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After a strong run to the Pioneer District finals, the Parry McCluer High School boys basketball team suffered a 68-56 road loss to top seed Narrows in the championship game on Friday night.
It was the third time the Green Wave (20-5 overall, 11-1 district) had beaten the second-seeded Fighting Blues (18-8, 10-2) this season.
During the regular season, Narrows beat PM 50-46 on Dec. 15 in Buena Vista and 63-52 at home on Jan. 20. Last year, PM beat Narrows 58-24 to win its second consecutive Pioneer District title.
In Friday’s game, it was a back-and-forth battle for the first half. Narrows went up by 10 points in the third quarter before the Blues cut the lead to one point going into the fourth quarter. The Green Wave started the fourth quarter on an 8-0 run, and the Blues couldn’t dig out of the hole, as Narrows responded well to every play the Blues made.
“Great game, where we had our chances,” said PM head coach Tyler Kerr. “Great effort by our team, especially defensively. We laid our hearts on the line – just came up a little short. Proud of our team.”
Landon Catlett led the Blues with 29 points, while John Snider added 15 points, and Evan Cook scored 12 points. The rest of the team was held scoreless, however.
Kolier Pruett paced the Green Wave with 29 points, Landon Shepherd added 15 points, and Aidan McGlothlin chipped in 11.
Both teams earned berths in the Region 1C tournament. The Blues were scheduled to play host to Grayson County in the regional quarterfinals last night. The regional semifinals will take place on Thursday at 6 p.m. at Pulaski County High School, and the championship is scheduled for Saturday at 8 p.m. at Virginia Tech. For regional tournament updates, visit www.thenewsgazette. com, and see next week’s newspaper for the full story and photos.
PM 71, CHS 47
With balanced scoring and strong defense, the Blues earned a 71-47 home win over Covington in the district semifinals on Thursday night in Buena Vista.
The Blues, who had won two close games against thirdseeded Covington (15-9, 7-3) during the regular season, went on a 9-0 run late in the first quarter to build up a 20-9 lead. From that point on, PM led by double digits for almost all of the rest of the game.
After leading 34-20 at halftime, the Blues outscored the Cougars 22-14 in the third quarter to take a 56-34 lead into the fourth quarter. With a large crowd of fans cheering them on, the Blues stayed comfortably ahead for the rest of the game, allowing their starters to rest in the closing minutes.
Catlett led PM with 16 points and had six rebounds and six steals, Snider scored 14 points and led the Blues with 11 rebounds, and Isaac Griffin stepped up with 14 points and two steals. Cook scored nine points and led PM with nine assists, while Nathan Glass chipped in eight points.
Purcel Turner led Covington with a game-high 18 points, Jayden Sammons added 12 points, and J’yon Smith chipped in seven. The Blues committed nine turnovers, while Covington had 19.
Kerr said it was an especially big night for his seniors, Snider and Griffin. “In regards to tonight and his four-year career, you can’t get any more steady than John Snider,” he said. “John is just a workhorse who shows up every night.”
Of Griffin, Kerr said, “Him stepping up scoring a little bit is a senior saying, ‘Hey, this is the end of my road, and no matter what happens, I’m gonna go out and give it my best.’ Isaac has really been playing his best basketball the last two weeks.”
The first-year PM coach was especially proud of how his team played defense. “I like how, as the season has gone on, we’ve really been locked in on the defensive end.”
Kerr said that, early in the season, the Blues were struggling to find their identity after the graduation of 6-foot-11-inch center Spencer Hamilton, the Class 1 state player of the year last year, and their other three seniors.
“We weren’t quite playing at the level defensively that we had played in the past, and I told them that good defense is also gonna lead to good stuff on offense, getting out in transition and playing fun basketball, and we’ve done that,” said Kerr. “That is a direct correlation to why we had balanced scoring. When that ball moves around and it’s swinging, it’s really difficult to guard everything.”
“That’s a really good Covington team, and I just thought tonight that was a four-quarter performance,” added Kerr. “Teams are gonna go on runs, but you can’t let that turn into a quarter, and tonight I thought we played four quarters of basketball, and that was a really good game for us. I’m very proud.”
PM 62, EM 26
The Blues cruised to a 62-26 win over Eastern Montgomery in the Pioneer District quarterfinals on Monday night at James River High School in Buchanan.
PM overcame a slow start against seventh-seeded EM (1-22, 1-11). The Blues led 14-8 after the first quarter and then outscored the Mustangs 24-4 in the second quarter to extend their lead to 38-12 by halftime. EM never threatened a comeback, as the Blues led by more than 30 points for most of the first half.
“The first quarter, I thought EastMont did a really good job controlling the tempo,” said Kerr. “They wanted a slower game, and rightfully so. … We wanted to get out and run a little bit. I thought, in the second quarter, we really picked up the tempo and started playing our game a little bit.”
Braedyn Houck led PM with a game-high 16 points and had two steals, hitting three 3-pointers, while Snider added 12 points, eight rebounds and four steals for the Blues. Cook contributed 11 points and three assists.
Praising Houck for his big game, Kerr said, “Houck’s had a little bit of a dry spell in regards to not his overall play, but just his 3-point shot for his last four or five games, really, so for him to come out and see a big basket is a big comfort to me moving forward.”
