TAZEWELL, Va. — How fast was Tazewell?
About 90 points-an-hour in a Southwest District play-in game that lasted only 70 minutes as the Bulldogs rocketed past stunned Marion 92-71 Monday.
With tremendous half-court trap defense sparked by Colin Hancock and Jalen Jordan, igniting John Walker’s hot hand from downtown, the Dogs barked from buzzer to buzzer.
Tazewell (10-11) will play Carroll County (17-4) at Hillsville Wednesday at 6 p.m. in the SWD semifinals. Monday’s outcome likely qualified Tazewell for a Region IV berth.
Walker poured in 33 points and grabbed eight rebounds, and Jordan added 24 with eight steals for Tazewell.
Walker dazzled with his early long-range bombing, hitting the 3-ball from the corner pocket four times in a helter-skelter first half. He missed just one shot in the first 10 minutes, chipping in with timely defense for the battling Bulldogs who put up more than 20 points in each quarter.
“After a week off, we were fresh and ready,” noted Walker, who drilled in 7 treys. “I was hot in practice and I felt like I would be ready for the game — it worked for me tonight and we got the win.”
“Our defense was amazing. Colin (Hancock) and Jalen just never let up the whole game. That really made the difference in our offense.”
Jordan’s lay-up with 3 minutes left in the opening quarter pushed THS in front by 10, at 20-10, as the Scarlet Hurricane got overwhelmed in perhaps the most efficient outing of the year for Tazewell.
“I had to burn three quick timeouts in the first half and you never want to do that,” noted Marion coach Chad Bailey. “After Tazewell was off last week and we played a couple of games, I was hoping that might work to our advantage — maybe they’d be a little rusty. That was not it at all — they were rested and ready. Abingdon played the same thing against us Friday and we handled it much better then than we did tonight.”
Despite the field goal deficit, Marion sizzled at the free throw line, hitting an impressive 19-of-22 foul shots. The Bulldogs hit five freebies, but canned three-point attempts in the offensive display.
After Walker’s early barrage, Jordan picked up the pace in the second stanza, hitting four quick buckets while playing relentless defense.
Tazewell led 49-32 at the break.
“We played our ‘500-man trap’ tonight,” grinned Jordan, “where we go man and force the ball to either side where somebody picks up the dribble. We just kept it up for more than three quarters. That defense was the difference.”
Still, the Hurricane played hard and managed to close the gap some by outscoring THS 6-0 in the final minute as Tyler Bell and Brandon Alford played well inside. Terance Cox’s defense helped keep Marion in the contest and he had 6 steals for the Scarlet Hurricane.
“We lost a heartbreaker here last time (74-71) and we hoped to get some payback but it didn’t work out,” said Cox. “I tried to get my teammates pumped up but Tazewell seemed to have all the answers tonight.”
In the second half, the teams cooled off slightly, trading baskets over the final period but Tazewell maintained a healthy margin. Ryan Hankins moved inside, working hard for the Dogs, and chipping in with eight points.
Hancock added four steals, six assists, and 11 points, saying, “It was fun out there tonight. When you play hard defense, get the ball and give it to a teammate knowing they are going to take it and score, that’s a great feeling. Everybody did his job at either end. We helped each other all the way and it showed on the scoreboard.”
Christian Lewis picked up 11 points and 8 rebounds as he was a key to the Tazewell balance during the brisk workout.
Marion was led by Alford and Trey Cook, who had 14 points apiece.
The Scarlet Hurricane had trouble most of the evening getting the ball inside the top of the key, but made several buckets after getting through the Dog defense in the second half. Austin Klug (9) and Sam Lincoln (8) also played well for the Hurricane.
Noah Walker grabbed 7 rebounds in limited action for Tazewell.
Marion’s season is finished.
At Tazewell Middle School
MARION (10-12)
Terance Cox 3 2-2 8, Nick Strefel 1 4-4 7, Tyler Bell 1 4-4 6, Austin Klug 3 2-2 9, Ethan Richardson 2 0-0 5, Trey Cook 4 5-6 14, Sam Lincoln 3 2-2 8, Brandon Alford 6 2-2 14, Zach Frye 0 0-2 0. Totals 20 19-22 71.
TAZEWELL (10-11)
Noah Walker 1 1-2 3, Christian Lewis 5 1-2 11, Mikal Moore 1 0-0 2, Colin Hancock 5 0-0 10, John Walker 13 0-1 33, Jalen Jordan 9 3-8 24, Ryan Hankins 4 0-0 8. Totals 30 5-13 92.
Marion.............................18 14 17 22 — 71
Tazewell..........................25 24 21 22 — 92
Three-point goals: Marion 4 (Strefel, Klug, Richardson, Cook); Tazewell 9 (J.Walker 7, Lewis 1, Jordan 1). Fouled out: none.
