FORT CHISWELL, Va. — No one had a tougher assignment on Tuesday night than Graham’s Marshall Hawley and Zach Proffitt.
All the 6-foot-1 Hawley and 6-3 Proffitt had to do was try and contain Fort Chiswell’s 6-6, 295-pound Division I college football prospect Coleman Thomas in a Mountain Empire District contest played on a rainy Tuesday night at ‘The Fort.’
That duo did just fine, holding Thomas to 12 points, while Colby Hill did his part to make up for the loss to Spencer Sheets, scoring 34 points to lead Graham to a 73-70 win over the Pioneers.
“The bucket seemed a little bigger tonight and my teammates got me the ball and I was open,” said Hill, whose G-Men will host Bluefield tonight.
“I think we should come out and surprise some people tomorrow. The last time it was pretty bad, but tomorrow night will be a different game.”
While the G-Men (11-3, 4-0) will give their best effort against the Beavers, who soundly defeated Graham earlier this season, Carlock knows Friday’s home game with Grayson County will determine first place halfway through the MED schedule.
“Our main focus right now is the Mountain Empire District, that is what gets us seeds for the regional tournament and that is what gets us points for the playoffs and where we need to be,” Carlock said. “We are hoping to get through Friday night playing everybody once and hopefully being able to get a win.”
While Sheets was out with an ankle injury, Proffitt played through flu-like symptoms, and played well, scoring 15 points, along with providing six rebounds and two assists.
Hawley didn’t score, but had two blocked shots and two assists, and banged with Thomas and Dylan Hale in the lane.
“We overcame adversity pretty well down there,” Hill said. “Marshall did a great job banging down low, he is just a hard-nosed kid getting big down there with their big man.
“(Zach) had a ‘Jordan flu’ game tonight, he helped us a lot out there.”
Hill scored 15 of his points in the second quarter and 19 in the opening half, helping the G-Men to a 41-34 lead at the break. He was 13 for 15 from the free throw line, leading Graham to a 24 for 30 performance from the charity stripe. He also made a trio of 3s.
“He shot the ball very well tonight...,” Carlock said. “We were 24 of 30 from the foul line, that is a phenomenal foul shooting effort so I am very proud of that. That is something we have got to have more of.”
Fort Chiswell kept forcing the ball inside, usually to Thomas, but numerous missed shots had to be credited to the Graham defense. Thomas scored 12 points, while Hale added 14.
Brett Mabry led the Pioneers with 22, including four 3s.
“Marshall had the challenge to guard (Thomas) in certain situations and did a nice job of holding him down and forcing him to miss some close shots that went our way that didn’t rim in for them,” Carlock said. “I was proud of Marshall tonight, his defensive effort was spectacular, he is a big wide body to guard inside with his size and Marshall did a phenomenal job
“Zach playing extremely sick tonight and not to mention the fact that we are sitting right here with a little adversity with Sheets out of the game with an ankle injury. We were essentially down one and facing a little adversity going into this thing and I am proud of our guys and how they responded in a tough district game.”
The lead moved back and forth four times in the third, before the G-Men went on 12-2 run over the final 3:10 to take a 58-49 advantage into the final period.
Proffitt and Hill scored six points each in the final quarter, as the G-Men were able to maintain the lead. Another standout for Graham was freshman Roman Workman, who had nine points with Sheets on the bench.
“It is still basketball, you don’t have to change at all,” said Hill, of playing without Sheets. “Roman stepped up and played well for us and he did a great job tonight filling that role.”
Graham led 71-64 on two free throws by Hill with 37 seconds on the clock, but the Pioneers connected on consecutive 3s by Mabry and Levi Mooney to narrow the score to 71-70 with 14 seconds left.
Hill made two more free throws, and Mabry tried to force an extra period, but his contested 3 missed its mark.
“Four-and-0 in the district, Grayson coming up on Friday, trying to get 5-0, get that MED title,” said Hill, who also had seven rebounds, two steals and two assists.
Tony Hood tallied 13 points, three boards and two assists for Graham.
Up next is Bluefield, which defeated the G-Men 75-32 last month. Carlock is hoping for a better performance tonight, and more of the same against Grayson County.
“We have a rival game tomorrow and we want to play well, and represent our school well,” Carlock said. “It is a tough-fought game and hopefully we don’t lay an egg like we did last time. I know the people in our town have been behind us and have come to support us.
“We had a great following over here tonight and I am sure they are going to pack the gym out tomorrow and on Friday.”
—Contact Brian Woodson
at bwoodson@bdtonline.com

at ‘The Fort’
GRAHAM (11-3, 4-0)
Tony Hood 3 6-9 13, Roman Workman 4 0-0 9, Marshall Hawley 0 0-1 0, Colby Hill 9 13-15 34, Zach Proffitt 6 3-3 15, Samuel Stowers 0 2-2 2, Tim Clarke 0 0-0 0, Jonathan Figueroa 0 0-0 0, Josh Altizer 0 0-0 0. Totals 22 24-30 73.
FORT CHISWELL (6-7, 2-2)
Levi Mooney 1 0-0 3, Brett Mabry 9 0-0 22, Daniel Hamm 4 1-5 9, Dylan Hale 6 2-2 14, Coleman Thomas 5 2-2 12, Jarred Hovencamp 3 0-0 8, Chase Rathbone 0 0-0 0, Joe Stoneman 0 2-4 2, Desmond Perry 0 0-0 0, Jordan Crockett 0 0-0 0. Totals 28 7-13 70.
Graham................16 25 17 15 — 73
Fort Chiswell.........20 14 15 21 — 70
3-point goals: GR 5 (Hill 3, Hood 1, Workman 1); FC 7 (Mabry 3, Hovencamp 2, Mooney 1). Total fouls: GR 12; FC 26. Fouled out: Hovencamp. Technicals: Fort Chiswell bench (Derrick Jackson). JV—Fort Chiswell 55-25.