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Friday, Feb. 16 -- The Parry McCluer High School girls basketball team battled back from a 9-point halftime deficit to claim a 55-52 victory over Narrows in the Pioneer District championship game in Buena Vista.
Victoria Hamilton scored a career-best 29 points and grabbed eight rebounds to lead the top-seeded Fighting Blues (19-3) past the second-seeded Green Wave (11-11). Payton Emore notched 14 points, 10 rebounds and four assists for PM, while Karsyn Reed paced Narrows with 15 points and six rebounds.
The Green Wave started the game on a 9-1 run and were ahead for most of the night, assuming a 10-point advantage late in the second quarter and leading 33-24 at halftime. After the Blues whittled the gap down to 38-36 on a Hamilton three-point play with 3:54 left in the third period, Narrows countered with a 6-0 spurt to stretch the margin back to 44-36 with 2:53 to go.
But PM seemed unfazed by the deficit, closing the frame with seven straight points to pull within one (44-43). The Blues completed their comeback by tying the score at 48-48 on an Emore free throw at the 6:08 mark of the fourth quarter, and Hamilton gave PM its first lead of the night when she went 1-of-2 at the charity stripe to make it 49-48 with 5:09 left.
Narrows' Raigen Clark knotted things up at 50-50 on a driving layup with 3:12 remaining. But a post-up bucket from Hamilton and a long jumper from Natalie Mohler gave the Blues a 54-50 edge with 1:43 to play.
Clark connected from the elbow on the Green Wave's next possession, trimming the margin to 54-52 with 1:30 left. But Mohler hit 1-of-2 free throws with 39.1 ticks to go, and the Blues came up with several key defensive stops down the stretch -- including a game-clinching steal from Tatyana Turner in the closing seconds.
Emma Helvey tallied 11 points for Narrows, while Clark finished with 10 points and Ellyn Bowles notched a game-high five assists. Mohler totaled eight points and three assists for the Blues.
PM will play host to Bland County, the No. 4 seed from the Mountain Empire District, in the Region 1C quarterfinals on Tuesday evening. Tip time is tentatively slated for 6 p.m.
