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Tomlin The Parry McCluer High School boys basketball team lost a tightly contested game to Eastern Mennonite 67-55 on Saturday at the ninth annual Rock the Ribbon Roundball Shootout on Saturday at Rockbridge County High School.
The Fighting Blues (10-8) found themselves trailing early in the nondistrict contest against the Flames (10-7), who won the Virginia Independent Schools Athletic Association state championship last year. PM never led after EM started out hot to take a 16-9 lead at the end of the first quarter.
In the second quarter, the Blues began to trim the lead. John Snider made a free throw after a successful layup that cut EM’s lead to five. PM’s Nathan Glass made a 3-pointer before halftime, and Evan Cook made free throws to cut the Flames’ lead to 32-30.
“We had a lot of moments during this game,” said PM head coach Tyler Kerr. “We had great spurts of energy. Basketball is a game of runs.”
The Blues outscored Eastern Mennonite 21-14 in the second quarter.
Right out of halftime, the Flames hit three 3-pointers on consecutive possessions to extend their lead to 41-30. EM would get to 50 points before PM scored again. The Blues went on another run, started by a Cook 3-pointer to cut the lead to 50-45 at the end of the third quarter.
“One thing that we have to do better is stopping the other team when they are in their run,” said Kerr. “We have to step up and stop the bleeding. I know we have the guys to do it, too.”
The Blues went on a run before the end of the third quarter, started by a Cook 3-pointer, to cut the lead to 50-45 at the end of the third quarter.
EM made another 3-pointer to start the fourth quarter and continued to extend its lead, while controlling the clock with long possessions. The Flames outscored the Blues 17-10 in the fourth quarter to finish the game strong.
Landon Catlett led the Blues with 14 points, while John Snider added 13 points and 11 rebounds.
