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Kristin Dunn of Bland County looks to pass against Narrows. Photo by Jerry Scott

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Lady Bears win heated battle over Narrows

By JERRY SCOTT/Staff

Bland County’s girls’ basketball game with Narrows on Jan. 26 was the tale of two extremes. In the first half, the Bears’ shooting percentages rivaled the temperatures of the outside. In the second half the shooting didn’t get any better but things got so heated that the Bears wound up scoring an easy 46-32 win over the visiting Green Wave.
Sophomore Laurel Hankins led all scorers as she popped in 17 points for the Bears, including an awesome 13 of 17 effort from the foul stripe. She hit three of four at the 7:34 mark of the fourth period when Green Wave coach Wayne Gautier was whistled for a pair of technical fouls and subsequently ejected for arguing with officials.
The win improved the Bears to 4-2 within the MED and 7-10 overall. Longtime rival Narrows sank to 3-3 in the district and 7-8 through 15 games.
Bland County’s Kirby Mustard arched in a deuce moments into the game as the Bears grabbed the early lead. Narrows, however, managed to go on and lead by the close of the opening stanza 8-5.
In the second quarter, Kayla Dillow’s jumper from just inside the 3-point arc trimmed the lead to 8-7 and when Cari Neal fed Hankins for a bucket with 4:52 left in the first half, the Bears led 9-8. Narrows later led 12-10 but Hankins canned two foul shots and Mustard put back a Kristen Dunn miss as the Bears led 14-12 for a lead they’d never surrender. Another basket by Dillow and a Dunn free toss had the Bears in front 17-14 at the halftime break.
Pairs of foul shots from Sara Looney and Hankins had the Bears up 21-16 by the 6:06 mark of the third quarter and when Bland County ran off 10 unanswered points later in the period, the Bears were able to carry a 32-21 advantage into the fourth stanza. Hankins finished the third session with eight points as the Bears blitzed Narrows 15-7.
In the fourth quarter, the rivalry intensified and tempers began to flare. Sam Magyar’s hoop from just inside the arc had the Bears up 34-21 and following a Narrows turnover in which Gautier thought his player had been fouled, the fireworks started.
Gautier went off on a tirade that got him one technical foul before bumping an official for the second one and subsequent ejection. Hankins responded with three of the four free throws with 7:34 left for a 37-21 Bears’ lead. Two minutes later, Adrianna Hutchens hit the first of two at the line as the Bears held their largest lead at 38-21.
Balanced scoring was one big key for the Bears in this one. Hankins’ 17 points was nine more than anyone else on the floor. Eleven of 13 Bears scored in the win. Lindsey Dowdy and Lauren Albert topped Narrows with eight markers each.

NARROWS (3-3, 7-8) 32
Guynn 1 1-2 3, Dowdy 3 2-2 8, Conley 1 0-2 2, Ka. Davis 3 0-3 6, Albert 4 0-0 8, Snidow 1 0-0 2, Ke. Davis 0 0-0 0, Lindsey 0 0-0 0, Weatherly 1 1-6 3. TOTALS 14 4-15 32

BLAND COUNTY (4-2, 7-10) 46
Mustard 2-9 0-2 4, Neal 0-0 0-0 0, Hutchens 1-1 2-4 4, Hankins 2-7 13-18 17, May 1-2 0-0 2, Magyar 1-4 0-0 2, Dillow 2-4 0-0 4, Duncan 0-2 1-4 1, J. Looney 0-0 0-0 0, Williams 0-0 2-4 2, Brizendine 2 0-0 4, Dunn 0-1 3-4 3, S. Looney 0-1 3-6 3. TOTALS 11-36 24-42 46

Narrows 8 6 7 11—32
Bland County 5 12 15 14—46

3-point goals: none
BC rebounds: 25 (Mustard 6)
BC assists: 4 (Hankins 2)
BC steals: 10 (Mustard, Hankins 3)
Total fouls: Narrows 25, BC 17
Fouled out: Conley, Albert
Technical fouls: Guynn, Narrows coach Wayne Gautier (2), ejected.