TAZEWELL, Va. — It took Tazewell three quarters before their offense woke up Friday night. When it did, the Bulldogs found themselves in too deep of a hole to rally back.

Grundy led by as many as 17 points through three quarters, before holding off Tazewell’s fourth quarter rally for a 55-36 victory at Tazewell Middle School.

“We came out flat,” Tazewell head coach Lee Walker said. “We had a big victory last night. It was a long trip, not much rest.

“It happens, but my kids worked hard. I hope they can continue to work hard.”

The Golden Wave held the Bulldogs to four first quarter points as Tazewell didn’t have more than nine points in a quarter until they scored 16 in the final frame.

“We didn’t want to be in a running match with them,” Grundy head coach Bill Christian said. “They get up and down the floor real well. We didn’t want them to get started.

“As far as the speed, we didn’t feel like we could be involved with that. We tried to control the tempo the whole time. If we had something in transition that was quick, when knew to take that. If not, we were going to try to be patient.”

The Bulldogs were coming off an impressive victory over Oak Hill Academy Red while Grundy lost a hard-fought contest to East Ridge, Ky.

Tazewell’s Christian Lewis scored the game’s opening basket, but that was their only lead of the game. Grundy tied the game just over two minutes in on a lay-up by Cody Church then took the lead on a jumper by Dillon O’Quinn.

The Golden Wave led 12-4 after the first period and extended their advantage to 21-4 before the Bulldogs scored the final nine points of the half.

John Walker connected on two free throws before Noah Walker added two quick turnaround jumpers. Lewis capped off the run with a three-pointer just before the end of the half.

“We came out and made a lot of good decisions early,” Christian said. “Toward the end of the half, we took some poor shots. They got tired and sloppy.”

The halftime came at the wrong time for Tazewell as the Bulldogs again came out slow at the start of the third quarter.

Church hit Tyler Stacy for a quick score and Grundy was off on an 11-3 run before Noah Walker hit one of his two free throw attempts.

Tazewell went to a smaller lineup in the fourth quarter and Colin Hancock got hot from behind the arc.

Hancock connected on three of his four three-point attempts. His fourth make cut the deficit to 44-33 with 4:21 remaining.

“I started putting different people in hoping somebody would step up,” coach Walker said. “A couple of times we did, but we couldn’t maintain. We got it back to within 10.

“I thought we were going to make run. Then we don’t play defense. That’s the way high school kids are. Up one minute, down the next.”

Grundy scored the next five points to seal the victory.

Rife led Grundy (1-1) with 15 points. Church added 14 points. Oquinn and Travis Lester each finished with nine.

A night after having five players finish in double figures, the Bulldogs had one — Hancock with 12.

Noah Walker had nine and Lewis added seven.

Tazewell (2-1) visits Galax on Tuesday.



At Tazewell Middle School

GRUNDY (55)

Ben Rife 15, Cody Church 14, Tyler Stacy 6, C.J. Ratliff 2, Dillon O’Quinn 9, Travis Lester 9

TAZEWELL (36)

Christian Lewis 7, Colin Hancock 12, John Walker 5, Ryan Hankins 2, Noah Walker 9

Grundy..........................12 9 15 19 — 55

Tazewell..........................4 9 7 16 — 36

3 pt field goals: GRU 1 (Rife 1); TAZ 6 (Hancock 4, Lewis 1, J. Walker 1).