Lady Bears edge Rye Cove

By JERRY SCOTT/Staff

What a difference one point can make. Only days earlier, one point was the difference in Bland County’s 51-50 loss to Northwood in the Region C final. This past Saturday, one point was also the difference in the Bears getting a trip to the big show in Richmond today or going home with their 15th loss of the season.
Bland High sophomore Laurel Hankins, who helplessly watched her potential game-winning shot fall off the rim against Northwood, got a reprieve of sorts as she dropped in the game-winning basket with just over five seconds left as the Bears stunned Region D champion Rye Cove 47-46 at Virginia High School in Bristol.
The win propelled the Bears (14-14) into today’s 2:00 p.m. Group A, Division 1 state semifinal game against Franklin’s Broncos (22-1). Franklin defeated Luray 48-36 in another of Division 1’s four quarterfinal games. Rye Cove’s season ended at 16-11.
The game started out looking like a Rye Cove runaway. The Eagles jumped to a 7-1 lead with just under three minutes gone in the contest before the Bears got their first bucket when Kirby Mustard fed Morgan Brizendine for a 10-foot jumper with 5:13 left in the first quarter. Rye Cove came back on a jumper from the head of the key by Michelle Hutchins and later a three from nearly the same spot by Jasmine Carter to lead 12-5 at the 3:34 mark.
The lead went to 14-5 in a rebound, coast-to-coast layup by Christi Hood before the Bears used the first of three 3-point plays by Hankins as well as a Mustard layup to close to within 14-10 as the first stanza ended. Hankins and Brizendine both netted four first quarter markers for the Bears.
Bears’ senior Cari Neal fed Brizendine for a deuce moments into the second stanza and the Bears gained a 14-14 tie when Mustard slipped past a nice pick for a foul line jumper at the 6:33 mark of the first half. In the meantime, Rye Cove was in the midst of a shooting drought of 14 consecutive shots before Hood gave the lead back to the Eagles 16-14 with 3:12 left. Bland County took its first lead at 17-16 with 1:07 to go when Hankins turned her own steal into an uncontested layin and the Bears were able to carry that lead into the halftime break.
The third quarter saw Hankins throw in seven points as the Bears outscored the Eagles 18-15 to hold a 35-31 edge after three periods of play. After Rye Cove went up 18-17 moments into the period, the Bears ran off five straight points to lead 22-18 by the 4:19 mark. After a bucket from the Eagles’ Carter cut it to 22-20, Bland County used a jumper just inside the 3-point arc by sophomore Sam Magyar, a 3-point play by Hankins, and a short jumper from Sara Looney off a nice lob pass by Neal to lead 30-20 with 2:39 to go.
However, Rye Cove answered with back-to-back treys by Shelli McDavid to sever the deficit to 30-26 at 1:05 and 10 seconds later McDavid scored again, making it 30-28. Moments later, BC’s Kristin Dunn dropped in a deuce and Hankins added a trey with 23 seconds remaining as the Bears led 35-29.
Mustard got the fourth period off with her fourth bucket of the game as the Bears led 37-31 and when Hankins converted her third 3-point play, the Bears led 40-31 with 6:53 to play. However, Rye Cove answered with baskets from Hood and Charity Lawson to trim the lead to 40-35 at the 5:18 mark.
Magyar scored for the Bears 14 seconds later but Rye Cove got a hoop from Hutchins, two McDavid free throws, and a McDavid basket over Brizendine to draw to with 42-41 with 4:22 left.
Rye Cove then went on to take their first lead since Hood’s basket opening the third stanza as McDavid dropped in a foul line jumper at the 3:33 mark and she went on to add a foul shot with 2:32 to go, her seventh straight point, as the Eagles led 44-42.
Hankins pulled up from the head of the key for her second trey as Bland County retook the lead 45-44 with 1:32 left but a Lawson stickback basket 20 seconds later had Rye Cove again in front 46-45. The Eagles missed a great opportunity to open some breathing room with 32 seconds to play but Hutchins misfired twice at the line, giving the Bears a chance.
After a Bland County miss, sophomore Amanda Duncan bounced the ball off a Rye Cove player under the Bears basket with nine seconds left. After a timeout, Hankins got the ball back on the inbounds and drove to the basket, banking in the winning 6-footer with just over five seconds to go. The Eagles quickly in-bounded and got off a desperation heave from halfcourt that didn’t come close.
Now a Bland County team that was once 3-8 on the season has advanced into the semifinals of the state tournament. They have won 11 of their past 17 games with four of the losses by five points or less. The roster that has only three seniors has a chance before the end of this week to do something very big.
“I told my girls that this game would be a game of runs and it was,” Bears coach Jason Lambert said after the game. “They would score a few and then we’d score a few. This time of year it’s not necessarily the best or most talented team that wins but the one that better prepared mentally. The thing about us having all these sophomores is that sometimes they can hurt you and other times, they just don’t know any better.”
One thing they do know, however, is how to put the ball in the basket. Hankins finished with 21 points for the winners, including three 3-point plays and two 3-pointers. Mustard added eight points and four steals while junior Brizendine scored eight and was torrid on the boards with 15 of BC’s 32 rebounds.
McDavid was one of two Eagles to score in double figures as she hit for 15 points. Hood tallied 12 and Hutchins seven. 

BLAND COUNTY (14-14) 47
Duncan 0-0 0-0 0, Mustard 4-8 0-0 8, Brizendine 4-8 0-0 8, Hankins 7-13 5-7 21, Dunn 1-2 1-2 3, Magyar 2-3 0-0 5, Williams 0-0 0-0 0, Neal 0-1 0-0 0, Hutchens 0-1 0-0 0, S. Looney 1-4 0-0 2. TOTALS 19-40 6-9 47

RYE COVE (16-11) 46
Gibson 0 0-0 0, Ch. Hood 6 0-0 12, Edwards 1 0-0 3, McDavid 5 3-6 15, Hutchins 3 1-5 7, Carter 2 0-0 5, Lawson 2 0-0 4, Tester 0 0-0 0, Ca. Hood 0 0-0 0. TOTALS 19 4-11 46

Bland County 10 7 18 12—47
Rye Cove 14 2 15 15—46

3-point goals: Hankins (2), Magyar, Edwards, McDavid (2), Carter
BC rebounds: 32 (Brizendine 15)
BC assists: 7 (Mustard, Neal 2)
BC steals: 7 (Mustard 4)
Total fouls: BC 12, RC 8
Fouled out: none.