SALTVILLE -- Friday night's first game in the Region C Division 2 girls basketball semifinals served as just another reminder that sports doesn't always work from a script.

The storied career of Floyd County coach Alan Cantrell ended when the top-seeded Buffaloes made just one fourth-quarter field goal and suffered a 46-40 upset against fifth-seeded Glenvar at Northwood High School.

Jessi Strom canned four 3-pointers and scored a game-high 15 points for the Highlanders (18-7), which meet Chilhowie at 6 p.m. in Monday title game.

The Warriors held off flu-ridden Radford for a 47-42 win in the second semifinal.

Floyd County (16-5) registered 17- and 15-point regular-season wins against Glenvar, but sank just 29 percent of its field-goal tries and forced just five second-half turnovers.

"It really hasn't started to sink in yet," Cantrell said of his career, which saw him turn the Buffs into one of the commonwealth's top Group A programs for most of the last 15 years.

"I've just tried to stay focused on the season. I haven't been thinking about 'this is my last this or my last that.' The big thing is I've been blessed to work with these talented kids and people."

It looked like Cantrell might extend his coaching career at least another week when the Buffs overcame an eight-point halftime deficit, forging a 33-33 tie when Brittany Bourne canned a 3-pointer just before the third-quarter buzzer.

Cantrell came off the bench, pumping his fist and jumping in the air to celebrate. Then Floyd took a short-lived lead on a Jordan Nolen free throw with 5:59 left.

However, Kayla DeHart's 3-point play moments later put the Highlanders ahead for good. Down the stretch, Glenvar stayed strong with the ball and canned 6 of 9 free throws to earn its first state tournament bid in seven years.

"We cut the turnovers down in the second half," Highlanders coach Bill Wells said.

"I thought we executed our game plan pretty well and kept them from forcing the pace." "We knew that if we turned the ball over, they would probably score on the fast break," Strom said. "So it was critical that we take care of the ball."

DeHart finished with 10 points, seven in the fourth quarter.

Lyndsey Hunter ran the offense well and also added eight rebounds, including three straight offensive boards during one third-quarter possession.

Bourne tallied 12 points for the Buffs, which return eight of their top 10 players for whoever has the tall task of replacing Cantrell.

In a nightcap which appeared headed for blowout status until a wacky rally in the last three minutes, second-seeded Chilhowie (18-7) survived the loss of star player Krystal Patton to turn away the third-seeded Bobcats. Patton fouled out with 2:44 left and the Warriors owning a 42-26 lead.

Radford (21-3) swarmed Patton's teammates with full-court pressure, forcing seven turnovers in a two-minute span and slicing the lead to 45-42 on Pip Pattison's free throws with 24.4 seconds left.

But reserve guard Nicole Mooney banked in a free throw with 21.1 seconds left for a four-point lead and Chilhowie hung on for its second state tourney berth in three years. Bobcats coach Kevin Conner said he was more affected by his players' flu bug than they were.

"Five of our top eight had it, but you can blame this one on me," he said. "I didn't trust my players' toughness enough. I was more worried about them and I didn't do a good enough job for them trying to help them win a game."

Conner said he wanted to press the Warriors more often, but Radford made just 11 of 65 field-goal tries and also missed 14 free throws.

They also couldn't stop Patton, a quick 5-7 guard who scored a game-high 19 points and also made a handful of pretty assist passes. Maryah Sydnor, who had a game-high 30 Tuesday night in a semifinal win over Fort Chiswell, scored 16 despite playing at far less than 100 percent. Pattison added 14.

 

GLENVAR (18-7)

Strom 5 1-2 15, DeHart 3 4-7 10, Arthur 2 0-1 6, Trivette 1 0-0 2, Hunter 1 4-6 6, Moore 1 0-0 2, Looney 1 2-2 4, McKee 0 1-2 1. Totals 14 12-20 46.

FLOYD COUNTY (16-5)

Cox 2 0-0 5, Miller 3 3-6 9, Nolen 0 1-2 1, Bourne 5 0-0 12, C. Bolt 1 3-6 5, H. Bolt 0 0-1 0, Coartney 1 0-0 2, Kuchenbach 2 0-1 4, Ingram 0 0-0 0, Hale 1 0-0 2. Totals 15 7-16 40.

Glenvar 10 13 10 13--46 Floyd County 6 9 18 7 --40

3-point goals--Glenvar 6 (Strom 4, Arthur 2), Floyd County 3 (Bourne 2, Cox). Total fouls--Glenvar 19, Floyd County 20. Fouled out--Nolen, Looney.

RADFORD (21-3)

Pattison 4 6-10 14, Mundy 0 0-0 0, Facemire 0 0-0 0, Wright 1 1-3 3, Carter 1 3-4 6, Sydnor 4 7-9 16, Hale 1 1-6 3, Scott 0 0-0 0. Totals 11 18-32 42.

CHILHOWIE (18-7)

Coe 0 3-4 3, Jones 4 2-3 12, Mooney 0 2-4 2, Patton 5 7-9 19, Harris 2 0-0 4, Hash 3 1-1 7, Taylor 0 0-0 0. Totals 14 15-21 47.

Radford 10 5 5 22--42 Chilhowie 9 11 12 15--47

3-point goals--Radford 2 (Carter, Sydnor), Chilhowie 4 (Jones 2, Patton 2). Total fouls--Radford 19, Chilhowie 23. Fouled out--Patton, Harris.