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Photo by Kyle Green | The Roanoke Times

Bland County's Laurel Hankins (right) scores against Narrows' Katasha Davis (left) and Morgan Buckland (middle) during the Bears' Group A Division 1 semifinal win Thursday in Richmond.

RICHMOND -- Forget Disney World.

Bland County's girls basketball team had other plans Thursday after reaching the VHSL Group A Division 1 championship game.

"We're going to Red Lobster!" junior guard Kirby Mustard exclaimed.

Bland County shelled Mountain Empire District rival Narrows 56-42 at VCU's Siegel Center, earning a berth opposite defending Division 1 champion Buffalo Gap in today's 2 p.m. final.

The Bears (22-6) built a 24-point lead in the quarter and held on for their fourth victory of the year against the Green Wave.

"We offered to play this game at Narrows Park if they wanted to," Narrows coach Wayne Gautier said.

Bland County declined the offer to play on the outdoor court on the banks of Wolf Creek. Instead, the Bears had planned all year to return to Richmond where they were drubbed 72-42 in the semifinals by Franklin.

"I returned 10 girls from last year's team," Bland coach Jason Lambert said. "I told them my goal was to be playing on the last day of the season. We set goals and we didn't reach some of them, but we honestly felt like we could get back here."

Bland's 2008 semifinal experience showed up early. The Bears jumped out to leads of 12-5 and 25-10 and were up 44-20 late in the third quarter.

"We thought about last year's game a little bit," Bland guard Laurel Hankins said. "We were more confident this year. We've been here. We got to play here."

Narrows tried the same triangle-and-two defense against Mustard and guard Hankins that worked in last week's quarterfinal victory over Council, but it only allowed open shots for other Bland players. Reserve Samantha Magyar hit two 3-pointers in the first quarter to spark the Bears.

"We ran the triangle-and-two," Gautier said. "We gambled and we lost. When you do those junk defenses, you take chances, and we gambled and lost tonight."

Bland also got two first-quarter perimeter shots from backup forward Sara Looney in the first quarter. Reserves accounted for 20 of the Bears' 56 points.

"We laugh at Sara," Lambert said. "She wants to be a guard. Last week she shot one just about over the backboard with nobody around her. We pretty much rode her hard all week about, 'Catch it and don't throw it over the backboard. Just score.' She did that tonight.

"The big thing with our bench is they're role players. They give us everything we need. They rebound. They shoot. We have a great bench."

Hankins led Bland with 16 points, while Mustard scored 11. After Narrows cut the Bears' second-half lead to 48-38 with 4:24 to play, Mustard fed Kristin Dunn for a layup to end a 14-2 run by the Green Wave.

"They could have folded up at halftime," Gautier said. "They dug out of that with their heart and desire. This is a first for us at Narrows High School. We're just tickled to death that we're here. We can build on this and look forward to next year."

Morgan Buckland, Narrows' lone senior starter, led the Green Wave with 15 points. Freshman Savanna Burton and reserve Cameron Snidow added 10 points.

Buckland thought Bland's game last year at VCU gave the Bears a big edge.

"At the beginning we were nervous," Buckland said. "We didn't really know what to expect. I think they had an advantage. It was different than what we've ever played in.

"We kept saying, 'It's just Bland again. We know everything about each other. It's just like playing at Narrows or Rocky Gap or Bland.' "

However, major seafood chains are not prevalent in Bland County.

Now Lambert is paying for it.

"I told them if they won I would go treat them to Red Lobster," he said. "I know on a coach's salary that's not too good. We'll take donations."

BLAND COUNTY (22-6)

Mustard 3-10 2-4 11, Dunn 3-5 2-2 9, Brizendine 0-1 0-0 0, Hankins 5-10 6-7 16, Duncan 1-3 0-0 2, Looney 3-6 1-2 7, Magyar 2-4 0-0 0, Dillow 1-2 0-0 0, Williams 0-1 3-4 3, Looney 3-6 1-2 7. Totals 18-42 14-19 56.

NARROWS (19-10)

Buckland 4-9 7-7 15, Weatherly 1-2 1-2 3, Burton 3-10 4-10 10, Guynn 1-7 0-0 2, Davis 1-6 0-2 2, Snidow 3-6 2-2 10, Lindsey 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 13-41 14-23 42.

Bland County 16 14 14 12--56

Narrows 9 7 6 20--42

3 point-goals -- Bland County 6-17 (Mustard 3-8, Magyar 2-3, Dunn 1-1, Duncan 0-1, Hankins 0-4), Narrows 2-10 (Snidow 2-3, Guynn 0-1, Lindsey 0-1, Davis 0-2, Buckland 0-3). Rebounds -- Bland County 27 (Mustard 7), Narrows 31 (Burton 9). Assists -- Bland County 13 (Hankins 4), Narrows 7 (Buckland 3). Total fouls -- Bland County 15. Narrows 16. Fouled out -- none.