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Bland County basketball coach Jason Lambert speaks to Kristin Dunn after Bland County's loss to Buffalo Gap.

Photos by KYLE GREEN The Roanoke Times

Bland County's Kristin Dunn (middle) controls a rebound against Buffalo Gap players Holly Morgan (left), and Samantha Long (right) in Friday's championship game.

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RICHMOND -- One slow start Friday would have been bad enough.

Bland County's girls basketball team had two.

For the second straight day, the charter bus carrying Bland to the VHSL state tournament at VCU's Siegel Center broke down.

For the second straight year, the Bears' season ended in disappointment, this time with a 50-40 loss to defending Group A Division 1 champion Buffalo Gap in the championship game.

"Yesterday we had to walk a half-mile to get here," Bland County coach Jason Lambert said. "Then this morning as soon as we pull out, it breaks down again. That just tells you what kind of luck we've had."

Bland County (22-7) had enough horsepower to get past Narrows in Thursday's semifinals, but Buffalo Gap must have stolen the Bears' carburetor. The Bison choked off Bland's offense by holding the Region C champs to 27.3 percent shooting from the field and never allowing the Bears to lead all day.

Buffalo Gap (24-3) owned a 17-5 bulge after the first quarter and never let Bland get within double figures.

"We were shooting [26] percent from the field in the first half," Lambert said. "I told the girls at halftime, 'We've got to improve.' We improved a percent. A game like this, you have to make shots.

"The first quarter it was 17 to 5. If you look at the stats the rest of the game, we win. We were down by 12 and we lose by 10."

The championship was the second in the two-year coaching career for Buffalo Gap's 27-year-old Chad Coffey, a 1999 Parry McCluer graduate.

Maybe Coffey is planning to win the whole thing every year.

"That would be the greatest thing I could do," Coffey said. "It gets harder every year."

Next year Coffey will not have the services of 6-foot senior center Sara Lamneck, who registered game-high totals with 19 points and 11 rebounds.

The Region B player of the year had plenty of help. With Bland County playing a sagging zone defense, guard Renee Burford hit three 3-pointers in the first half and finished with 13 points. Holly Morgan added a pair of 3s before halftime to fuel the Bison's early surge.

Buffalo Gap also bothered Bland with its perimeter defense. Junior Laurel Hankins -- who averaged 18 points per game this year for the Bears -- didn't score her first field goal until 2:54 remained in the first half.

Kirby Mustard and Hankins combined to make just 7 of 27 shots from the floor. Mustard did hit back-to-back 3s in the fourth quarter that cut Buffalo Gap's lead to 47-37 and forced Coffey to reinsert some starters that he had pulled, but the Bland guard had trouble getting room to shoot.

"I didn't have time to square and shoot my shots," Mustard said.

Lambert was impressed by Buffalo Gap's athleticism.

"Their speed surprised me and they're a lot stronger than what I thought," Lambert said. "Once we adjusted, we were fine. Buffalo Gap's a solid team. I just asked my girls, 'You just go out and fight.' "

Mustard was hardly ashamed to have come up short and lost.

"I wouldn't rather be anywhere in the world right now, being with these girls and listening to the fans," she said.

Surprisingly, it was Buffalo Gap's players who showed up for postgame interviews red-eyed. Seven will graduate this year.

"For them, high school basketball just ended," Coffey said. "Sometimes, no matter how glamorous, reality sets in."

Bland County will have players graduate, but not from the same high school. Beginning with the 2001-02 season, Bland and Rocky Gap high schools have pooled their athletes under the combined banner of Bland County.

There are still two separate school buildings, two graduations and two proms.

"We had to go from school rivals to one community," senior Kristin Dunn said. "It's amazing how far we've come."

Even on foot.

"Who else's bus breaks down two days in a row?" Lambert said. "We've had a lot of curveballs thrown our way. It shows what kind of character they have."

BLAND COUNTY (22-7)

Hankins 4-17 1-1 10, Dunn 1-7 4-6 6, Brizendine 2-5 0-0 4, Duncan 0-2 0-0 0, Mustard 3-10 0-0 9, Magyar 0-0 0-0 0, S.Looney 1-1 2-2 4, Williams 0-0 0-0 0, Dillow 0-0 4-4 4, J.Looney 0-0 0-0 0, E.Duncan 1-2 0-0 3. Totals 12-44 11-13 40.

BUFFALO GAP (24-3)

Morgan 3-6 2-4 10, Lacey 0-1 0-0 0, Lamneck 5-11 9-12 19, Long 2-7 0-0 4, Burford 5-14 0-0 13, Sanderson 1-4 0-0 2, Parady 0-2 0-0 0, M.Benner 0-0 0-0 0, K.Benner 0-0 0-0 0, Dowdell 0-0 0-0 0, Miller 1-1 0-0 2, Harris 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 17-46 11-16 50.

Bland County 5 12 8 15--40

Buffalo Gap 17 14 6 13--50

3-point-goals -- Bland County 5-20 (Mustard 3-9, Duncan 1-2, Hankins 1-9), Buffalo Gap 5-20 (Burford 3-11, Morgan 2-4, Parady 0-2, Long 0-3). Rebounds -- Bland County 29 (Hankins, Magyar 5), Buffalo Gap 36 (Lamneck 11). Assists -- Bland County 7 (Duncan 2), Buffalo Gap 12 (Long 6). Total fouls -- Bland County 11, Buffalo Gap 11. Fouled out -- none.