VHSL CLASS 2 BOYS BASKETBALL: Graham G-Men outmuscle Wise Central in booking return to title game (copy)
Graham's Cambel Fix goes up for a layup as Wise County Central's Nolan Goforth defends.
Central's Isaiah Tompkins goes up for a shot as Graham's Ty Martin defends.
Graham's Gage Palmer shoots a layup ahead of Central's Isaiah Tompkins.
Graham's Ethan Horne (23) and Gage Palmer (24) celebrate during the VHSL Class 2 state semifinals.
Graham's Cambel Fix drives around Central's Londen Horne in the Class 2 State Semifinals.
Graham's Channing Disibbio dribbles through the Central defense.
Graham's Ty Martin drives around Central's Shawn Collier during the VHSL Class 2 State Semifinals.
Central's Londen Horne passes the ball as Graham's Ty Martin defends.
Graham celebrates after their Friday night win over Central in the VHSL Class 2 State Semifinals.
Central's Ean Hayes passes the ball around the Graham defense in the Class 2 State Semifinals on Friday night.
Graham's Gage Palmer drives to the basket as Central's Isaiah Tompkins defends.
NORTON, Va. - The redemption tour for Graham continued Friday night and will conclude, one way or the other, on Friday, March 13 in the VHSL Class 2 boys basketball championship game.Â
The G-Men (22-4) redeemed a loss to Wise County Central last week in the Region 2D championship game on Friday with a 52-43 win over the Warriors in the VHSL Class 2 state semifinals.Â
With the win, Graham will look to redeem again next week with a state championship victory. The G-Men lost the state title game last season to John Marshall.Â
On March 13, Graham will play Central-Woodstock for the state title at the VCU Siegel Center in Richmond in a 2:30 p.m. contest.Â
Graham advanced to the state championship game by dominating the second and fourth quarters on Friday against Graham.Â
The G-Men defense shifted gears from man-to-man to a 1-3-1 zone attack to neutralize Central's top scorers Ean Hayes and Londen Horne. Horne scored a team-high 16 points for the Warriors, with 10 of them coming in the second half.Â
Hayes had one of his toughest outings of the season with nine points, while Isaiah Tompkins scored 10 points and pulled down 10 rebounds for Central.Â
"We watched a lot of games and Ean is hard to keep in front of you," Graham coach Todd Baker said. "That kid is a super player. We felt like our best chance was to go into a zone. I saw Union do it and they contained him to some degree of not letting him get to his spot. Right there at the free throw line he is the best pull up jumpers in the area. I think he's one of the best I've seen from that spot."Â
Graham, usually a fast-paced, attack the basket kind of teams slowed things down in the early going.Â
"We like to play fast and we like to put pressure (on the ball). We just felt like, get your legs in the game, get used to the pace of the game and see how it's going to go," Baker said. "We started out with man (defense) and did OK, but we really worked a lot on the 1-3-1 and felt like that was really good against Virginia High last year and we felt like we could contain (Ean) a little bit better."
The zone defense worked the best for Graham in the second and fourth quarters.Â
Graham led 11-9 after the first quarter and outscored the Warriors 10-3 in the second quarter to a 21-12 halftime lead.Â
"It was and extremely physical game and when it's that physical it's going to favor Graham," Central coach Patrick Damron said. "Graham was aggressive, the made plays and did a lot of things it takes to win games. In a game like this you tip your hat to the other team."Â
The G-Men got plenty of balance on the offensive end of the court with Channing Disibbio scoring 18 points and Ty Martin and Cambell Fix adding nine and eight.Â
Central threw everything it had at the G-Men in the third quarter by employing a three-quarter court, trapping defense.Â
The plan worked well for a while with the Warriors cutting Graham's lead to two points on two occasions before the G-Men used a 7-3 scoring run over the final 2:29 of the period to build a 37-30 advantage.Â
"We knew we were going to have to take a punch," Baker said. "We were trying to be prepared for it and I don't know if you ever can. I think our kids just really responded it well." Graham built its lead to double digits halfway through the final quarter and never relented in picking up the win.Â
For Central (19-10), the season marks the school's first Region 2D championship and it's first trip to the Class 2 state semifinals in boys basketball.Â
"To win this game, you've got to get this to game. So, we've been here," Damron said. "We'll let this kind of hang with us in the off-season."Â
