Published Dec 23, 2020
Graham Upends Cougars in Season Opener
Rodney Young  •  VirginiaPreps
Staff Writer
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@yjake

After nine months of practically no athletic events taking place, there was some local sports action on the Tuesday before Christmas in the form of Southwest Virginia High School Basketball.

In a game that was a replacement for other teams, Graham traveled to Pulaski County and left with an impressive 77-64 road victory. The G-Men were led by David Graves, who poured in 20 points and got help from Xayvion Bradshaw, a multi-sport standout known for his athletic gifts on the football field. Bradshaw finished with 19 points.

Senior point guard Nick Owens contributed eight points for Graham, but nearly posted a double-double in handing out a game-high 12 assists. Two other G-Men members had double-figure points; Kade Roberts tallying 12 and Zach Dales scoring 11.

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Pulaski County was paced by junior J J Gulley with 20 points and fellow junior Josh Bourne chipped in 13 points along with four assists. Senior A J McCloud added nine points.

Graham led 16-15 after the opening quarter, but stretched their lead to 31-24 at intermission. They took advantage of the Cougars not taking care of the basketball, scoring a bevy of those points off the 17 first half turnovers by Pulaski.

The third quarter was more of the same as Graham outscored Pulaski County 23-14 to take a commanding 54-38 lead as the turnover bug continued for the Cougars.

"We made boneheaded plays and Graham made us for pay them," Cougars Head Coach Tyler Cannoy remarked. "Graves and the Bradshaw kid are very athletic. They are well-coached and they are a good team. We will get back to work, get better and improve."


Inside the Numbers:

Graham - 16, 15, 23, 23 = 77

Pulaski County - 15, 9, 14, 26 = 64

Scoring - Graham: Bradshaw 19, Graves 20, Owens 8, Roberts 12, Dales 11, B. Morgan 3, Simmons 2, K. Morgan 2

PC - Gulley 20, Bourne 13, McDaniel 6, McCloud 9, Johnson 3, O'Neal 7, Neste 6

Graham Totals: 24-2's; 7- 3's; 8 of 13 FT's

PC Totals: 13-2's; 9-3's; 11 of 17 FT's