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Wednesday, Dec. 27 -- The Parry McCluer High School girls basketball team led from wire-to-wire in claiming a 48-31 victory over Rockbridge County in Lexington.
Victoria Hamilton posted 18 points and three assists for the Fighting Blues (6-3), while Payton Emore tallied nine points and six rebounds. Des Butler paced the Wildcats (1-8) with nine points, and Parker Dameron totaled six points and three blocks.
PM opened the game on an 11-1 scoring run, forcing seven RC turnovers before the Wildcats finally knocked down their first field goal -- a 3-pointer from Butler -- inside the final minute of the opening period. Addisen Roberts' three-point play restored the Blues' advantage to double digits (14-4) after eight minutes.
RC stayed within striking distance for most of the second quarter, cutting the margin to seven on multiple occasions. PM took a 24-15 lead into halftime.
But Hamilton took over in the second half, notching 15 of her points after the break. A triple from Tatyana Turner -- assisted by Hamilton -- put the Blues ahead 36-24 with 1:48 remaining in the third period, and the Wildcats wouldn't pull within single digits the rest of the way.
Turner and Peira Conner each scored six points for PM, and Roberts chipped in five markers. Emma Clark contributed five points for RC, while Ruby Goodhart and Sadie Moore collected five rebounds apiece and Abby Bouchard dished out four assists.
The Wildcats visit Salem, starting with junior varsity action at 1 p.m. The Blues will return to Pioneer District action when they play host to Highland County on Friday, Jan. 5, with the varsity game only at 5:30 p.m. PM and RC will meet again in Buena Vista at 4 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 6.
