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Top seed Parry McCluer High School defeated secondseeded Eastern Montgomery 55-51 in a double-overtime classic to claim the Pioneer District girls basketball title in Buena Vista on Friday evening.
Anna Claytor totaled 18 points and 12 rebounds to lead the Fighting Blues (21-2 overall, 8-1 district) to their second win over the Mustangs (20-5, 7-2) in five days. PM had beaten EM 41-33 on a neutral court at James River High School last Monday to claim the No. 1 seed in the district tournament, after the teams split their regular-season series.
It was the 13th consecutive win and the third consecutive Pioneer District title for the Blues. In last year’s district championship game, the Blues beat EM 36-33 in Buena Vista.
Maddie Bruce scored a game-high 24 points for the Mustangs in Friday’s championship, and Lilly Underwood added 14. Victoria Hamilton chipped in 12 points for PM.
Despite needing two extra sessions to secure the victory, the Blues never trailed in the game. But EM kept coming back from seemingly impossible deficits, adding another memorable chapter to this burgeoning district rivalry.
When the teams played in Buena Vista on Jan. 31, PM rallied from a 14-point second-half deficit to secure a 41-36 victory. The Blues narrowly prevented the Mustangs from turning the tables on Friday.
“We’ve been on the flip side of that, where we’ve been down and have been able to come back and take the lead,” PM head coach Adam Gilbert said. “That’s just two good teams playing hard, going at it. We were fortunate enough to be on the right side of things tonight.”
The Blues crafted a 19-10 margin in the second quarter and led 21-17 at halftime. PM stretched its advantage to 31-21 late in the third period, only to see EM close the frame on a 10-0 run and pull even on Jenna Gadd’s fast break bucket with 16 seconds remaining.
A pair of Addisen Roberts free throws put the Blues up with 39 seconds to go, and she tied the game at 39-39 with just two seconds left, crashing the offensive glass on her own missed jump shot and scoring from the low blocks to force overtime.
PM scored the first six points of the initial OT and led 45-39 with 35 seconds to play. The Mustangs trimmed the gap to 45-43 on a runner from Logan Boone and a Bruce drive. After Roberts made 1-of-2 foul shots, Bruce drained a 3-pointer with four ticks left to knot things up at 46-46.
The Blues immediately turned the ball over, giving EM a chance to win the game in the closing seconds, but Abi Felty’s short jumper clanged off the back iron as time expired.
The contest was deadlocked again at 48-48 well into the second extra frame, but two Natalie Mohler free throws put PM ahead for good at 50-48 with 1:33 remaining. By this point, the Mustangs were also losing the war of attrition: that foul was the fifth on Bruce, after both Underwood and Boone had fouled out in the first overtime.
Claytor scored a layup at the 1:03 mark to make it 5248. Gadd’s triple cut the margin down to 52-51 with 35 seconds to play. But Mohler drained two more foul shots with 14.5 seconds left, and Payton Emore iced the win by going 1-of-2 at the line with just 1.2 seconds to go.
PM could have put the game away earlier, but the Blues shot a woeful 21-of-37 (56.8 percent) at the charity stripe – including a combined 12-of-23 (52.2 percent) mark in the two overtimes – and committed 24 turnovers.
“I think if we’re honest with ourselves, we know we can be a little better at the foul line,” Gilbert said. “We got a little careless with the basketball. But at the end of the day, you find a way to win against a quality club. At this time of the season, you’ll take them any way you can get them.”
Tatyana Turner recorded eight points for the Blues. Emore finished with seven points and five rebounds, and Roberts totaled five boards and a game-high five assists. Boone scored eight points for the Mustangs, and Gadd added five markers.
Playing three competitive contests against EM should only help the Blues as they prepare for this week’s Region 1C tournament.
“If we’re lucky enough to advance, we’re going to have to find ways to win tight games late,” Gilbert said. “We’ve had some experience this year doing that, and I think that can only benefit us moving forward.
“We’ve been in those situations as a group, and we’ve found a way to pull it out,” he added. “We should have that confidence – that no matter what the situation is, we can get it done.”
PM 50, CHS 20
PM cruised past fourthseeded Covington 50-20 in the Pioneer semifinals at home on Thursday.
Claytor tallied 17 points, 12 rebounds and five assists for the Blues, with Emore adding 10 points and five rebounds. Lauren Bragg led the Cougars (3-21, 3-7) with 10 points and five boards.
After scoring the first seven points of the game, PM’s offense – hampered by 11 firstquarter turnovers – stalled for the rest of the period. But things clicked into gear in the second stanza: leading 16-9 with just over five minutes left, the Blues closed the half on an 18-2 run, taking a commanding 34-11 lead by halftime.
That success was fueled by a slew of fast break points, as PM forced 23 Covington turnovers across the first two periods.
“We got out of the blocks a little slow tonight, for whatever the reason may be,” Gilbert said. “I thought we kind of bounced back a little bit there in the second quarter, and finally got some things to bounce our way.”
The Blues limited the Cougars to just two field goals in the second half, getting plenty of minutes for all 10 players on the roster. That balance showed up on the scoresheet as well: Turner contributed eight points, Roberts scored seven, and Mohler tallied five points and five rebounds.
“That only will help us out moving forward, if we can have other folks contribute,” Gilbert said. “Good effort all the way around tonight.”
The victory was at least a little bittersweet, as it came in what is likely to be the final meeting between PM and the current iteration of the Cougars. Covington and Alleghany are merging into a consolidated high school next year.
“It’s kind of weird,” said Gilbert, who suited up many times against Covington during his playing career for Nelson Fox and the PM boys’ team. “If it has to end, I guess it’s a good way to go out: with a win.”
PM was slated to play host to Galax in a Region 1C quarterfinal game last night. The regional semifinals will take place on Friday at 8 p.m. at Pulaski County High School, and the championship is scheduled for Saturday at 6 p.m. at Virginia Tech. For regional tournament updates, visit www.thenews-gazette. com, and see next week’s newspaper for the full story and photos.
