Carey, Drifters to play for title

Eastern Montgomery guard Shawn Christian hit a layup and drew a foul with 10 seconds remaining in the third period of the boys Group A Division 1 semifinal, giving the Mustangs their first lead over Twin Valley at the Siegel Center.

Christian turned the 3-point play and scored a game-high 29 points, leading the Mustangs to a 67-63 win. The 6-3 sophomore hit five 3-point goals, including four in the second half.

"I really believed that I couldn't do that before," he said. " . . . During practice I can make them. During a game, I just get too nervous."

Twin Valley cut the lead to one point with 5:44 remaining, but Christian hit another from 3-point range and the Mustangs pulled away to advance to their first state finals since the school opened in 2001.

Senior forward Hunter Simpson scored 26 points for Twin Valley. Josh Smith led the Panthers rebounding with 13 to go with 19 points.

Twin Valley outrebounded the Mustangs by 13, but committed 18 turnovers to Eastern Montgomery's nine.

"Even when we took the lead, the game still seemed to be flowing the way they wanted it to," Twin Valley coach Brian Moore said.

The Mustangs play Colonial Beach today at 3:45 p.m. at the Siegel Center for the championship.

TWIN VALLEY

Shortridge 10, Horne 5, Smith 19, Simpson 26, Keene 3, Burniston 0, St. Clair 0, Adams 0. Totals 24 13-16 63.
EASTERN MONTGOMERY

Christian 29, Wooten 7, Hall 11, Stewart 14, Khalil 6, Sisson 0, Motley 0. Totals 4 13-21 67.
Twin Valley ------------------------- 17 16 15 15 - 63
Eastern Montgomery ------------------------- 9 17 23 18 - 67

3-point goals: TV - Horne, Simpson. EM - Christian 5, Hall.

Dan River rallied from an eight point deficit entering the fourth quarter and defeated Madison County in the boys Group A, Division 2 semifinal.

Senior Dantony Dickerson hit a 3-point goal with 3:45 remaining to give Dan River its first lead since the first quarter. After six lead changes in the last 3:36, Trey Edmunds' layup with 36 seconds to play gave Dan River the lead for good.

Reggie Stone scored eight of his 16 in the fourth quarter and the Wildcats went 9-10 from the line, recovering from a 2-10 start through the first three periods.

Madison's Logan Terrell led scoring with 18 points.

Coming off the bench for the first time this season, Dickerson put up 14 points.

"We haven't been here before," Dan River coach Jacob Gruse said. "Why not? Might as well be thrilled all the way back to Ringgold."

Dan River returns to the Siegel Center tomorrow to play the winner of Radford-James River at 5 p.m. for the championship.

DAN RIVER

Stone 16, White 8, Edmunds 10, Myers 4, Adams 0, Dickerson 14, Hairston 0, Womack 1, Eldridge 0, Warren. Totals 21 11-20 57.
MADISON COUNTY

Campbell 0, Carter 14, Utz 6, Falk 4, Terrell 18, Fincham 0, Butler 2, Parker 6, Garr 4. Totals 15 24-27 54.
Dan River ------------------------- 7 10 13 27 - 57
Madison County ------------------------- 12 14 12 16 - 54

3-point goals: DR - Dickerson 4.

GIRLS

Buffalo Gap has the opportunity to win back-to-back state championships after beating Franklin again in the semifinals of the Virginia High School League Group A, Division 1 tournament at the Siegel Center.

The Bison defeated the Broncos by 17 points in last year's title game. Buffalo Gap also won the state championship in 1984.

This season's encounter was much closer. Buffalo Gap led by two at halftime and stretched the margin to five through three quarters. The Bison were 10 for 10 from the foul line for the game. Holly Morgan had a huge game with 18 points, 13 rebounds (12 on the defensive end) and five assists. Sara Lamneck provided support with 15 points and seven rebounds in 16 minutes of playing time.

Franklin outrebounded the Bison 49-43 with Keshara Bradley hauling in 16 boards, 10 on the offensive end. Kiara Lee was the only Bronco in double figures with 16 points.

FRANKLIN (23-4)

Hunt 0, Bradley 9, Fleetwood 6, Lee 16, Hobbs 9, Boone 5, Williams 2. Totals 20 3-8 47.
BUFFALO GAP (23-3)

Long 4, Burford 6, Morgan 18, Lacey 0, Lamneck 15, Parady 0, Sanderson 8, Benner 0, Harris 5. Totals 21 10-10 56.
Franklin ------------------------- 15 11 8 13 - 47
Buffalo Gap ------------------------- 15 13 11 17 - 56

3-point goals: F - Lee 3, Hobbs. BG - Burford 2, Morgan 2.

Bland County whipped fellow Moutain Empire District and Region C member Narrows for the fifth time this season to advance to today's Group A, Division 1 tournament final against defending champion Buffalo Gap. Tipoff for the title game at the Siegel Center is 2 p.m.

The Green Wave scored the first point of the game but never led again. The Bears' margin was 14 at the half and 22 through three quarters. Narrows cut its deficit to 10 with an 18-6 run before the Bears regained control.

BLAND (22-6)

Hankins 16, Duncan 2, Mustard 11, Brizendine 0, Dunn 9, Magyar 6, Dillow 2, Williams 3, Looney 7. Totals 18 14-19 56.
NARROWS (19-10)

Guynn 2, Burton 10, Davis 2, Buckland 15, Weatherly 3, Snidow 10, Lindsey 0. Totals 13 14-23 42.
Bland County ------------------------- 16 14 14 12 - 56
Narrows ------------------------- 9 7 6 20 - 42

3-point goals: BC - Mustard 3, Magyar 2, Dunn . N - Snidow 2.

WEDNESDAY BOYS

Following William Fleming's semifinal victory over John Marshall in the Virginia High School League Group AAA boys basketball tournament, Colonels coach Mickey Hardy was asked if he preferred to play Petersburg or King's Fork in the final.

"I hope they both lose," Hardy said and laughed. "We can't pick our poison."

King's Fork of Suffolk is the poison.

The Bulldogs were barking after they stunned nationally ranked and unbeaten Petersburg 73-67 before a capacity crowd of 7,500 at the Siegel Center.

Cadarian Raines finished with seven points and six rebounds. He scored just two in the second half. Drejon Scott led the Wave with 20 points. Chris Evans added 13 points, and Du'Vaughn Maxwell contributed 10.

PETERSBURG (30-1)

Desmore 6, Moore 0, Evans 13, Scott 20, Raines 7, K. Green 6, Mason 1, Maxwell 10, Spain 4. Totals 23 6-11 67.
KING'S FORK (30-1)

Wertz 4, Wright 7, Parker 24, Copeland 21, Gardner 12, Hearn 3, Patterson 0, Riddick 2. Totals 29 13-23 73.
Petersburg ------------------------- 18 21 13 15 - 67
King's Fork ------------------------- 13 22 17 21 - 73

3-point goals: P - Scott 5, Evans. KF - Wright.