Bluefield Daily Telegraph, Bluefield, WV

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December 3, 2009

G-Girls gear up for opener

By TOM BONE

BLUEFIELD, Va. — The Graham G-Girls went to the state tournament last spring for the first time in 88 years. They’d like a repeat trip, and with seasoned starters returning, that seemed a real possibility on photo day Thursday at Graham Middle School.

“The girls are working hard to improve, to hopefully do a little bit better than last year,” said acting coach Mike Blevins, filling in while head coach Tracy Wyatt-Raban is on a temporary medical leave.

He said, “The girls are responding well. We definitely miss having Coach with us, all the time (but) we’re trying to continue to do her program. This is her place and her program.”

Senior Chelsea Gallinger said, “We run the same plays, and we have our same defense.”

The G-Girls begin their campaign tonight with a non-district contest at Giles.

Senior Kelli Landreth said, “We’re excited. We’re a little nervous. It’ll be our first game without Coach Raban as a team. I think we’re excited and eager to take on the challenge and get the year off to a good start.”

The team lost all-around star Maggie Jones to graduation, and Chrystal Dickens will be unable to play due to injury, but many pieces of the puzzle remain in place.

“We’re not much different,” Landreth said. “Yes, we’re missing Maggie. She was a big presence. But I really feel like we can go just as far and do just as good as we did last year.”

As always, that begins with defense.

Landreth said, “Defense wins games ... and we’ve always been good at defense, so hopefully, we can just keep it up throughout the year.”

Blevins said the team has been working on conditioning and strength routines.

“We noticed, as the game goes on, and especially as you get to different levels, the strength of the players (needed work) so we’ll be able to last all four quarters, inside and out,” he said.

Over the off-season, Gallinger said, “We did get together a few times and played together, and I know that we all worked hard individually.”

Asked about key returnees, Blevins said, “Kelli Landreth can do a little bit of everything. She’s physical inside; she can shoot; she has good defense, and she hustles all over the place.

“Chelsea Gallinger’s another one who can shoot well, but her defense is top-notch. She’s very quick, and (she has) long arms.

“Mariah (Lambert) and Maegan Henry — they all work hard and I think they’re all going to be ready to play.”

Leah Gillespie and Liz Workman have moved up to the varsity, he said. Workman, a freshman, is highly regarded.

Gallinger said, “We have some speedy freshmen coming in.” Speaking about Workman, she said, “She can help us a lot defensively which will help us pick up the slack that we lost from Maggie (graduating). That’ll be good.”

Landreth said, “She is very quick, and very good at defense. We expect her to do big things this year. There are others that have, too, but she’s definitely stood out.”

Blevins said, “We’re working hard, trying to prepare the best we can.”

— Contact Tom Bone at

tbone@bdtonline.com

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