PM Girls Cruise

Blues Pick Up Wins Over Glenvar, Nelson

The Parry McCluer High School girls basketball team improved to 4-0 with a pair of convincing home victories last week, rolling past Glenvar and Nelson County.

The Fighting Blues started off the week of nondistrict action with a 51-27 win over the Highlanders in Buena Vista last Monday. Victoria Hamilton totaled 19 points and 11 rebounds for PM, while Natalie Mohler had 11 points and Peira Conner tallied three points, 11 rebounds and a game-high seven assists.

Audrey Moles led Glenvar with 11 points, and Kinley Phillips snared nine rebounds. The Highlanders then fell 53-22 at William Byrd last Wednesday to wrap up the week at 0-7.

PM never trailed in Monday’s game, scoring the first six points of the opening period and stretching the margin to 16-5 by the end of the first quarter. The Blues contended well with a different defensive look from their opponent, getting a couple of key jumpers early – including one 3-pointer – from sophomore guard Emory Slagle.

“They threw the triangle-and-two on us early, and … I thought Emory stepped up, hit some shots to get us going,” PM head coach Adam Gilbert said. “That’s a good sign if we’re able to handle the junk defenses.”

The Blues’ offense bogged down a bit in the second period, going scoreless for over four minutes as the game approached halftime. But another trey from Slagle broke the drought and sent PM into the locker room ahead 23-9.

The home side would maintain a double-digit scoring margin throughout the second half, and – despite committing 13 turnovers after the break – a 19-point fourth quarter allowed the Blues to pull away even further.

“It is early, and we’ve got an older team – but we’re younger in the sense of experience,” Gilbert said. “We’re still figuring some things out, figuring each other out.”

Another bright spot was the play of Josie Martinez, who chipped in eight points and six rebounds off the bench. Though Martinez is new to the varsity roster, the freshman gained some valuable experience competing with her teammates during summer league hoops.

“I have to step back and go, ‘She’s just a freshman,’” Gilbert said of Martinez. “She’s still learning, but she’s a smart kid, and she’s figuring it out pretty quickly. Hopefully, towards the end of the season, that will pay dividends for us and for her.”

Slagle also finished with eight points for PM, and Kylie Ramsey totaled eight rebounds. Ryan Jones chipped in six points for the Highlanders, and Abigail Teubert collected five boards.

PM 51, NC 9

PM started the game on a 21-0 run en route to a comprehensive 51-9 victory over Nelson County on Thursday.

Mohler totaled 14 points and eight assists to pace the Blues. Hamilton posted another double-double, registering 13 points and 11 rebounds, while Martinez tallied 10 points and eight boards, and Conner recorded seven points and 10 rebounds.

Sophia Piedra led the Governors (0-5) with three points and three rebounds.

Mohler drained a triple just 13 seconds into the contest to ignite the Blues’ early run. She and Hamilton scored six points apiece during the spurt, while Conner added five markers. Martinez then hit back-to-back buckets to make it 21-0 with 2:17 left in the first quarter before a pair of Piedra free throws got Nelson on the board.

PM’s dominant first quarter was spurred by its defense, as the Blues forced 12 Governor turnovers inside the opening eight minutes.

“We wanted to set the tone early, and I thought we did a really good job of that,” Gilbert said. “We were able to turn them over, but once we turned them over, we were in attack mode and got to the basket, got to the foul line.”

Mohler orchestrated the Blues’ offense throughout the game, knocking down four 3-pointers and setting up her teammates with those eight dimes.

“She can shoot the basketball; that’s her forte,” Gilbert said of Mohler. “She’s done a really good job for us handling the basketball. She sees the floor pretty well; she makes good decisions with the basketball.”

PM would extend its advantage to 29-2 by halftime. The Governors did not score from the field until a runner from Hanna Rivera made it 38-7 inside the final minute of the third period.

Slagle chipped in five points and six rebounds for the Blues, and Patience Hill tallied two points and four boards. Rivera and Hazel Donovan each finished with two points and three rebounds for Nelson, and Mari Mullins also had two markers.

PM returns to action at Rockbridge County on Friday, with the varsity tip time slated for 4 p.m. as part of a junior varsity and varsity quadruple-header. The day will start with the junior varsity girls’ game at 1 p.m., followed by the JV boys’ game at 2:30 p.m., with the varsity boys’ game scheduled for 5:30 p.m.

The Blues’ first competition of the new year will be at Altavista on Thursday, Jan. 2, starting with JV action at 5:30 p.m. PM will then play host to RC Saturday, Jan. 4, with the same schedule as this Friday.