Fort Chiswell clinches MED title
Fort Chiswell's Owen Jackson takes a shot over the George Wythe defense.
Fort Chiswell's Owen Jackson takes a shot over George Wythe's Kaden Irby.
Fort Chiswell's Kenton Sutphin drives to the basket as George Wythe's Isaac Smith defends.
George Wythe's Nash Gilman shoots a three point shot against Fort Chiswell on Tuesday night.
George Wythe's Baylee Campbell goes up for a layup Thursday night at Viking Hall.
Boys Basketball
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Pioneers still perfect in MED
The Fort Chiswell Varsity Boys Basketball Team picked up two important MED wins on Saturday and Monday night. FC turned away the Grayson County Blue Devils on Saturday with a 76-53 victory. The Pioneers were led in scoring by Owen Jackson who tossed in a game high of 28 points. Jackson also notched 13 rebounds and seven assists. He was aided by Kenton Sutphin's 16 points and 8 steals. Ty Crockett and Landon Eversolse also did some major damage as they both hit three 3-pointers a piece as Crockett ended the day with 12 total points while Eversole tossed in 9. Grayson was led by Ben Hill's five 3-pointers and 15 total points and was followed by Parker Dowell, Tucker Davis, and Aden Woodberry who each had 11.Â
FC carried their winning ways over to Galax on Monday and defeated the Tide 82-54. Owen Jackson led all scorers again with 21 and was accompanied in the double digit column by Landson Eversole who shot the ball well again as he scored 14 points on three long balls while teammates Ty Crockett and Eli Eversole each swished 11 total points. Kenton Sutphin also had a good game on the defensive end for the Pioneers as he managed 6 steals and nine assists for the contest. Galax was paced by Sean Lundy with 19 and Riley Siemon who ended-up with 18.
With the two wins the Pioneers improve to 14 wins and 5 losses on the year and stay a perfect 9-0 in MED play games remaining with Giles at home on Tuesday, George Wythe at home on Thursday, and Auburn away on Friday. Â
Fort Chiswell clinches MED title
The Fort Chiswell Varsity Boys Basketball Team clinched the Mountain Empire District Regular Season Title on Senior Night with a 87-48 victory over the Giles County Spartans on Tuesday night. It was surely a special night at the Fort as seven seniors that have played ball together since they were seven years old were recognized for their hard work and dedication throughout their high school playing days. These seniors include: Kenton Sutphin, Eli Armbrister, Mason Cirba, Landon Eversole, Caleb Brown, Cade McPherson, and Seth Petuniak. Â
This group treated the game like they had all their others in their careers as they put on their hardhats and went to work on the defensive end coming up with 15 steals as a group and playing unselfishly on offense as they turned in 16 assists.  Kenton Sutphin scored 11 points and also turned in seven assists and five steals. Senior teammates Cade McPherson and Eli Armbrister each added 11 points while Seth Petuniak notched 8 rebounds in the big win. Â
For Pioneer sophomore Owen Jackson it was all business as he led all scorers with 36 points with 22 of his points coming in the second quarter and added 11 total rebounds for the game as the Pioneers improved to 15 wins and 5 losses on the year with two regular season matches to go with George Wythe on Thursday and Auburn on Friday.  Â
Ten Giles players scored in the books as they were led by senior Antonia Wilcoxin's 11 points.
Holston topples Rural Retreat
Brodie Richardson scored 22 points as the Holston Cavaliers earned a 69-62 Hogoheegee District road win over Rural Retreat.
Holston currently sits in third place in the six-team Hogoheegee after being picked to finish last in the preseason coaches poll.
Brady Bailey added 13 points and sank two crucial free throws in the fourth quarter for the Cavs. Ben Wuerz and Jo Norman added 10 points apiece.
Landon Jones (21 points), Eli Atwell (16 points, 12 rebounds, six blocks) and Brody Allen (14 points) all scored in double digits for Rural Retreat.
HOLSTON (69) – Owens 0, Bailey 13, Wuerz 10, Cornett 8, Tweed 6, Richardson 22, Tuggle 0, Norman 10.
RURAL RETREAT (62) – Childers 3, Shelton 4, Williams 4, Jones 21, Atwell 16, Allen 14, Robinson 0.
Holston 15 20 17 17—69
Rural Retreat 12 17 14 19—62
3-point goals – Holston 10 (Bailey 3, Richardson 3, Wuerz 2, Cornett, Norman) RR 9 (Allen 4, Jones 4, Childers).
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George Wythe stops Bland
Nash Gilman’s 19 points were part of a balanced attack as the George Wythe Maroons bopped Bland County 63-50 in a Mountain Empire District clash.
Isaiah Smith added 18 points for GW, which led 30-17 at halftime and maintained that winning margin the rest of the way.
Nine different players scored in the victory.
Gavin Lance battled his way to 23 points for Bland.
BLAND COUNTY (50) – Lance 23, Davis 0, Miller 6, Irwin 3, Nelson 1, Trigg 0, May 15, Peters 2, Green 0.
GEORGE WYTHE (63) – French 4, Gates 7, Bralley 1, Gilman 19, Ka. Irby 1, Brewer 0, Bement 5, Smith 18, Gregory 4, Thomas 4.
Bland County 9 8 22 11—50
George Wythe 15 15 22 11—63
3-point goals – GW 2 (Gilman, Bement), BC 9 (Lance 3, May 3, Miller 2, Irwin).
Girls Basketball
Rural Retreat bests Holston
Olivia Crouse’s 12-point outburst led Rural Retreat’s balanced attack in a 47-31 Hogoheegee District victory.
Seven of the eight players who suited up cracked the scoring column for the Indians. Lily Irvin added 10 points and Rae Morris had a nine-point outing.
Allie Parks had 13 points to pace Holston.
RURAL RETREAT (47) – Crouse 12, Hale 0, Hounshell 2, Irvin 10, Lilly 8, Buckingham 2, Vineyard 6, Morris 9.
HOLSTON (31) – Long 2, Parks 13, Evans 2, Johnson 9, Jenkins 1, Remine 4.
Rural Retreat 11 8 18 12—47
Holston 9 11 7 4—31
3-point goals – RR 4 (Morris 2, Lilly, Crouse), Holston, none.
George Wythe slams Bland
Makaylan Luttrell’s 21-point performance highlighted George Wythe’s 75-33 beatdown of Bland in a Mountain Empire District matchup.
Baylee Campbell (14 points) and Caroline Harris (12 points) were also stellar for GW, which made 12 shots from 3-point range.
A 19-2 run to close the first half turned the game into a blowout.
Bland County was led by Tinley Worley’s 21 points.
BLAND COUNTY (33) – Rasnake 2, Thompson 1, Myers 0, K. Worley 0, Parks 0, Watters 0, T. Worley 21, Looney 0, Hollis 9, Boone 0.
GEORGE WYTHE (75) – Cline 7, Luttrell 21, Reed 3, Campbell 14, Moore 0, Harris 12, Malavolti 3, Davis 1, Wolfe 8, Morris 6.
Bland County 10 2 19 3—33
George Wythe 19 19 16 21—75
3-point goals – GW 12 (Luttrell 5, Harris 3, Cline, Reed, Campbell, Malavolti), BC 1 (T. Worley).
