Bluefield Daily Telegraph, Bluefield, WV

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January 15, 2012

Lebanon sends Richlands to defeat

By ANTHONY STEVENS for the Daily Telegraph

LEBANON, Va. — A quick start by the Pioneers made it a tough night for Richlands.

Lebanon raced out to a 10-2 lead and were never tied and never trailed as they routed the Blue Tornado 74-31 at Charles C. Long Gymnasium on Saturday.

“We just did not compete,” remarked Richlands coach Jody Fuller. “We didn’t handle the pressure, it was bad. I really don’t have an explanation, I’m at a loss for words.”

Lebanon was all over the floor with a pesky man defense until late in the game. The Blues only made 12-of-41 attempts from the floor, shooting less than 30 percent. Half of their shots were made by Ben Brown who finished with a team-high 15 points.

“The start of our season was really rough,” explained Fuller. “I felt like we had made some progress until tonight. We looked like we did three weeks ago.”

Richlands (2-9, 0-3) never appeared comfortable against the Pioneers. They were playing without leading scorer Devon Johnson who was on a football recruiting visit, but still could have had a much stronger showing. Lebanon (7-6) led 30-11 at halftime and never looked back as the rolled in the second half.

“We played really good from the beginning,” said Lebanon coach Thad Lambert whose club had lost three straight games.

“We needed something good to happen for us. We played a solid game from start to finish, so I was really happy with my guys.”

Justin Brown was a thorn in the side of the Blues the entire game. Brown posted a double-double. He was 7-of-14 from the floor, scoring 22 points and also hauled down 10 rebounds.

Thomas Young also came off the bench to have a big night for the Pioneers. Young scored 11 points and was 3-of-4 from beyond the arc. Lebanon made nine treys in the contest. All nine players on the Lebanon roster scored.

“It was a good win,” Lambert said. “We needed this with two important district games next week.

“I’m feeling pretty good about the way we played.”

Richlands will host Twin Valley in another non-district contest on Tuesday.

Lebanon will entertain Lee High in a Clinch Mountain District encounter on Tuesday.        



RICHLANDS (31)

A.J. Johnson 2 0-0 4, Harris 1 0-0 3, Barnette 0 0-0 0, Brown 6 0-0 15, Z. Johnson 0 0-2 0, Hunsaker 1 0-0 3, Deel 1 1-2 3, Flack 1 0-0 3. Totals 12 1-4 31.

LEBANON (74)

Brown 7 5-6 22, Smith 3 3-4 9, Carter 2 0-0 5, Sexton 2 0-0 4, Bollinger 1 2-2 5, Young 4 0-0 11, Slate 1 0-0 2, Chafin 4 0-1 8, Cobb 3 1-1 8. Totals 27 11-14 74.

Richlands............................5    6    8  12  —  31

Lebanon............................12  18  23  21  —  74

3-point goals – Richlands 6 (Harris 1, Brown 3, Hunsaker 1, Flack 1), Lebanon 9 (Brown 3, Carter 1, Bollinger 1, Young 3, Cobb 1). Total fouls – Richlands 12, Lebanon 9. Fouled out - none. Technicals – A.J. Johnson. JV game – Lebanon 40-35.



 Girls

Lebanon 41, Richlands 31

Lebanon also won the girls contest, taking a 41-31 non-district win to end a four-game Lady Blues winning streak.  

It was a long night for Richlands who had trouble getting shots to fall.

“Offensively we were not very good, we struggled all night,” Richlands coach Dennis Palmer said. “We probably didn’t shoot 30 percent from the floor.

“We had a lot of open looks, we just couldn’t knock them down. I think we played well enough defensively to win the game.”

Lebanon played tenacious man defense most of the game and the Lady Blues had trouble attacking it.

They finished with 18 turnovers.

“Lebanon played real aggressive and got after us,” said Palmer. “We didn’t handle it real well.”

The Lady Pioneers led 24-16 at halftime. But led by Kati Simmons, Lebanon started quickly in the third quarter to go up by 17 going to the final stanza.

“That was the key,” said Lebanon coach Rex Parker. “We just played good half-court defense. Kendall Helbert did a good job rebounding and Simmons was able to score some transition buckets.”

The Lady Blues made a little run in the fourth quarter but couldn’t catch Lebanon.

“It was too little, too late,” Palmer said. “The last three minutes, we played better than we did the whole game.

“We just didn’t shoot the ball well tonight but that happens on occasion.”

Simmons poured in a game-high 21 points for Lebanon (10-3).

Sophomore Brittany Allen led Richlands (6-4, 2-1) with 18 points.  



RICHLANDS (31)

Hearl 1 0-0 2, Davis 0 0-0 0, Richardson 3 0-2 6, Casey 0 0-0 0, Allen 7 2-4 18, Cole 0 1-2 1, Compton 0 0-0 0, Hess 0 0-0 0, H. Alley 0 0-0 0, R. Alley 1 2-4 4. Totals 12 5-12 31.

LEBANON (41)

Simmons 8 3-4 21, Johnson 1 1-2 3, Arrington 2 1-3 6, Vencill 1 0-0 2, Compton 0 0-0 0, Cox 2 0-0 6, Helbert 1 0-0 3, Helton 0 0-0 0. Totals 15 5-9 41.

Richlands.............................9    7    5  10  —  31

Lebanon..............................12  12  14    3  —  41

3-point goals – Richlands 2 (Allen 2), Lebanon 6 (Simmons 2, Arrington 1, Cox 2, Helbert 1). Total fouls – Richlands 10, Lebanon 15. Fouled out - none. Technicals – none. JV game – Lebanon won.

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