CLASS AA REGION II, SECTION TWO CHAMPIONS! The 2009-2010 Grafton High School Basketball Bearcats are (featured from left to right) Ivy Bartlett, Colby Mills, J. C. Musgrove, Steve Hunt, Chris Runner, Seth Elsey, R. T. Bolyard, Corey Robinson, Adam Ware, B. J. Markley, Devon Waters and Head Coach Mike Crutchfield, along with (not pictured) Titus Sandy, Assistant Coach Andrew Moore and Assistant Coach Artie Moore. They captured the sectional championship here in their own gym last Friday night by defeating the Braxton County Eagles, 52-42.

GRAFTON -- Going into last Fridays’ Class AA, Region II, Section Two Championship Game with the visiting Braxton County Eagles here in the new gym, Grafton High School Boys’ Basketball Coach Mike Crutchfield had a good game plan.

He wanted his Bearcats to battle with the physical Eagles on the backboards.

He wanted them to apply some hard-nosed defense pressure on the Eagles’ guards, and also to keep their big man, James Chapman, under control down in the paint.

And, of course, he really wanted them to find a way to win this home game, so they could play here at home again on March 11.

Even though the Bearcats were out-rebounded by a slim 29-28 margin, they were able to win the turnover column by a plus-10 count, 14-24.

In fact, Grafton was credited with 16 steals on the night, while simply ‘stealing’ this year’s sectional championship trophy away from their opponents...The Bearcats won a 52-42 decision!

This contest featured five ties, coming at 9-9 and 11-11 in the opening period, as well as three more deadlocks, of 15-15, 17-17 and 23-23 during the second quarter.

Plus, there were also six lead changes during the ball game.

Grafton jumped out into a 7-0 lead in the early going, using a steal/turned/lay-up by Seth Elsey, a short jumper by R. T. Bolyard, and a three-point bomb by Chris Runner, before Yannick Yewana finally got Braxton County on the scoreboard with a three-point goal at the 5:42 mark.

The Eagles battled back to tie the game, at 11-11, and then Chapman gave the visitors a 13-11 lead by the end of the first period. The second-quarter action featured some evenly-matched basketball, including the next three lead changes and eventually a 25-24 advantage for the Bearcats at the half-time intermission.

After Braxton County’s Zachery Nibert scored on a follow-up goal to give the Eagles their final lead of the night, at 26-25, to open the third period, Grafton’s defensive pressure stepped up.

The defense sparked an 11-2 rally, as B. J. Markley opened that action with a three-point goal, Elsey added another steal-/turned/lay-up, and then Adam Ware chipped in with a pair of three-point goals, as the second one finished a Bolyard steal/turned/assist to create a 36-28 Grafton lead.

Braxton County’s Nathan Harper completed the third-quarter scoring with a pair of free throws, and then he went on to sink a three-point bomb to begin the fourth period, hiking the score up to 36-33 in Grafton’s favor.

Bolyard answered Harper’s heroics with a coast-to-coast lay-up, coming off of a rebound, and he went on to score six more points during the final frame to wind up with a game-high total of 18 points.

Bolyard was also credited with 11 rebounds, five steals and three assists.

In addition to Bolyard’s solid all-around effort, Elsey finished with 13 points, five rebounds, four steals and three assists to help Grafton claim the sectional title.

Ware (ten points, four rebounds, four steals and one assist), Runner (five points, three rebounds and two blocked shots) and Markley (six points, two steals and three assists) rounded out the scoring column for the Bearcats, while Devon Waters (with the other steal and two assists), J. C. Musgove (with a pair of rebounds and one assist), and Steve Hunt were the only other Bearcats to see action.

With Grafton clinging to a slim 41-37 lead at the 4:25 mark of the final period, the Bearcats once again stepped up their defensive pressure and forced the Eagles into four consecutive turnovers that lead directly to a 7-0 rally for the home team.

When that rally was over, with just 47 seconds left to play in the contest, the Bearcats owned an 11-point lead, at 48-37, and they went on to settle for a ten-point victory.

Chapman tossed in a team-high total of 11 points for the Eagles, and he also passed out three assists and yanked down five rebounds. However, while receiving plenty of attention from Grafton’s defense, the big man did not score during the second half of this contest.

Yewana (nine points, three assists and three steals), Nibert (eight points, and three assists), Harper (five points), Jordan Lacy (four points and a team-high total of seven rebounds), Ronnie Carroll (three points) and Jordan Coen (two points) were also furnishing some of Braxton County’s offense.

The Bearcats, now 13-6, will play at home again this Thursday, March 11, at 7:30 p.m. against the Frankfort Falcons (12-10), while the Eagles, now 15-6, will travel to the Eastern Panhandle for a date with the Keyser Golden Tornadoes (12-10) at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, March 11.

The two winners will then advance to Charleston for the state tournament.