.jpg)
Mohler, Hamilton Lead Blues To 47-19 Win Over Glenvar
The Parry McCluer High School girls basketball team kicked off the season with a convincing road victory over Glenvar on Monday of last week, cruising to a 47-19 win in Salem.
Natalie Mohler dropped 21 points, connecting on 5-of-10 attempts from three-point range, to pace the Fighting Blues in the nondistrict game. Victoria Hamilton posted 16 points, nine rebounds, seven steals and four assists for PM, and Peira Conner chipped in six points and six boards.
“It’s always nice to get the season started with a victory,” PM head coach Adam Gilbert said. “Overall, it was a good first game, but we have a lot of work to do moving forward.”
The Blues started off slowly, holding on to a narrow 7-4 lead by the end of the first quarter. But PM turned it on in the second period, outscoring the Highlanders 16-6 to open up a 23-10 halftime lead, and the Blues maintained control throughout the second half.
Mohler and Hamilton played key roles in the offensive surge. In addition to Mohler’s five triples, both players were effective at the foul line, where Hamilton converted on 8-of-9 shots and Mohler sank 4-of-5.
“Natalie shot the ball well from the perimeter, attacked the basket and got to the free throw line,” Gilbert said. “I thought Victoria had a nice night as well.”
Freshman Grace Fiedler paced the Highlanders with five points, and Zella Hayes snared four rebounds. Mohler added five boards and four steals to her stat line, while Kayleigh Ramsey collected four rebounds. The Blues also got two assists apiece from Conner, Mohler, Ramsey and Emory Slagle.
While the offense is still coming along – as a team, PM shot just 35 percent from the field – Gilbert thought that his team’s defensive effort was solid for the entire game. The Blues limited Glenvar to a paltry 19.5 percent shooting clip (8-of-41) and caused 23 turnovers.
“We were able to force some turnovers, which led to some fastbreak scoring opportunities for us,” the PM coach said. “Our offensive execution wasn’t as sharp as we would like to be early on. As the game progressed, I thought we settled into the flow… [and] found a much better rhythm.
“The girls know that we have a lot of room for improvement,” Gilbert added. “We have a lot of work to do in order to be where we want to be at the end of the season.”
PM’s road game against Nelson County, originally slated for Friday, was moved to Monday, Jan. 13. The Blues will play host to the 10th annual Jaden Baker Tournament this weekend, facing Giles at 7 p.m. Friday and North Cross at 2:30 p.m. Saturday. The Blues will then have a rematch at home against Glenvar on Monday, starting with junior varsity action at 5:30 p.m.
