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The Parry McCluer High School boys basketball team earned two Pioneer District road wins last week, cruising past Eastern Montgomery 68-38 last Tuesday before defeating Highland County 83-50 on Thursday.
On Saturday, the Fighting Blues (14-3 overall, 5-1 district) extended their winning streak to 13 games with a 69-65 nondistrict win over Gretna at the Rock the Ribbon Roundball Shootout in Lexington. (See separate story.)
At Eastern Montgomery (4-11, 3-4), JJ Jones led the Blues with 19 points, while Landon Catlett and Langston Cook each added nine points. Cook led the Blues with seven rebounds and five assists.
With the victory, the Blues completed a sweep of the regular-season series with the Mustangs. When the teams met on Dec. 14 in Buena Vista, PM won 59-27.
PM 55, HC 32
The Blues completed a sweep of the regular-season series with Highland County on Thursday by earning a 83-50 road win over the Rams (5-6, 3-3). When the teams met on Jan. 5 at PM, the Blues won 55-32. Thursday’s game was the third time this season for the Blues to score in the 80s.
Jones led the PM with 26 points and 12 rebounds and had five steals, while Catlett added 15 points. Langston Cook added six points, three assists and two steals, and Evan Cook led the Blues with seven steals to go along with five points.
“We have become incredibly unselfish in scoring,” observed PM head coach Tyler Kerr. “The amount of assists we are seeing in these high-scoring games is a great sign.” The Blues dished out 22 assists, led by Jones and Evan Cook with four each.
Kerr said that he believes the Blues’ recent run of high-scoring games is a combination of basketball fitness for his players and rust from fall sports shaking off. “It’s not a game you can just pick up and get rolling,” he said. “It takes some time to get those gym legs on.”
Excited about the road ahead, Kerr said, “You always want to be playing your best basketball when you’re approaching the district tournament, and when you’re in the middle of your district games. I think we’re doing that right now.”
The Blues were scheduled to play host to Bath County last night and will continue district action at home against Craig County on Thursday, starting with junior varsity action at 5:30 p.m. Before the varsity game, the Blues will honor their three seniors: Catlett, Jones and Evan Cook.
PM will then travel to Altavista on Saturday for a varsity game at 4 p.m. The Blues will conclude the regular season on Tuesday when they travel to face district rival Narrows, starting with JV action at 5:30 p.m.
