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Tuesday, Feb. 20 -- The Parry McCluer High School girls basketball team claimed a hard-fought 46-41 victory over Bland County in the quarterfinals of the Region 1C tournament in Buena Vista.
The Fighting Blues (20-3), the top seed out of the Pioneer District, saw a 14-point second-half lead slip away against the Bears (14-11), seeded fourth out of the Mountain Empire. But PM used a 7-0 run in the final 2:22 to regain control and secure its 16th consecutive victory.
The Blues will advance to face Fort Chiswell (20-5), the Mountain Empire's No. 2 seed, in the regional semifinals at Virginia Tech's Cassell Coliseum at 8 p.m. Thursday.
Payton Emore scored 14 points and grabbed seven rebounds to pace PM in the quarterfinal contest, while Tatyana Turner totaled 11 points -- including the go-ahead 3-pointer with 2:22 to play -- and five boards. Tinley Worley tallied a game-high 16 points for Bland, while Danielle Sanders recorded 13 points, 10 rebounds and six blocks.
The Blues broke open a tight game by closing the first half on a 14-2 run. Emore had six markers during that spurt, and Addisen Roberts posted the final four points of the half -- including a transition jumper with just three seconds left -- as PM assumed a 27-17 lead at the break.
Triples from Turner and Emore helped the Blues pad the margin to 35-21 midway through the third period, but an extended 18-4 stretch for the Bears brought them all the way back. Bland used a 9-2 run to trim the deficit to single digits, and then proceeded to score the first nine points of the final frame. Worley tallied the final seven points of that spurt, tying the score at 39-39 on a floater with 4:39 to play.
But the PM defense came up big in crunch time, forcing a handful of turnovers and getting several other key stops to keep the Bears off the board for over four minutes. Turner's 3-pointer put the Blues in front for good, and PM did just enough at the foul line, hitting 4-of-8 attempts in the final 1:08 to secure the win. Bland's only bucket down the stretch was a buzzer-beating putback from Madelynn Rasnake that provided the final margin.
Victoria Hamilton totaled nine points and three assists for PM, including the pass that set up Turner's go-ahead trey, and Natalie Mohler added eight points and eight rebounds. Kendall Worley finished with six points and eight rebounds for the Bears, while Addison Myers chipped in nine rebounds and three assists.
