Richlands girls take second win over Tazewell

By DAVE COX/Staff

The sting of a 17-1 start by the Lady Blues was more than Tazewell could overcome as Richlands knocked off the Lady Bulldogs 52-41 in girl’s varsity Southwest District basketball action on Tuesday, January 31 at the Richlands Middle School gym.

After eventually falling behind by as many as 22 points midway the third frame, THS fought back to make the game respectable and got to within six points of Richlands (11-6, 5-2 SWD) early in the fourth quarter,  but that was as close as Tazewell (9-10, 2-5 SWD) would get to overtaking the Tornado.

“Against a good ball club like Richlands, you can’t give them 22 points,” said Tazewell head coach Jason Southworth. “In the first half, they probably beat us in every basketball category. In the second half, we started executing and we were finally playing our kind of defense.”

The Blues allowed a free throw by Tazewell’s Whitney Saunders before reeling off 17 straight points to take early control of the game. Taylor Catron made Tazewell’s first basket with just 10 seconds left in the initial quarter.

“We came out with a lot of early intensity,’ said RHS coach Dennis Palmer. “Brittany (Allen) really played up to her capability early and Cassidy (Richardson) is our quarterback who directs the offense and plays defense too.”

Allen poured in 13 of her game-high 23 points in the first quarter, spurred by a pair of treys and three straight made free throws. Allen and Richardson both finished with a double-double night. Allen added 10 rebounds to her 23 points while Richardson posted 16 points and also had 10 rebounds. Richardson blocked a shot on defense and had six steals and seven assists.

Rachel Alley was a force inside with six points, two blocks and eight rebounds. Makenley Davis popped in one trey and finished with four points. Kelli Hess managed three points in the game for Richlands and Jordyn Cole hauled in six rebounds as the Blues won the battle of the boards 39-27.

Saunders was the leading scorer for the Lady Bulldogs with a trey and 14 points. She collected six rebounds for Tazewell. Autumn Hash matched Catron’s numbers with nine points and she blocked a shot. Catron nailed one trey. Bre Sparks had four points, Haley Christian three and Katie Snapp two. Christian made one trey and Snapp claimed seven rebounds.