By MIKE DAVIS
RICHLANDS, Va. — The Richlands Blue Tornado met Grundy Saturday night for the second time in a week.
In the first meeting, on Tuesday, the game went down the wire with Richlands edging out the win. The game was different on Saturday, with the Blue Tornado (13-2, 8-2 SWD) winning going away, 71-49.
“I though we settled down after the first four or five minutes of the game,” Richlands head coach Jimmy McGee said. “I think they were well rested and they’re coming together as a group.
“We had a good practice (Saturday morning) and walked through some situations and we got some different people to do some different things.”
“We played well for about three-and-a-half quarters, we’re getting better and that’s where you want to be at this point of the season.”
The Blues led by a single point after the first quarter, then added 18 in the second, led by Blake Tatum who had a pair of 3-pointers in the run. Grundy (10-8, 3-5) had scored seven in the opening frame, then 15 in the second to get within four points of the Tornado.
Eight of those points came from four trips to the free throw line by the Wave, who shot 100 percent in their attempts.
If Grundy had thoughts of staying up with Richlands during the half-time break, those notions were quickly dispersed when the Blues came out in the third quarter with Gunner McGee taking the leadership role.
McGee had 13 of the Tornado’s 20 points in the second quarter — a feat that included three perimeter shots. The Golden Wave managed half that many points in the same period and went into the fourth behind, 45-32.
Six different players scored in the final frame for the Tornado, making a 24-point effort for the home team down the stretch, contrasted by a 17-point showing by Grundy.
Gunner McGee was the leading scorer for Richlands with a game-high 23 points including five 3-pointers. Tatum and Austin Johnson scored 13 points apiece for the Tornado and Grundy was paced by Cody Justus with 12 points.
The win solidified Richlands’ place in the race for the Southwest District with the Blues playing host to Graham tonight.
“Basically, we told the kids that you win out and you win the district,” Jimmy McGee said. “You take care of business and you won’t have to worry about what other teams will do.”
At Richlands Middle School
GRUNDY (10-8, 3-5)
Ben Rife 2 2-2 6, Cody Justus 3 0-0 12, L.C. Mutter 0 2-3 2, Logan Boyd 1 2-2 4, Derek Hess 1 2-2 7, John Kelly 1 3-3 5, Jordan Hutchison 0 0-0 0, Jordan Ellis 1 0-0 2, Kedrick Peck 0 0-0 0, Travis Lester 3 1-2 8, Cogan Thompson 0 0-0 0, Josh Looney 0 0-0 0, Cody Dales 1 0-0 3.
RICHLANDS (13-2, 8-2)
A.J. Johnson 0 0-0 0, Austin Johnson 4 2-4 13, Eric Mulkey 0 0-0 0, Mason Taylor 0 0-0 0, Sean Overton 2 4-5 8, Blake Tatum 1 2-2 13, James Patton 3 2-3 8, Devon Johnson 1 0-2 2, Gunner McGee 5 1-3 23, Zach Horn 2 0-0 4.
3-point goals: GHS 3 (Justus 2, Hess 1); Richlands 9 (McGee 5, Tatum 3, A. Johnson 1).
