Graham 57 Marion 43

[GMan 3,569]

Shot down...Hunter, Graham stop Canes

 

By BRIAN WOODSON

Bluefield Daily Telegraph

 

BLUEFIELD, Va. — J.D. Hunter feels most comfortable with a golf club in his hand.

On Wednesday night, that feeling extended to his shooting hand.

“He had kind of struggled a little bit here for the first three games, but I think that was about the medicine he could have was to get that stick in his hand,” Graham head coach Glynn Carlock said. “It was good he was able to get that off his mind.

“He was able to score (12) points for us tonight, which was big, his best output so far.”

Hunter canned a trio of 3s, including two early in the fourth quarter, leading Graham to a 57-43 win over Marion in a non-district clash at Graham Middle School.

Hunter, who finished second in an amateur golf tournament last week in Florida, came off the bench for the G-Men, hitting a 3 to start the second quarter and then added two more during a 8-0 run to begin the final period.

“I made my first one starting off tonight and I kind of feeling it so I put them up and was able to make them drop,” said Hunter, an All-State golfer, whose reason for being in Florida was to be seen by college golf coaches. “They were big for us.”

Both teams struggled to hit shots, with Hunter scoring 12 points and Steven Brown adding 10 for the G-Men, who led 20-19 at the break. Leading scorer Kevin Thompson was held to just three points, but did contribute 10 rebounds, six assists and three steals. Jason Palmer added six boards, while Hunter also had five steals.

“It was kind of a sluggish game early,” Graham head coach Glynn Carlock said. “We tried to make some defensive adjustments at halftime to give them some looks they haven’t seen and it kind of paid off for us in the second half.

“In the second half, I think they took the lid off our basket. It feels like early on here we’ve had that lid over our basket in the first six games. We were able to hit a couple of shots, we weren’t hitting our layups early, but we created in the second half. We’ll take it.”

Marion took its only leads in the third quarter, but free throws woes wouldn’t allow that to last. The Hurricanes, normally solid from 15 feet from the basket, hit just 17-of-32 in the game, including just 4-of-11 early in the fourth period when the G-Men were building their lead.

“Free throws were horrible...we had been shooting 70 percent all year,” Marion head coach Matt Hanshew said. “Our goal is to shoot 32 free throws a game and with 70 percent of that, you’re going to make 20 points out off of it.

Tonight we couldn’t get it going on the second half. He’s got a good hustling ball club, and my hat goes off to them. I know we’ll have them at home and hopefully we can get them there.”

Two 3s by Hunter and a pair of free throws by T.J. Carper gave the G-Men a 39-29 lead with 6:54 left in the fourth quarter. Marion couldn’t never get any closer than seven, thanks largely to missed free throws.

“We put it all together in the fourth quarter,” Hunter said. “This is a big win for us. We’ve had a shaky start, but we can just put that behind us and start from here.”

That won’t be easy. Bluefield comes to call on Friday night.

“That’s definitely a buzzsaw that is going to come in here and pressure you from the time you step on the floor to the time you leave, but all its going to do is make us better,” Carlock said. “I feel like our kids will rest up to the challenge and we’ll have a better showing this time than we did last time.”

“It’s going to be a tough game, but I think we’re going to be ready for it,” Hunter added. “This is a big stepping stone for us so we’re looking forward to it.”

Aaron Wolfe led Marion (4-6) with nine points, while Tommy DeBord and Poss Creasy had eight apiece.

 

at Graham Middle School

MARION (4-6)

DeBord 4 0-0 8, Creasy 2 4-6 8, Wolfe 2 5-7 9, Blockston 1 1-6 3, Cress 0 5-6 5, Burrows 0 2-3 2, Hanna 3 0-1 6, Akeres 0 0-2 0, Mutter 0 0-0 . Totals 13 17-32 43.

 

GRAHAM (2-5)

Steven Brown 4 2-2 10, Cole 3 2-2 8, Carper 1 3-7 5, Palmer 1 2-6 4, Thompson 0 3-6 3, J.D. Hunter 4 1-2 12, Jeffers 0 0-0 0, Blankenship 1 2-3 4, Goins 3 0-0 6, Hicks 2 0-0 5. Totals 19 15-28 57.

 

Marion.................................6 13 10 14 — 43

Graham................................13 7 11 26 — 57

 

3-point goals: MR 0; GR 4 (Hunter 3, Hicks 1). Total fouls: MR 18; GR 21. Fouled out: none. Technicals: none. JV—MR 28-25.