Max Meadows…On the final night of the First Community Bank – Fort Chiswell Christmas Tournament, the Fort Chiswell Pioneers played and upset the Abingdon Falcons in the fifth place game by the count of 64-53. The Pioneers led from the get-go as they jumped out to a 21-13 lead after one quarter and were up 35-31 at intermission. Pioneer center Isaiah Ramsey controlled the inside as he scored 12 points and grabbed 17 boards. Ramsey averaged 17 rebounds a game for the three game tourney as he finished with 51. Sophomore point guard Kolton Sutphin had a game and team high of 24 points and he also had 10 assists in the fifth place game.

After intermission the two teams swapped buckets and after the quarters it was all tied up at 45 apiece. The Pioneers (5-3) got seven points form Sutphin and six from Ramsey in the fourth as they slowly pulled away in the last two minutes of the contest.

Abingdon (6-2) got 17 points from Ean Bassham and 13 from Tommy Francisco in the loss. Both of those players were named to the all tournament as well as Ramsey of the Pioneers. “We played and looked for each other tonight,” said a happy Pioneer head coach Derrick Jackson. “This was a big win for us. I’m hopeful this will turn the corner for us as a team. Hopefully we are coming together.”

The championship game saw the Radford Bobcats (7-0) pull away early to settle the game for purposes in the first half as they went into intermission up 39-22 over George Wythe. The Bobcats went on and won the game 61-46. Radford got a team high of 19 points from Kam Edwards, all scored in the first half. He hit five three’s. Quinton Morton-Robertson finished with 17 and Miles Jones nine points. All three of them made the all tournament squad. Geo. Wythe (6-1) got a game high 25 points from Jake Martin but he was the only Maroon in double figures. Noah Atwood got seventh and he and Martin was on the all tournament team.

The seventh place saw a nip and tuck game as Alleghany (NC) came out on top 45-42 over Auburn. Ryan Sturgill scored 17 and Alex Pruitt knocked in 14 for the win. Auburn got 19 from Austin Ford and Dylan Akers chipped in with 10.

The third place saw another see saw affair for three quarters. The Grayson Co. Blue devils would take control in the last quarter as they pulled out a 62-52 victory over Galax. Blake Hawkins led for Grayson (7-1) with 20. Tanner McPherson scored 12 and Jake Hollingsworth canned 14 points. The Maroon Tide (3-4) got 15 form Will Hutchens and eight from Ethan Robinson.

Fort Chiswell 21 14 10 19-64

Abingdon 13 18 14 8-53

Fort Chiswell – Ramsey 12, Sutphin 24, Bailey 5, Musick 4, Hedge 4, Jakubiak 8, King 4, Merchberger 2, Patel 1

Abingdon – Belcher 2, Nairn 6, Bassham 17, Francisco 13, Bowles 2, Cox 8, Thacker 1, Willis 4

3 Pt. Goals – FC – 3 -(Sutphin 2, Bailey), Abingdon – 4 -(Cox 2, Nairn 2)