Richlands girls sweep season series with Tazewell

By DAVE COX/Staff
The Richlands varsity girl’s basketball team jumped right into their third game in as many days last Thursday as the Lady Blues hosted county and district rival Tazewell and just kept on truckin’ with a 66-56 Southwest District victory over the visiting Lady Bulldogs at the Richlands Middle School gym.
The win was the sixth in a row for the surprising Lady Blues! Richlands (8-6, 5-2 SWD) outscored their opponent in every quarter for the second night in a row and the third time in their last three contests.
Tazewell (3-11, 1-6 SWD) just couldn’t get its offense kick-started, falling behind by four at 17-13 by the end of the first quarter. RHS led 31-25 at halftime and built up an eight point margin at 50-42 by the end of the third frame. Tazewell did manage to pull to within four points at 55-51 with 2:12 remaining, but the Lady Blues refused to fold. Late clutch shooting by Megan Robinson held the Blues’ ship afloat. Robinson finished with a game-high 25 points and had a double-double, adding 10 rebounds. She fired in four treys. Rachel Alley also posted a double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds as the Lady Blues won the battle of the boards 40-23 as a team. Alley blocked two shots on defense. Evan Ferrell and Cassidy Richardson contributed eight points each. Ferrell had one trey and Richardson yanked down five rebounds. Cassie Ringstaff managed six points, Kelli Hess three and Rani Ratliff and Jordyn Cole two each.
Tazewell was led by steady Kelsey Sutherland with 19 points. Her total included a pair of first quarter treys. Iesha Mountain had a good night with 16 points, six rebounds and a blocked shot. Katie Snapp had 10 points and seven rebounds for the Bulldogs. Amber Sparks, Molly Thompson and Kim Ruble collected two points each for THS.