Bulldogs bring versatility to Southwest District courts

TAZEWELL, Va. — Every team talks about the importance of working hard. The Tazewell girls basketball team has already proven that’s not a problem for them.

After all, the Lady Bulldogs already played River Ridge District favorite Blacksburg earlier this season with five players, and finished it with four.

“We had a two-point lead at halftime and half way through the third quarter I had one foul out and we ended up losing by 12, but I was really pleased with the effort,” said Mitchell, who was missing four players with injuries and illness. “Even at the end of the game we were still hustling and trying to cover five people with four.

“They were running all over the floor and I was just real pleased with the kids that were there.”

Mitchell hopes to have his entire roster available for the rest of the season. He only has nine, including five back from last year’s squad.

“Hopefully we can get everything together and be playing good at the end of the season, anything can happen at the end of the season,” Mitchell said. “I’d much rather peak at the end of February and early March than to peak now because that is the most important thing.”

Tazewell started the season with a four-game losing streak, although those losses came against Blacksburg (twice), Mountain Empire District favorite Bland County and Southwest District foe Grundy in an overtime shootout.

Since then, the ‘Dawgs have defeated Patrick Henry and previously unbeaten Narrows.

“I’m pleased with all the girls,” Mitchell said. “The main thing is for us to stay healthy and come together and everybody try to improve and do the best they can all the time.”

The Bulldogs can shoot the ball, as evidenced by Kelsey Sutherland’s 36 points, including seven 3-pointers, in that 91-88 loss to Grundy. While the ‘Dawgs are shooting a respectable 38 percent from three-point range, there is one habit Mitchell hopes they can kick.

“The main thing for us is turnovers right now,” said Mitchell, who has changed Tazewell to more of a transition offense. “When we get that under control, and get real consistent and maybe having 10 or 12 games, I think we’ll be able to compete with just about anybody.”

Tazewell, which doesn’t play again until Dec. 30 against Bland County, are led by Sutherland, a junior point guard, who leads the Bulldogs with 19.8 points, 4.7 assists and 3.2 steals per contest. She’ll be in the backcourt with classmates Katelyn Mitchell (5-8) and 5-3 Keisha Barton, who Mitchell says might be the ‘best hustler’ on the team.

Mitchell has tallied 10.2 points, 6.3 rebounds, 5.0 assists and 1.8 steals for the Bulldogs. The daughter of the coach, Mitchell had four 3s and 16 points, along with six rebounds and six assists in the win over Narrows.

“Katelyn has done a great job,” Mitchell said. “She is very unselfish, she’ll pass and give the ball up. She has a good outside shot and she’s been working on driving and that is going to help.”

Joining them on the floor is 6-1 senior Brittney Muncy and 6-foot junior Cara Cecil. Both are averaging 8.0 points a game and right at 10 rebounds a contest.

“They’re doing a good job, we still talk to them about boxing out...,” Mitchell said. “I think most games we should control the boards...(They) are really working hard on their post moves which is going to help.”

The rest of the roster includes seniors Breanne Vencill and Kia Thorpe (6 ppg, 5.6 rpg), a transfer from Christiansburg, along with juniors Leah Patterson and Amber Sparks.

Even though it’s not a big roster in terms of numbers, they all contribute in many ways.

“We’ve got some good shooters and kids that can score points,” Mitchell said. “We’ve got some good rebounders, we’ve got a little bit of height and we’ve got a little bit of speed so it’s not a one-dimensional team.

“We can do a lot of things. I think that is our strength is our versatility.”

They also have confidence. Sutherland thinks the Bulldogs can go far.

“I think we will have a good team if we can just keep hustling, practice hard and just work as a team,” Sutherland said. “We want to win, we want to try to make it to state. We’ve got the team to do it this year, but we’ve got to work together.”

Mitchell thinks the Bulldogs can be in the hunt in the Southwest District, and is hopeful that the new divisional format in Virginia will give Tazewell a chance to challenge for a Group AA, Division 3 state tournament berth.

They’ve been to the state tourney once, that being three years ago, and that came while playing much larger schools.

“I think that is definitely going to improve,” Mitchell said. “We made it there three years ago, and three of the four games we played were schools that had over 1,350 students and that year we had 526.

“The way it is now is going to help us a whole lot.”

Despite a 2-4 record to start the season, Mitchell figures things should only get better for the Bulldogs. After all, it’s still December.

“I think we will get better as the year goes on, we still have some kids that are learning their roles on the team...,” Mitchell said. “I think if we can cut our turnovers down we are going to be a tough team to beat.”

—Contact Brian Woodson

at bwoodson@bdtonline.com

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