Parry McCluer Boys Fend Off ‘Cats

The Parry McCluer High School boys basketball team secured a hard-fought 72-68 victory on Friday night over homestanding Rockbridge County in the first of two meetings between the local rivals.

With the win, the Blues’ third consecutive over the Wildcats, PM improved to 5-2. The Wildcats, coming off their first win of the season six days earlier, a 49-44 victory over Franklin County in Roanoke, fell to 1-8. The Blues swept the season series with the Wildcats last year.

Langston Cook led the Blues, racking up 35 points, 10 rebounds and five assists while adding three steals and two blocks, as PM prevailed in a tight battle. Braedyn Houck added 20 points and four rebounds for PM.

Bradi Ziegler totaled 17 points and six rebounds for the Wildcats, sinking four 3-pointers. Noah Hamm had 17 points for RC, hitting four triples, while Clay Irvine added 10 points and five rebounds.

PM started the game on a 17-4 run, and the Blues still led 41-29 at halftime.

The Blues had an early 8-0 run, which included a steal and score by Cook, along with and 3-pointers from Houck and Quentin Rosser. Near the end of the first quarter, a layup from Wildcats’ Brayden Camden and a three pointer from Hamm cut PM’s lead to 17-10. Just before the buzzer, PM’s Jamier Jordan stole the ball from the Cats and scored a layup, pushing the Blues to a 19-10 lead.

The second quarter began with the teams trading points, with PM’s Houck making a shot in the paint and RC’s Hamm hitting his second 3-pointer from way outside the line to cut PM’s lead to 21-13. “Noah helped keep us in it in the first half,” said Wildcats’ head coach Rob Winfield, “He’s capable of having big games like tonight.”

With PM leading 34-24, Jordan had his second steal and score, and Cook followed with a layup on the Blues’ next possession to extend PM’s lead to 38-24. Cook and Bradi Ziegler traded 3-pointers in the final minute to end the half with PM leading 41-29.

In the first half, PM had points from Jordan, Cook, Houck, and Rosser and Ellis Hill. “We shared the ball well,” said PM head coach Tyler Kerr. “When the rim gets tight, we still keep finding ways to score. Langston will always get his, but he really knows how to get his teammates involved and he’s averaging a little over six assists a game right now.”

RC came sprinting out of the gates after the intermission, opening the third quarter on a 15-2 spurt and assuming a 44-43 lead on a bucket from Luke Eversole with 3:34 left in the period. Prior to Eversole’s basket, Ziegler scored eight points in a row, including back-to-back 3-pointers, and Sam Ballstaedt also hit a triple for RC.

Winfield credited the quick turnaround to defensive effort and rebounding, but he added, “Our comeback happened because our shooters started making shots. In the first half, their shooters made shots and then in the second half we started making ours.”

Hamm locked the game at 50-50 when he hit his fourth 3-pointer, near the end of the third quarter, but a free throw from Cook gave PM a 52-50 lead to end the quarter.

The teams went back and forth down the stretch, and a Ziegler 3-pointer gave RC a 64-63 edge with 4:46 remaining in the game. But a three-point play from Cook at the 2:51 mark put the Blues ahead for good at 66-64.

Foul shooting helped PM ice the victory. RC went 1-of-4 at the line in the final 45 seconds, while the Blues hit 3-of-4 attempts during the same span -- including a pair of big makes from Jordan that made it 72-66 with 20.2 seconds to go.

In the final minute-and-a-half, free throws from Houck, Jordan, Cook and Sam Griffin helped cushion the Blues’ lead to 72-66. “Down the stretch we had some big free throws from Sam and Jamir,” said Kerr. “Those were big in helping us keep that lead near the end.”

Jordan and Quentin Rosser notched six points apiece for PM, and Brayden Holdren pulled down five rebounds. Ballstaedt registered eight points and five boards for the Wildcats, while Brady Edwards added seven points and eight boards, and Eversole finished with six markers.

PM will start the new year by playing host to North Cross on Thursday, beginning with the junior varsity tip-off at 3 p.m., while RC welcomes in Valley District rival Harrisonburg on Friday, starting with JV action at 5:30 p.m. The Blues and ‘Cats are slated to lock horns again in Buena Vista on Saturday, with the approximate tip time set for 5:30 p.m.

The Wildcats will return to district action when they play host to Rocktown next Tuesday, Jan. 7, starting with JV action at 5:30 p.m. The Blues will return to Pioneer District action at home against Eastern Montgomery next Tuesday, Jan. 7, starting with the JV game at 5:30 p.m.