High School basketball playoffs Thursday

8:50 p.m.

The Dan River boys are going to play for a state championship, after a 57-54 win over Madison County.

Dan River started out on a 6-2 run in the opening minutes, capitalizing on four early points by Reggie Stone and an additional bucket from R.J. Myers to jump out to an early lead over the Mountaineers.

In the final minute fo the first half, Dantony Dickerson connected on a three-pointer for Dan River, but Andre Parker answered with a lay-up to give the Mountaineers 26-17 lead as the two teams retreated to the locker room for halftime.

Madison County scored four consecutive points to start the second half, but Dan River’s R.J. Myers found his way to the hole cut the MC lead to 30-19.

Dan River re-took the lead with 29 seconds remaining when Reggie Stone stole the ball and laid it in for two, but MC responded minutes later when Matt Garr sank a pair of free throws and assumed a 55-54 lead.

DR took the lead again with ten seconds to play when Trey Edmunds scored to give DR a 55-54 lead.

MC’s Andre Parker scored with 1:37 to play, cutting the Dan River lead to one.

Inside a minute to play, MC’s A.J. Butler stole the ball and passed ahead to Carter, who laid it in the basket for two, giving MC a 52-51 lead with 49.4 remaining.

MC put the ball into play from right in front of their own bench, but was unable to score.

Dantony Dickerson grabbed the board for Dan River, and was immediatley fouled and went to the line shooting a one-and-one.

He sank both shots, and the previously unbeaten Mountaineers watched clock wind down on their season as Dan River fans celebrated a 57-54 win, and a berth in the state championship game Saturday at the Siegel Center.

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6:25 p.m.

Bland County whipped fellow Moutain Empire District and Region C member Narrows for the fifth time this season to advance to tomorrow's Group A, Division 1 girls tournament championship game against defending champion Buffalo Gap.

Tipoff for tomorrow's title game at the Siegel Center in Richmond is 2 p.m.

In today's 56-42 win, the Bland County Bears led nearly the whole way. The Narrows Green Wave scored the first point of the game but never led again. The Bears' margin was 14 at the half and 22 through three quarters. Narrows cut its deficit to 10 with an 18-6 run before the Bears regained control.

Bland County's top scorer was Laurel Hankins with 16 points. Kirby Mustard added 11, including three deep 3-pointers. Morgan Buckland paced Narrows with 15. Savanna Burton and Cameron Snidow contributed 10 points each.

BLAND COUNTY (22-6)

Hankins 16, Duncan 2, Mustard 11, Brizendine 0, Dunn 9, Magyar 6, Dillow 2, Williams 3, Looney 7. Totals 18 14-19 56.

NARROWS (19-10)

Guynn 2, Burton 10, Davis 2, Buckland 15, Weatherly 3, Snidow 10, Lindsey 0. Totals 13 14-23 42.

Bland County 16 14 14 12 -- 56
Narrows 9 7 6 20 -- 42

3-point goals: BC -- Mustard 3, Magyar 2, Dunn . N -- Snidow 2.

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On the boys' side, Eastern Montgomery makes the most of their first time in the semi-finals. They defeat Twin Valley 67-63.

The Eastern Montgomery Mustangs outscored Twin Valley by eight points in the third quarter to take its first lead and went on to a 67-63 victory in the boys Group A, Division 1 semifinal today at the Siegel Center in Richmond.

Twin Valley cut the lead to one point with more than five minutes left in the fourth period, but the Mustangs pulled away to advance to their first state finals since the school opened in 2001.

Sophomore guard Shawn Christian scored 29 points for East Montgomery.

The Mustangs play Colonial Beach tomorrow at 3:45 p.m. at the Siegel Center for the championship.

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4:40 p.m.

The Altavista boys team couldn't over the underdog role, losing to Colonial Beach 55-36 Thursday afternoon in Richmond.

Mike Poindexter lead Altavista with 12 points, all of them three-point baskets.

Nick Ferguson contirbuted eight points, and Jerrel Jordan chipped in seven points.

Altavista had a tough go of it shooting wise. The team went 13 of 48 from the field, a 27% field goal shooting percentage.

Colonial Beach also out-rebounded Altavista 38-25.

T.T. Carey continued to move up the VHSL single-season and career scoring record lists while leading the Colonial Beach Drifters to the Group A, Division 1 boys basketball tournament championship game.

Carey, a senior, scored 23 points this afternoon in the Drifters' 55-36 victory over Altavista, the 2004 state champions, at the Siegel Center in Richmond. Carey's season total of 847 with one game to go puts him sixth on the list. He passed five players, including former Altavista star Kenny Hunt, today.

His career total of 2,444 also pushed him past Hunt and into fourth behind Steve Marsee (2,459), Odell Hodge (2,530) and Stacy Ervin (2,687).

The Drifters led by 10 at halftime and were never seriously threatened. They play the winner of the Eastern Montgomery-Twin Valley tomorrow at 3:45 p.m. at the Siegel Center for the state title.

Carey also had 14 rebounds. Dylan Farinet contributed 14 points, and Jeryl Dickerson added 10.Mike Poindexter led the Colonels with 12 points, all on 3-pointers. Altavista shot 27 percent from the floor and 44 percent from the foul line.

COLONIAL BEACH (26-3)

Carey 23, Dickerson 0, Swope 3, Farinet 14, Roberson 0, Peery 5, Dickerson 10. Totals 20 12-18 55.

ALTAVISTA (16-11)

Douglas 4, Andrews 3, Ferguson 8, Poindexter 12, Jordan 7, Hunt 0, Robinson 0, Payne 2, Shelhorse 0, Woodruff 0, Wilson, Staton, Cartolaro 0. Totals 13 4-9 36.

Colonial Beach 14 14 9 18 -- 55
Altavista 8 10 8 10 -- 36

3-point goals: CB -- Carey, Swope, Peery. A -- Poindexter 4, Andrews, Ferguson.