.jpg)
The Parry McCluer High School boys basketball team earned a 71-58 win over local rival Rockbridge County to complete a sweep of the season series on Saturday night in Buena Vista.
With their eighth consecutive win, the Fighting Blues improved to 11-3, while the Wildcats fell to 2-13. In their previous meeting this season on Dec. 27 in Lexington, PM defeated the Wildcats 79-75.
RC’s Milo Mulitalo made the first basket to give him team a 2-0 lead but the Blues then went on a 6-0 run and didn’t trail the rest of the way. Mulitalo made another layup to cut RC’s lead t o 6 -4, b ut t he B lues then scored seven points, with a basket from Langston Cook, a 3-pointer from Evan Cook, and a basket from JJ Jones. Cook would go on to score 15 points in the game. PM’s Braedyn Houck made a 3-pointer from the corner to extend PM’s lead to 16-6. Mulitalo and Henry Lambert helped RC get within 16-10 by the end of the first quarter.
In the second quarter, the Blues started off with two layups by Langston to go up 22-10. Jones then hit a 3-pointer and four free throws to extend PM’s lead to 29-15. Jones scored a season-high 25 points and grabbed six rebounds and three steals. Evan Cook added his second 3-pointer of the game and a pair of free throws to give PM a 34-15 advantage. Lambert made four of six free throw attempts near the end of the first half, and Blues led 3923.
The Wildcats had their best run of the night early in the third. Sam Ballstaedt, Mulitalo and Lambert combined for 10 points to cut the PM lead to 42-33. With a layup by Lambert, the Wildcats cut the lead to 45-37. Lambert led all players with 32 points.
“After we fixed our turnovers, we basically played even for the second half,” said RC head coach Rob Winfield. “They tried to face-guard Milo coming out of halftime, and that’s what everyone does. He still did a really good job of scoring and distributing even with the pressure.”
The Blues maintained possession for the majority of the final quarter for clock management. Lambert added to his score tally with three layups and a pair
ABOVE, RC junior Noah Hamm looks for a teammate to pass to while Fighting Blues Braedyn Houck (20) and Evan Cook (5) guard him. AT LEFT, PM senior Landon Catlett takes the ball inside as RC senior Milo Mulitalo guards him. Catlett scored 11 points. (Ronnie Coffey photos) of free throws to cut PM’s lead to 70-50. Lambert hit another free throw, and Gardner Clement made a three-point play to end the game.
PM coach Tyler Kerr praised the Wildcats. “They definitely had an advantage over us at the post,” he said. “Mulitalo is a very big kid, and he has great hands and footwork. Lambert is also a great player for them.”
The PM coach said the Blues’ game plan included a full court press and to “trap when we could.”
“Our effort in all four quarters was great, and I couldn’t be prouder of that,” added Kerr.
Winfield gave credit to the Blues. “They are a good team,” he said. “They are a veteran team with three seniors that contribute a lot of minutes.”
“We dug ourselves into a hole really early,” added Winfield. “We had too many turnovers in the first half.”
Winfield praised his players for adapting throughout the game. “We tried to do more double post moves, and our post players did more to bring themselves into the game.”
