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The Parry McCluer High School girls basketball team has recorded a number of significant wins in recent years. But few regular-season victories will match what happened in Buena Vista on Tuesday of last week.
Trailing by 14 midway through the third quarter – and facing a team that had beaten them by 25 earlier in January – the Fighting Blues rallied for a 41-36 win over Eastern Montgomery.
Since both schools defeated Covington later in the week, PM and EM will finish the regular season tied for first in the Pioneer District standings with 7-1 league records. The two teams will meet in a firstplace playoff at James River High School in Buchanan this Monday at 7 p.m.. Overall, PM ended the week at 16-2, while EM was 19-3.
“That’s a huge momentum builder,” PM head coach Adam Gilbert said. “That was a heck of a win for us.”
Victoria Hamilton tallied 13 points and Tatyana Turner added 12 markers for the Blues in last Tuesday’s game. Lilly Underwood led all scorers with 24 points for the Mustangs, who had routed PM 55-30 in Ellison back on Jan. 6.
EM appeared to be on a similar course in the rematch, going on an early 13-0 run to build up a 16-5 lead and assuming a 28-14 advantage midway through the third quarter. But the Blues completely turned the game around in the final 12 minutes.
Fueled by points from four different players, a 9-0 run got PM back into the contest late in the third. Underwood hit an off-balance 3-pointer with just eight seconds left in the period, seemingly restoring momentum to the Mustangs, but Hamilton drained a triple as time expired to make it a 31-26 game.
The Blues had aimed to whittle EM’s 22-12 halftime lead down to two possessions by the end of the third period, and Hamilton’s trey would prove to be huge.
“We were just outside of that goal, and then Victoria comes down and hits that three right before the buzzer to keep it there,” Gilbert said. “That was a mental boost for them, knowing that we cut this thing to five and were within striking distance.”
But there was still work to do, and Maddie Bruce’s hoop gave EM a 33-26 lead with 6:24 left in the final stanza. The Blues countered by reeling off 11 consecutive points, sandwiching another triple and a drive from Hamilton around a pair of Turner 3-pointers to go ahead 37-33.
Logan Boone answered with a trey to make it 37-36 with 3:34 remaining. But PM held the Mustangs scoreless the rest of the way, and a driving layup from Addisen Roberts – followed by a pair of late PM free throws – would ice the win.
Anna Claytor finished with eight points and eight rebounds for the Blues, but her only second-half point came at the foul line with just 3.9 seconds remaining. With the EM defense zeroing in on the PM star, the Blues’ other weapons stepped up to spearhead the comeback.
“We’re not a one-person show,” Gilbert said. “We’ve got the personnel; we’ve got the kids who can score the basketball.”
In addition to highlighting the production of Hamilton and Turner, the PM coach praised the performance of Roberts. The junior point guard finished with four points, five rebounds and a game-high four assists.
“We’ve got to be able to get to our sets and get there quick, and I thought Addisen did a really good job for us, handling our offense,” Gilbert said.
Boone finished with six points and four rebounds for the Mustangs, while Bruce led her team with four assists. Payton Emore notched four points and seven rebounds for PM.
Tuesday’s comeback didn’t just forge a tie atop the district standings with EM – it should also provide a mental boost for the Blues with the district and regional tournaments on the horizon.
“It gives the kids confidence … knowing that they’ve done it: they’ve been down, they’ve faced a little adversity, and they’ve overcome it,” Gilbert said. “That should prove to the kids that they can go out and compete with anybody.”
PM 59, CHS 12
PM took care of business on Senior Night, rolling past Covington 59-12 on Thursday in Buena Vista.
Claytor, the Blues’ lone senior, celebrated in style with 21 points and 11 rebounds as PM won its eighth straight game. A Class 1 all-state selection last year, Claytor enters the final week of the regular season with 1,044 career points.
Emore added 12 points for PM, while Hamilton tallied eight points and Turner chipped in six markers. Lauren Bragg led the Cougars (2-17, 2-4) with six points and grabbed six rebounds, and Taylor Stayton tied for the game-high with 11 boards.
“I thought overall, as a team, we played well – just the intensity, trying to play the game of basketball the right way,” Gilbert said.
The Blues took control early, scoring the first 14 points of the game and leading 18-2 by the end of the first quarter. PM closed the first half with another big spurt, tallying the final 10 points of the second period to assume a 36-8 halftime advantage.
Most of the second half was played with a running clock due to the large lead, and all 10 Blues saw significant minutes. Eight PM players scored, and nine of them registered at least one assist, led by three dimes apiece from Emore and Natalie Mohler.
The win officially gave the Blues a share of the Pioneer regular-season title, setting up Monday’s playoff with EM.
“Now we’ve given ourselves an opportunity to win the district outright,” Gilbert said. “We’ve got a chance, and that’s all we can ask for at this point of the season. I’m really proud of this group.”
Prior to the first-place playoff, the Blues will visit nondistrict rival James River on Friday, with the junior varsity game set to tip at 5:30 p.m.
