Kidnapped In Guatemala

By Paula I. Bryant
G-V Staff Writer
It was dark, and they were running behind schedule due to road construction in Guatemala City, but little did a group of eight mission-minded Christians from Grace Baptist know that would be the least of their worries Friday night.
Around 8 p.m. as the group was riding a bus to their mission home headquarters outside of Guatemala City, they were kidnapped, accosted and robbed.
Lisa and Kenny Conner, Steven Blosser, Darlene Harrington, Joe Briscoe, Rex Elliott and Dr. John Lenzen praise God they were not injured when a car abruptly came up on their bus, and several men began firing automatic weapons.
“These men forced the bus to stop by pulling in front of it,” said Grace Baptist Associate Pastor Dave Cline.
“They removed the driver from his seat and then took the bus to a remote location off the road before robbing them of all their jewelry and cash,” he said.
According to Cline, this gang of thugs apparently had done this before to other unsuspecting visitors as they left the airport because the evil-doers didn’t bother taking credit cards that could be traced nor did they steal inexpensive costume jewelry.
“They took each one of them off the bus one by one, searched them and took all their cash and jewelry, and then they tied them up as the others looked on from the bus,” he said.
One can only imagine the fear of those aboard the bus as they watched their friends singled out and victimized, Cline said. “They ransacked everything on the bus before taking it and leaving them tied up in that remote location.”
The entire traumatic episode lasted over two hours.
According to Cline, two of the kidnapped victims had sons anxiously awaiting their arrival at the mission home.
When the missionary group failed to arrive on time and several hours passed with no communications, Adam Blosser, the college- age son of Steven Blosser, and Derek Lenzen, the 16-year-old son of Dr. John Lenzen, knew something was wrong.
The mission immediately sent out a search party who would later discover the eight still-bound missionaries in a very remote location.
“People went out looking for them after they didn’t show up. They got concerned and went out searching. We’re just so thankful no one was physically injured,” the grateful associate pastor said.
The bus was later found, along with the group’s ransacked belongings … ”so they’ve got their clothes now,” he added.
When Cline received the call notifying him of the kidnapping and robbery, he asked several of the missionaries what was going through their minds as they watched friends, family and fellow missionaries singled out one by one, knowing they would be next.
“They thought they were going to die,” he confided. “But in the midst of those thoughts they prayed that God would save the people who were robbing them. They were all praying that this event doesn’t discourage others from taking mission trips.”
As Cline prepared to host a vigil at the church Saturday night, he said prayers would be lifted up for all of the missionaries in Guatamala.
“They’re are all safe now, and we’re mainly praying for their continued safety, emotional and spiritual strength. This is something they could definitely be struggling with for some time. This kind of thing could have been a whole lot worse, and we’re thankful to God it wasn’t,” Cline continued.
“We’re determined not to let this deter us from doing God’s work,” he said, explaining that he along with a group of eight others are leaving for the Guatemala mission field Saturday.
For several years now, Grace Baptist Church has been sending its home-grown missionaries to join others from all over the country in spreading God’s word throughout the Guatemalan countryside and jungles.
Plans call for the missionary group to go into Mayan Indian jungle territory where they will stay in tents as they minister to people’s physical and spiritual needs.
“We’ll be sharing the gospel through interpreters as well as holding medical and dental clinics,” Cline said.
He described this mission trip as “really a first for us. There will be rallies in the jungle.”
Although Grace Baptist has sent groups to Guatemala before, this will be their first extended stay in the jungle.
Knowing these missionaries are doing God’s will, Cline said he and others are seeing first-hand just how the Almighty is working in this country.
“Last year a group witnessed in a Guatemalan village run by drug lords. The drug lords gave permission for the missionaries to share the gospel there, and one of these drug lords got saved,” Cline shared.
When this drug lord learned of Friday night’s kidnapping and robbery of the Grace Baptist missionaries, he sent out “his people” to look for the robbers with specific orders not to kill or harm them, the associate pastor said.
“This drug lord wants them to hear God’s word. God is definitely making a difference there,” Cline concluded.
Persons wishing to send words of encouragement to the local missionaries now in Guatemala can send emails to Grace Baptist Church at info@gbcmin.org

Pittsylvania Planners Deny Uranium Request

The Pittsylvania County Planning Commission Thursday night denied Walter Coles’ request for a special-use permit to construct a temporary office trailer and storage facility to house new core samples from Virginia Uranium’s exploratory drilling now under way northeast of Chatham.
In a 4-3 vote, commissioners opposed Coles’ special use permit to rezone eight acres of land that would allow the company to drill wells for water and create a septic field at the Coles’ Hill uranium site.
But the planners’ vote on the zoning process isn’t the last word.
It will now be up to the board of zoning appeals, which has the final say on special-use permits, to decide.
The board of zoning appeals meeting will get under way 6:30 p.m. Tuesday in the Educational and Cultural Center in Chatham with a public hearing on Coles’ permit request beginning at 7 p.m. Thursday’s zoning request was actually filed by Southside Cattle Company, which owns the land where the temporary buildings will be located.
Southside Cattle is owned by Coles, chairman of Virginia Uranium.
Southside Concerned Citizens (SCC) held a meeting last Thursday afternoon in Halifax “to coordinate efforts” of speakers planning to address the Pittsylvania County Planning Commission meeting in Chatham later that evening.
Many of those attending the Thursday afternoon SCC meeting were among the approximately 250 concerned citizens who turned out at Thursday night’s planning meeting.
Following that meeting, SCC Chairman Jack Dunavant described the commissioners’ decision as “a symbolic victory for the people.”
“It shows democracy works.”
The SCC chairman urged area residents to attend the board of zoning appeals’ hearing Tuesday night.
“The board of zoning appeals can override the planning commission’s recommendation, so we have to go back on Tuesday,” added Dunavant.
“We are witnessing a corporate assault by a corporation that is bent on forcing uranium mining down our throats whether we want it or not,” charged the SCC chairman.
“The only way to stop it is for people to rise up.
“Our job is to educate a new generation of people about uranium,” he said. “This issue is going to be fought on two fronts – the local front and the political front in Richmond. You can’t fight it in one place without fighting it in the other. Politics is a strange game, and it’s a money game. We don’t have money, but we do have people support.”
Core Drilling At Coles’ Hill
Virginia Uranium began exploratory drilling last month on the land to confirm what is believed to be the richest uranium deposit in America.
Although there has been a moratorium on uranium mining in Virginia since 1982, exploratory drilling is allowed, and the Virginia Department of Mines, Minerals, and Energy approved a permit for 40 exploration holes in late November.
After drilling to a depth of 1,500 feet, workers now are removing the core samples which measure two feet long and one and a half inches in diameter and packing them in cardboard cases to be shipped off for testing.
During the Thursday afternoon SCC meeting, George Stanhope of Chatham said he visited the drilling site that morning.
“I saw core samples. They had four boxes of them, and they were taking out more when I left,” he said.
“One of the things they found in Canada when they were drilling these test holes is that the hole acted like a chimney. And what it was doing was bringing large quantities of radon up which is most deadly,” Stanhope said.
He said in one particular article he had read about the Canadian drilling, “it goes on to say that in 1985 the Nova Scotia government stopped all the test holes and stopped them from doing any more testing because they found problems with the environment.”
The Coles Hill deposit includes two ore bodies and an estimated 110 million pounds of high-grade uranium worth at least $10 billion.
The northern ore body is on Coles’ land; the southern ore body is on land owned by Coles and the Henry Bowen family.
Marline Uranium Corp. discovered the uranium 25 years ago in 1982, but abandoned the project in 1989 when the price of uranium plummeted.
At that time, the Canadian based company drilled 210 test holes, going down as far as 1,000 feet, to define the deposit.
Those early core samples were donated to the Virginia Museum of Natural History in Martinsville, an SCC member confirmed Thursday afternoon.
Today, new test holes are being drilled; however, SCC members are concerned that laws and regulations governing extraction of uranium are “non-existent.”
“There is no regulation covering this at all,” Stanhope said.
SCC member Eloise Nenon of Chatham pointed out that since the discovery of uranium in Chatham 25 years ago, Cole’s brother-in-law, Whitt Clement who served as Secretary of Transportation, has managed to get laws changed in Richmond that benefit the future of uranium mining in the state.
“Core drilling is no longer mining,” she said noting one change that was made in 2002.
Virginia Uranium is hoping to convince the General Assembly to adopt a study resolution on uranium mining and milling.
Coles has said his company is willing to pay for the independent study, which is expected to cost more than $1 million.
“If we get to a point where there’s going to be a study,” Nenon said, “There must be significant public participation. I don’t think any of us would trust Virginia Uranium to do a study and not come back and tell us that everything is just hunky-dory. The people matter, and Southside Concerned Citizens is very concerned about the people.”
Of immediate concern to Nenon is storage of the core samples that are now being brought out of the ground.
“We need to insist that the building that is already there be adequate for storage to protect all of us from the radiation in these cores. That needs to be done first before any other action is taken. There is a need to stop the exposure that is already there, and the board of supervisors has the power to control that in Pittsylvania County,” Nenon continued. “The rest has to come out of the General Assembly basically.”
And “trusting the state to take care of you” is not always a good idea, offered Shireen Parsons, a Virginia community organizer with the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund.
“You’re up against trusting the state to take care of you, and here you are in Halifax/Pittsylvania counties, a rural low-income area, and in industry and state terms you’re in what’s known as a sacrifice zone, which means we don’t care what happens to you.
“You’re under-represented in the state legislature,” she continued. “Even if your state representative is absolutely opposed to uranium mining, he’s up against all those other people who serve northern Virginia and eastern Virginia. The rest of us don’t count.”
“You can not depend on anyone else to take care of you,” she warned SCC members. “The regulatory agencies will sell you down the river. They will not protect you, and they know what’s going on.”
After its extensive study of the proposed mining of uranium over two decades, Southside Concerned Citizens is even more convinced there is no way it can be done safely.
“We, therefore, oppose lifting the moratorium on uranium mining in Virginia, and additionally we oppose any further study of uranium mining involving the state of Virginia, as the state has consistently proven that it cannot protect its citizens or our environment from corporate harm. Clearly, the vast amount of money involved in this venture will taint any study or its findings,” Southside Concerned Citizens said in a recent news release.
“The promise of new technology to protect us from this mining venture does not exist,” the SCC chairman declared.
“This venture is simply a rehash of the original 1980s’ plan to mine at this same site with a little window dressing. There is simply no way on God’s green earth to do it safely.”
If the state eventually lifts its moratorium on uranium mining, it could take about 10 years to start the mining and milling operation.
Before that happens Virginia Uranium would need to have the land rezoned from A1 (agriculture) to M2 (heavy industry) for any full-scale mining which will require additional public hearings.
And Thursday afternoon, the SCC promised its continued opposition.

Ag-Science Academy Awarded State Grant

Halifax County’s Agricultural Science Academy has been chosen to receive $120,000 in grant funding awards and will be among six academies to be established in the Commonwealth as part of Gov. Timothy M. Kaine’s first Governor’s Career and Technical Academies.
The governor made the announcement Friday.
Halifax’s Agricultural Science Academy, one of 22 applicants seeking grant funding, will prepare students for careers in forestry management and leadership in forestry-related industries, including agriculture, biotechnology and manufacturing.
Partners include Halifax County Public Schools; Southern Virginia Higher Education Center (SVHEC), Virginia Tech and Virginia Cooperative Extension; WoodLINKS USA, Morgan Lumber, Ontario Hardwood and J.M. Huber Corp.
The Ag-Science Academy will receive a $20,000 planning grant, followed by a $100,000 implementation award upon program approval by the Board of Education and the State Council of Higher Education.
“This is wonderful timing and a tribute to the quality of folks at Halifax County High School who worked to put the grant request in to the governor’s office,” said W. W. “Ted” Bennett, executive director of the Southern Virginia Higher Education Center.
In November, Halifax County Public Schools announced they had applied for grant funding to establish a Governor’s Career and Technical Academy that focuses on a wood science program.
According to Instructional Technology Specialist Dr. Melanie Stanley, the purpose of the technical wood academy will be to produce a workforce of graduates ready to start work in the field upon completion of high school.
“The focus of our grant proposal was on Natural Resources,” Stanley said.
In fact, the title of the project is R&R (Renewable Resources) in the STEM.
Since Halifax County is rich in forests and timber resources, Stanley said there is a high demand for quality workers in all realms of the wood industry.
“It is imperative to provide students with the opportunities to not only learn about the various career pathways and careers associated with the industry, but to provide them with experiences to gain awareness, knowledge and training to meet the needs of the global forest products manufacturing industry,” she added.
Stanley explained the wood science program will be a career studies program within the newly formed Agricultural Science Academy.
“We’re very excited about being about to develop these two different labs,” she said referring to the land lab in the forest and the biological application that will be the chemistry lab at the SVHEC.
“Within this project, we are developing a Natural Resources Research Center at the Moorefield Estate which will serve as a Forest-Land Laboratory for part of this project,” Stanley said.
The laboratory for the wood-manufacturing component of the project will be housed at the Southern Virginia Higher Education Center.
Stanley said as this endeavor progresses, other businesses, organizations and industries will be asked to partner with the school system.
“Our partners and other supporters are eager for the opportunity to promote wood science in Halifax County,” Stanley said.
Bennett emphasized the wood and forestry industry have now become the number one producer for this rural area with the demise of tobacco which makes the Agricultural Science Academy of even greater importance to the education system here.
Bennett referred to the grant as being “highly competitive.”
Halifax’s Agricultural Science Academy joins five other academies statewide that will provide instruction in science, technology, engineering and mathematics and are being developed as partnerships among schools divisions, employers, business organizations, and colleges and universities.
“These academies will combine programs based on local and state economic and employment needs with rigorous academics and opportunities for applied learning in science, technology, engineering and mathematics,” said Governor Kaine. “The academies will prepare young men and women for rewarding careers while ensuring that communities have the highly skilled workers necessary to compete in the global economy.”
The six academies will build on existing programs at the high school and postsecondary levels and align instruction in science, technology, engineering and mathematics with 21st-century workplace and postsecondary expectations.
The six grantees were selected from 22 applications. A grant review process with independent reviewers was instituted to review and evaluate the proposals.
The planning and start-up funding for the academies is being provided through a $500,000 grant from the National Governors Association (NGA) Center for Best Practices to improve science, technology, engineering and mathematics education.
The grant program is supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Intel Corp. and is the centerpiece of NGA Chairwoman and Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano’s Innovation America initiative to increase high school scholastic rigor. Virginia was one of six states to receive a grant and is providing matching support with federal Workforce Investment Act funds.
The NGA grant also is supporting the development by the Virginia Career Education Foundation of a “Governor’s Exemplary Standards Awards Program” to maintain high standards for career and technical education programs and to engage educators, business leaders and state, regional and local officials in a process of continuous improvement.
In addition to the Agricultural Science Academy, other funded programs include:
• Governor’s Academy for Innovation, Technology and Engineering, Newport News;
• Governor’s Career and Technical Academy in Arlington, Arlington County;
• Fostering Innovation and Relevance Through STEM and Trades (FIRST), Suffolk;
• Pathways Academy, Russell County; and
• Stafford Career and Technical Academy, Stafford County.

Obituaries

Dorothy Williams Green
Dorothy Williams Green, 77, of North Main St., Clover, died Friday, Jan. 4, 2008, at Person County Memorial Hospital in Roxboro.
Mrs. Green was born in Halifax County on May 10, 1930, to the late Arthur Williams and Annie Smith Williams and was married to the late Henry Louis Green.
She was a member of Mt. Pleasant Baptist Church and was a former employee of Tultex, Inc.
Mrs. Green is survived by one daughter, Linda Lacks of Clover; two sons, Larry Green of Clover and Leon Green of Halifax; one sister, Shirley Brown of New York; 13 grandchildren; 19 great-grandchildren; one great-great-granddaughter; one son-in-law; three daughters-in-law; and a number of nieces, nephews and other relatives.
She was preceded in death by one daughter, Brenda Green; two sons, Herman Green and Louis Lorenzo Green; four sisters, Estelle Williams, Margaret Williams, Mary Williams and Mamie Green; three brothers, Herbert Williams, Henry Williams and Berkley Williams.
Funeral services for Mrs. Green will be held at 1 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 8, at Bethel Grove Baptist Church, Clover, with the Rev. William Hicks officiating. Burial will follow in the church cemetery.
The family will receive friends at the chapel of Jeffress Funeral Home tonight from 7-8 p.m., and at all other times at the residence, 322 North Main St., Clover.

Kim Elisabeth Anderson Marucci
Kim Elisabeth Anderson Marucci, 51, of Alexandria, died Friday, Jan. 4, 2008, in INOVA Fairfax Hospital.
She was born on June 14, 1956, in Washington, D.C., a daughter of Merlin G. Anderson and the late Barbara Ann Puryear Anderson. She was a former member of Community United Methodist Church, Arlington.
In addition to her father of Falls Church, she is survived by a daughter, Andrea Michelle Marucci of Alexandria; one sister, Julie Anderson Gerner of Leesburg; two brothers, James Gregory Anderson of Arlington and Paul Christopher Anderson of Centreville; two nieces and one nephew.
A funeral service for Ms. Marucci will be held Tuesday, Jan. 8, at 11 a.m., at North Fork Baptist Church with the Rev. Benjamin Gault officiating. Burial will follow in the church cemetery.
The family requests those wishing to give memorials please consider their favorite charity.
Online condolences may be sent to brooksfh@embarqmail.com.

FC Shoots Down Comets

By Joe Chandler
Sports Editor
Franklin County used the long ball to sink Halifax County Friday in the Western Valley District opener.
Canning 10 three-point baskets, eight in the first ten and a half minutes of the game, and regularly scoring easy lay-ups in transition off of near floor-length passes, Franklin County rang up an 89-63 win over the Comets in Rocky Mount.
“We didn’t know they could shoot it that well,” said Comets coach Lynn Ramage after the loss that dropped his team to 9-4 overall and 0-1 in district play.
“They (Franklin County) shot the ball extremely well tonight. I wonder if they can do that every night. If they can, they’re going to be trouble for everybody in this league.”
Franklin County also had a big night at the charity stripe, hitting 15 of 19 free throws in the game. By comparison, the Comets shot only seven free throws in the game and made four.Only two of team’s free throw attempts came in the second half.
Halifax County did its own version long-range shooting, hitting seven three-pointers in the contest. The Comets got 14 points each from Michael Ferrell and Deshon Dabbs, both of whom sank two three-point shots, with Durrell Chandler, who hit three of the three-point baskets, chipping in 13 points.
Kejuan Mayo had his best offensive night of the season with nine points. While the foursome accounted for 50 of their team’s points, it wasn’t nearly enough.
Halifax County got the first basket of the game on a shot from Dabbs but didn’t score again for another three and a half minutes as the Comets fell prey to a tough Franklin County defense and the Eagles’ version of the long ball on the offensive end.
Franklin County senior guard Jarale Journiette gave the Eagles the lead with a three-pointer with 6:21 left in the first quarter and Franklin County never trailed again.
The Comets trailed 8-2 when Chandler connected on the first of his five field goals in the contest. A lay-up by Chandler brought the Comets back to within four points with 3:31 left in the opening period.
Halifax County got as close as four points on one other occasion in the first quarter with back-to-back lay-ups fromHakeem Ager and Dabbs. But, the Eagles sank a pair of three-pointers in the last minute and a half to take a 21-13 lead at the end of the first quarter.
From that point, Franklin County gradually inched away, adding another pair of three-pointers in the first minute and a half to take a 27-18 lead.
There were occasions when the Comets appeared to be on the cusp of making a run at Eagles, but, each time an untimely turnover, a tough miss of a shot inside the paint or a steal by the Eagles would leave the Comets empty-handed.
Trailing by 14 points at 37-23, the Comets rallied to get back into the contest with eight straight points from Ferrell in the final 2:17 of the half. However, a technical foul called on Mayo allowed Franklin County to score four points in the final 32.1 seconds of the half and run its lead to 41-31 at halftime.
With the Comets hitting only basket in the first three and a half minutes of the third quarter, the Eagles upped their lead to 15 points at 48-33. The Comets cut the lead to 11 points with a three-pointer and a dunk of a lay-up by Dabbs with 1:58 left in the third quarter.
Franklin County answered with a three-pointer from guard Omar Belcher and a lay-up by Chris Tyree to run the lead back to 16 points at 62-46 with 1:07 left in the quarter.
Halifax cut the Franklin County lead back to 12 points when Ben Chandler hit a lay-up with 7:40 left in the game to make tghe score 62-50. But an 8-0 run by the Eagles over the next minute and a half put the Eagles up 72-50 with 6:09 left. That run sealed the outcome for all practical purposes.
A brief spurt by the Comets that included three-pointers from Dabbs and Chandler and a free throw from Mayo cut the Eagles’ lead to 15 points at 74-59 with 4:20 to play. That was as close as the Comets would get down the stretch.
Ramage said his team’s shaky start at the outset of the game likely had more to do with the outcome than Franklin County’s three-point shooting.
“We have to get good starts,” Ramage said.
“We ran a couple of sets starting off the game and missed a couple of lay-ups, just like the other night at Martinsville, and it was all downhill after that.
“I don’t think their “threes” hurt us,” Ramage continued.
“They were running and jumping us, as I had said they would, and we didn’t adjust to their traps very well. We had a hard time executing down the stretch. We had some offensive deficiencies and defensive deficiencies.”
One of the things the Comets did not do well was defend Franklin County’s long down-court tosses that resulted in easy transition lay-ups.
“They released guys all the way,” Ramage pointed out.
“Even when they were up by 20, they were still releasing guys. Sometimes we would get out of position and they would release somebody on the (missed) shot. We’ll have to adjust that the next time we see them. Hopefully we can give them a better game the next time.”

Lady Comets Lose District Opener To FC

By Doug Ford
G-V Staff Writer
Franklin County went on a 26-9 run covering the end of the third quarter and the beginning of the fourth to spoil the Comets’ varsity girls Western Valley District opener with a 80-64 win Friday at Comets Gym.
Miyisha Younger scored a game-high 25 points to lead Halifax, 15 before halftime, while Tiffany Wilson finished with 10, Destiny Betts with nine and Shauna Harris with six points.
Nia Brown scored five and Whitney McCargo four points, while Lauren Daniel and Mary Beale chipped in three and two points, respectively for Halifax, which hit nine of 12 free throws as a team.
Five Lady Eagles finished in double figures, Miranda Smith with 19, Chelsea Holland with 16, Brittany Nelms with 14 and Desirae Jamison with 12 points, while Shea Smith finished with 10.
Franklin County went to the free throw line 36 times and hit 20.
The teams battled on even terms through the first half and most of the third, with Halifax taking a 11-9 lead after one quarter and leading by as much as 17-11 in the second before settling for a 32-31 halftime lead.
Halifax held its final lead at 41-40 halfway through the third quarter and trailed 47-45 before the Lady Eagles pulled away.
Halifax would get no closer than six points in the fourth quarter, with Franklin County hitting eight of 16 free throws down the stretch.
Comets coach Ray Reaves pointed to three key factors in the loss that dropped his team to 8-5 for the season.
“Free throw shooting is key, not only that but getting to the foul line, running the floor and getting easy baskets in transition is another, and a third is boxing out and rebounding,” said Reaves.
Those three things have decided the winner and loser in each game the Comets have played thus far and Friday’s game was no exception, he added.
“They outran us down the floor and if I can recall they only made two jump shots in the first half, the rest were layups or close-in shots.
“I give them credit for getting to the free throw line, whether they make them or not is another issue, but they did the things they needed to do to get there.
“Our girls in the post area got into foul trouble because [Franklin County] attacked the basket and because we didn’t move well on defense and were out of position.”
The Lady Eagles jumped to a 7-2 advantage early before Halifax got its first lead at 11-9 on a three-point play by Younger, part of her nine first-quarter points.
Baskets from Nia Brown and Betts gave Halifax a 19-12 advantage, but the second of two treys by Jamison and another bucket closed the gap to 19-17 with a quarter in the books.
Younger scored four straight points to give her team a five-point lead and a basket by Harris made it 32-27 late in the second quarter, but Halifax held only a slim one-point lead at intermission.
The lead changed hands twice in the third quarter with two foul shots by Wilson giving the Comets their final lead at 41-40, but Franklin County converted a series of Comets turnovers into points and went on the 26-9 run that decided the game.
Smith hit two treys among 12 third-quarter points and Franklin County led by as many as 11 before a trey by Daniel cut the Comets deficit to 56-48.
The Eagles had a 66-50 lead early in the fourth quarter before the Comets rallied for the last time, a basket and two foul shots from Younger, a basket from Betts and two foul shots from Wilson closing the gap to 66-58.
Baskets from Younger and Beale closed the gap to 68-62 with barely two minutes remaining, but that was as close as the Comets would come, with Franklin County hitting six of 10 foul shots in the final two minutes.
Halifax did not take advantage of the opportunities a pressing Eagles defense created during the pivotal stretch of the game, according to Reaves.
“Our bread and butter is running the floor and attacking the basket, but we didn’t do that tonight, and I can’t understand why we weren’t more aggressive in the face of their pressure defense,” said Reaves.
“The girls played young and inexperienced basketball tonight, and I told them that it’s going to be a thrill ride from now on.
“No game will be any less intense than this one, and no game will be easy for us.”

Comets Girls Third, Boys Fourth In WVD Preview

By Doug Ford
G-V Staff Writer
Taylor Davis, Jasmine Pointer and Clyde Scott took home individual wins, while the Comets girls 4x200 relay team also won its event at the Western Valley District Indoor Track Preview Meet held Saturday at Heritage High School in Lynchburg.
Davis won the girls 55-yard dash in 7.54 seconds, while Pointer won the long jump at 5-0.
The girls 4x200 relay team, with Stacey Hamlett, Felicia Bowman, Brittany Foster and Davis, won its event with a time of 1:55.94 to help give the girls a third-place finish at the meet.
Scott won the 55 hurdles with a time of 8.04 to help his team to a fourth-place finish.
The Comets girls were third at the WVD Preview with 104 points, only three behind Franklin County (107), while E.C. Glass won the meet with 116 points.
Patrick Henry (61), GW (32) and William Fleming (24) were fourth, fifth and sixth, respectively.
Franklin County won the boys meet with 115.5 points, followed by GW with 109, E.C. Glass with 101, Halifax County with 56.5, Patrick Henry with 40 and William Fleming with 26 points, respectively.
Comets Girls Placings
“D” Denotes District Qualifier,
“R” Denotes Regional Qualifier
4x800 Relay
4. Halifax 12:42.74
55 Hurdles
3. Marteia Ferrell 9.64 (D)
6. Cherena Canada 10.84
8. Titeanna Lambert 11.14
55 Dash
1. Taylor Davis 7.54 (R)
2. Stacey Hamlett 7.64 (D)
6. Marteia Ferrell 7.94 (D)
9. Ashley Logan 8.14
Long Jump
4. Marteia Ferrell 16-4 (R)
6. Brittany Foster 16-3.5 (R)
8. Jasmine Pointer 15-8 (D)
9. Tanisha Evans 15-7.75
10. Taylor Davis 15-7 (D)
Stacey Hamlett 15-4.5 (D)
Shot Put
3. Melyse Brown 31-8 (D)
5. Monica Thorpe 30-0 (D)
4x200 Relay
1. Halifax (Hamlett, Bowman, Foster, Davis) 1:55.94
500 Run
4. Tyiesha Pannell 1:41.74
5. Tanisha Evans 1:42.34
7. Aurora Wright 1:46.04
9. Cherena Canada 1:50.14
High Jump
1. Jasmine Pointer 5-0 (R)
4. Brittany Foster 4-10 (D)
10. Tanisha Evans 4-6 (D)
Marteia Ferrell 4-6 (D)
300 Dash
2. Tanisha Evans 45.44 (D)
5. Felicia Bowman 46.34
7. Taylor Davis 46.84
8. Stacey Hamlett 47.44
9. Ashley Logan 47.7
Triple Jump
2. Brittany Foster 34-8.25 (R)
3. Marteia Ferrell 34-1.5 (R)
5. Jasmine Pointer 33-2.25 (D)
7. Cherena Canada 32-7.75 (D)
4x400 Relay
3. Halifax County 4:49.44
Comets Boys Placings
“D” Denotes District Qualifier, “R” Denotes Regional Qualifier

4x800 Relay
5. Halifax 10:36.14
55 Hurdles
1. Clyde Scott 8.04 (R)
10. Yarnnick Ford 9.84 (D)
55 Dash
3. James Jennings 6.74 (R)
5. Clyde Scott 6.84 (D)
6. Courtney Ervin 6.94 (D) (tie)
9. Thomas Logan 7.04 (D)
Shawn Jennings 7.04 (D)
High Jump
3. Yarnnick Ford 5-6 (D)
1,600 Run
6. Urick Coleman 5:22.54
Long Jump
2. Clyde Scott 20-6.25 (R)
3. James Jennings 20-2.5 (D)
6. Thomas Logan 19-1.5
9. Yarnnick Ford 18-4.75
300 Dash
5. Shawn Jennings 40.74
6. Antonio Bailey 41.04
Triple Jump
6. Clyde Scott 38-9.75 (D)
9. Yarnnick Ford 36-10.25
4x400 Relay
4. Halifax 4:08.94