Bluefield Daily Telegraph, Bluefield, WV

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December 22, 2009

Pioneers shoot Panthers out of Tipoff championship

By LLOYD COMBS

BRISTOL, Va. — Lebanon hit some big threes, Twin Valley hit the skids, and the prospects of an all-Black Diamond District final in the Virginia High Tipoff Classic gave way to an all-Russell County showdown.

Lebanon, the only non-BDD squad in the semifinals, reached the championship game of the tournament for the first time ever with a 42-26 win over Twin Valley Monday.

Russell County rival Honaker will take on the Pioneers tonight for the championship at the Bearcat Den.

Lebanon’s Benjamin Hendrickson and Kaylynn Cobb each scored 11 points, and, more importantly, they combined for six three-pointers that helped the Pioneers pull away.

A Hendrickson 3 in the middle of a 7-0 run gave the Pioneers a 29-21 advantage at the end of the third period. Cobb’s 3 early in the fourth period extended the Lebanon lead to 35-24. The final margin was the biggest.

“I’ve said all along that we have a good shooting team,” Lebanon coach Thad Lambert said.

“We had a good night shooting the ball, but we’re capable of doing that every night.”

The Pioneers turned the ball over just once in the first three periods. That sort of efficiency gave the Panthers few opportunities on a night when they did little with the ones they had.

Twin Valley got 17 points from Josh Smith and little else on offense, and turned the ball over 18 times, a huge number when you only score 13 points in each half. Smith came into the game averaging more points (28) per game than the Panthers (3-1) scored.

“We need some other people to step up and help us offensively,” Twin Valley coach Brian Moore said. “Brandon Viers played his butt off, especially considering the pressure he was under out there. Someone has to step up, or we could have a lot of nights like this.”

Viers scored just five points, but dished out six assists. Jerome Cobb added seven points and three blocks for the Pioneers (3-0).

Twin Valley will face BDD and Buchanan County rival Hurley for third place tonight at 7 p.m.

*****

At the Bearcat Den

TWIN VALLEY (26)

Viers 2 0-0 5, Shortridge 2 0-0 4, Smith 8 1-3 17, Hobbs 0 0-0 0, Hubbard 0 0-0 0, Street 0 0-0 0, Prater 0 0-0 0, Mullins 0 0-0 0, Cantrell 0 0-0 0. Totals -- 12 1-3 26.

LEBANON (42)

J. Cobb 3 1-3 7, Jessee 3 2-2 8, Hendrickson 4 0-0 11, Brown 1 0-0 2, K. Cobb 4 0-0 11, Smith 1 0-1 2, Honaker 0 0-0 0, Jones 0 1-2 1, Bush 0 0-0 0, Ballenberger 0 0-0 0, J. Smith 0 0-0 0. Totals -- 16 4-8 42.

Twin Valley...................6 7 8 5 — 26

Lebanon.....................16 4 9 13 — 42

3-point goals-TV-none, Leb 6 (K. Cobb 3, Hendrickson 3). Total fouls-TV 11, Leb 8. Fouled out-none.

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