High School

 TAZEWELL –– Grayson County missed an opportunity to take a win from what may prove to be the strongest team in Southwest Virginia Thursday night, dropping a double header at Tazewell, 2-0 and 7-6.

A walk and a Blake Hash single put two Bulldogs on base in the second inning and both eventually scored, one on a throwing error and one on a double steal, for the only runs in the first game. 

INDEPENDENCE –– With two outs in the bottom of the fifth inning and Grayson County having collected a grand total of zero hits up to that point, Dylan Isom was rung up by the plate umpire on a called third strike.

Good thing for the Blue Devils that it was really only strike two.

With the at-bat still alive, two pitches later Isom later poked a single over the shortstop’s head for Grayson’s first hit, sparking a three-run rally as the Blue Devils took a 4-0 nondistrict win Wednesday over Pulaski County at GNB Park.

BASTIAN –– It was Galax girls’ soccer coach Troy Barkley’s supposition that it was just good for his players to get back on the field. Even if a lot of the field got on them.

Having played just once through the end of March, the Maroon Tide opened its Mountain Empire District season in conditions more commonly seen on fall Friday nights after a hurricane had passed through, with temperatures hovering around the freezing mark, snow flurries flying about from time to time and standing water covering large portions of the playing field.

Galax boys’ basketball coach Verl Brown has been named the coach of the year in both the region and the state after leading the Maroon Tide to the first state championship in program history.

Brown, in his 14th season as the Tide head coach, guided Galax to a 26-2 record in 2010-11, winning the Mountain Empire, Region C Division 1 and Group A Division 1 championships.