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The Parry McCluer High School girls basketball team closed out the regular season with non-district road wins over Giles and James River last week.
Anna Claytor totaled 55 points across the two victories – including a careerbest 32 against JR – as the Fighting Blues moved to 18-2 ahead of this week’s Pioneer District Tournament.
On Monday of last week, PM secured a 64-50 victory at Giles. Claytor paced the Blues with 23 points, 12 rebounds and four assists, while Victoria Hamilton finished with 14 points and five steals. Izzy Frazier led the Spartans with 15 points and seven rebounds.
PM broke open a tight game with a dominant second quarter, outscoring Giles 18-3 in the frame to assume a 39-22 halftime edge. The Blues would lead by as many as 29 points in the second half, and they shot a healthy 54.5 percent from the field for the game.
“I thought our ability to score the basketball on Monday helped,” PM head coach Adam Gilbert said. “It wasn’t one of our better defensive performances of the year to date. We did just enough to keep [Giles] at arm’s length in terms of the score.”
Tatyana Turner notched nine points and Payton Emore scored eight for the Blues, while Natalie Mohler chipped in seven points and five rebounds and Addisen Roberts contributed five assists. Jadelynn Lane totaled nine points for Giles, and Autumn Bowles recorded eight markers.
PM 56, JR 46
The Blues claimed a 56-46 win over JR in the regular-season finale in Buchanan on Friday evening.
Claytor had surpassed the 1,000-point mark for her career when the Blues beat the Knights 40-33 at the Rock the Ribbon Roundball Shootout at Rockbridge County High School back on Jan. 28.
Two weeks later, she had an even bigger game against JR (10-12), establishing a new career standard with 32 points. Claytor finished 13-of-21 from the field and a perfect 6-for-6 at the foul line, also tallying eight rebounds and seven assists.
PM controlled play in the first half, building up a 27-15 lead by the end of the second period and holding off JR down the stretch.
“I thought our mental toughness as a collective group showed itself in this game,” Gilbert said. “When they cut our lead to three in the final two minutes, I thought we did a great job of locking in mentally and executing on both ends of the floor.”
Caitlin Canada led the Knights with 18 points, and Kelsi Maydian produced 12 points and five boards. Hamilton added nine points and four assists for the Blues, while Emore registered six points and five assists and Mohler also scored six points.
