By ANTHONY STEVENS
BRISTOL, Va. — A Black Diamond District rivalry got renewed a little early this year.
Although it won't count in the BDD standings it was Twin Valley defeating Hurley 60-44 in an intense consolation game for third place between the two Buchanan County teams in the Virginia High Tip-Off Classic on Wednesday.
“I think both teams showed a lot of nerves,” Twin Valley coach Brian Moore said. “I don't really feel either team played well. It's kind of what I expected.”
The Panthers played flawless in the first quarter. They didn't commit a turnover and kept pounding the ball inside to Josh Smith with a lot of success. Smith scored the first eight points of the game for Twin Valley. Smith was almost impossible to stop as the Panthers took a 24-11 lead at the half.
“We had a little rhythm going early,” stated Moore. “The rest of the game it was like we were playing not to lose.
“And that's usually how you can end up losing a game. That's something we have to work on.”
Hurley came storming back in the second half. Austin Cooper had three 3-pointers and Thomas Allen also made a 3. The Rebels quickly cut into the lead with the barrage of 3's. Hurley then pulled to within five points early in the fourth quarter.
A couple of technical fouls, including the second on Hurley coach Mark Cooper which resulted in him leaving the game ended any momentum the Rebels had. The Panthers began to pull away.
Hurley had only four points the final three minutes of the contest.
Austin Cooper led the Rebels with 16 points and Dustin Waynick added 10 points.
Smith finished with a double-double for the Panthers. He scored 25 points and hauled down 14 rebounds. Brandon Viers contributed 13 points and Lucas Shortridge 10.
at Bearcat Den
TWIN VALLEY (60)
Viers 1 11-15 13, Hubbard 1 1-2 4, Shortridge 4 1-3 10, Hobbs 3 0-2 6, Smith 10 5-8 25, Mullins 0 0-0 0, Hughes 0 0-0 0. Totals 20 18-30 60.
HURLEY (44)
A. Cooper 5 2-2 16, Allen 3 0-0 7, Waynick 4 2-3 10, T. Cooper 1 5-6 7, Burks 1 0-0 2, Little 0 2-2 2, Brown 0 0-0 0, Hurley 0 0-0 0. Totals 14 10-13 44.
Twin Valley..........................13 11 16 20 — 60
Hurley...................................7 4 22 11 — 44
3-point goals - Twin Valley 2 (Hubbard 1, Shortridge 1), Hurley 5 (A. Cooper 4, Allen 1). Total fouls - Twin Valley 13, Hurley 20. Fouled out - none. Technicals - Coach Mark Cooper (2), A. Cooper, T. Cooper.
