, and the Blues were out-rebounded 33-23.
Richlands was also just 3-16 from 3-point range, and 3-7 from the charity stripe.
“We shot real well last weekend,” Palmer said. “They put a little more pressure on your shot which makes it a tougher shot, but we had our chances.”
Liberty, which had allowed just three teams all season to score more than 41 points against them, were stingy again. Allen was harassed throughout, usually by Wood and was 3-15 from the field. Richardson was just 3-12, while Cole was Richlands’ most effective scorer, making 5-8.
“(Wood) played me very well, she is a really good player,” Allen said. “They were trapping me with the ball, they were trapping me left and right and I was trying to get it to my team as much as possible, but they just played me really tight.
“I think on a couple of my shots my mindset was a little off, but my team picked me up and we almost got the win, but just came up a little short.”
Wood, who will play at the next level at Maine, led Liberty with 13 points, but was saddled with foul trouble much of the second half. Aubri Crummett added 10 for the Eagles, including a trio of 3s, while Aseanti Jones tallied seven. Croushorn took just two shots and made them both to finish with five. Crummett also contributed six rebounds and three assists.
Liberty made 41.4 percent (13-22) from the field, and 13-22 from the free throw line. Yet, the Eagles have a philosophy for winning and it worked for a 27th straight time.
“I think our length bothered them and that is what we do to a lot of teams,” Liberty head coach Lauren Milburn said. “I think it bothered them on the perimeter and it bothered them inside when they got close to the basket. I thought we did a pretty decent job stopping their penetration for the most part…
“We try to win with defense and on the boards,” added Milburn. “I think at this point that is what you have to go with.”
Richlands never led in the game, as the Eagles used an 8-2 run for a 14-7 lead after the opening quarter, and still led 25-16 at the break. The Lady Blues had cut the margin to 22-16 on baskets by Cole and Richardson, but Jones canned a 3 just before the buzzer for the nine-point lead.
“I was surprised,” said the soft-spoken Jones, when asked her reaction to the shot.
Liberty continued to build its lead after the break, taking 34-18 lead with 4:13 to play on a basket by Erin Morant. The Eagles didn’t score again until Smith made two free throws with 2:55 left in the game.
“Thank goodness it is over,” Milburn said. “We are happy with the way our kids fought through a tough one. We have had that a couple of times, but not this close a score against a pretty good team. We had a little bit of an off game and we are proud with the way that we fought through and took us to the championship.
“It is never easy here, it doesn’t matter if you are veteran team or a young team, none of that matters when we you get to the Final Four. Survive and advance, we are happy with that.”
Richlands then picked up the intensity, keeping the Eagles off the board while beginning the climb back into the game. Part of that prescription was to take it right at Croushorn, who picked up three second half fouls.
“We tried to put a more pressure on them, press a little bit more, trap a little bit more and (Wood) got in foul trouble,” Palmer said. “She is their leading scorer and a very good ballhandler too so we thought we could press them a little bit more and trap them halfcourt a little bit more which we were able to do…
“We were down by six or eight and we were just trying to attack the basket and get the shot or get to the foul line to stop the clock.”
Cole continued her strong late season play with a 3, Alley added a shot and Richardson made a free throw to cut the gap to 34-24 going into the final period.
“Jordy has been the one that has stepped up since the playoffs started…,” Palmer said. “Her scoring average has went up and she has played a lot better defense, she has been more aggressive and her play has stepped up 100 percent since the playoffs have started.”
“I just knew I wanted to give it my all to help my team,” said Cole, who fouled out with 2:16 left to play.
Richlands continue to excite its audience of 50-75 fans that made the long trip to Richmond with Davis making a putback, and Richardson adding two free throws and a drive around Croushorn to cut the margin to 34-30 with 3:39 left to play.
Richardson and Allen each had three steals for the Blues, which had eight as a team and also forced 16 turnovers, compared to nine for Richlands.
“I knew we had to step up if we wanted to win,” Richardson said. “I think we gave it our all and I am pleased with the how it came out I guess, we didn’t leave anything out there today.”
An attempt to get within two fell short when Allen’s layup attempt failed to drop. Wood was fouled after snaring the rebound and made both free throws. The Blues could never get any closer.
“We missed a couple of shots there, they were tough shots, but they are shots we can definitely make,” Palmer said. “In that situation we make a basket there and they are on the defensive and we are attacking. We had some chances, we just didn’t convert them.”
Alley and Allen made a pair of late baskets, but the Eagles were 8-13 from the free throw line in the final 2:55 to secure the win.
“We kind of let that pressure get to us a little bit, but what I was real proud of his our kids were able to get through a timeout and step back on the floor and knock down the free throws and help us finish it off,” Milburn said.
Richlands, which reached the state quarterfinals last season, only to lose by 41 to Robert E. Lee, started the season 2-3 but finished the campaign with seven wins in their last eight games.
“We had a rough start this year, I think we lost four or five games early that I don’t think we would lose right now,” Palmer said. “We played Carroll County, they are in the Division 4 semifinals here, they may get us, but I don’t think anybody else would get us.
“We are playing very well right now, since we got into the playoffs we have been playing very well. The girls have stepped up, five or six players have stepped up and played well.”
While Richlands does lose Cole, Megan Casey and Kelli Hess to graduation, Richardson might just be right about a return trip to Richmond.
“We are going to have four starters back, plus we have a couple on the bench that will be able to step up and play well and we have a couple off the JV team that will be able to step up and help us,” Palmer said. “Maybe we can start off next year where we ended this year.”
Richlands finished the season with an 18-10 record, winning its second straight Region IV title. They just came up short in reaching its ultimate goal.
“They are a big team, they are a very, very good team,” Palmer said. “They were the Division 4 state champs last year and they had three starters back from last year’s team and moved down to Division 3. It was a tall task, but we had a chance to win the game.”
— Contact Brian Woodson
at bwoodson@bdtonline.com

At Siegel Center
LIBERTY-BEALETON (27-1)
Aubri Crummett 3-6 1-2 10, Erin Morant 1-3 5-10 7, Liz Wood 3-9 6-6 13, Taylor Welch 0-2 0-0 0, Bri Croushorn 2-2 1-2 5, Dru Martin 0-0 0-0 0, Tiffany Smith 0-1 0-0 0, Aseanti Jones 3-6 0-1 7. Totals 12-29 13-22 42.
RICHLANDS (18-10)
Makenley Davis 1-6 0-0 2, Cassidy Richardson 3-12 3-4 9, Brittany Allen 3-15 0-0 9, Jordyn Cole 5-8 0-0 11, Rachel Alley 2-5 0-3 4, Montana Hearl 0-2 0-0 0, Sarah Compton 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 14-48 3-7 34.
Liberty-Bealeton....................14 11 9 8 — 42
Richlands................................7 9 8 10 — 34
3-point goals: LB 5-9 (Crummett 3-4, Wood 1-3, Jones 1-1, Morant 0-1); RL 3-16 (Allen 2-8, Cole 1-3, Richardson 0-3, Davis 0-1, Hearl 0-1). Reb: LB 33 (Croushorn 11); RL 23 (Cole 9). Ast: LB 9 (Crummett 3); RL 9 (Richardson 4). Total fouls: LB 9; RL 19. Fouled out: Cole. Technicals: none.