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PM Boys Claim Pioneer District Tournament Crown
The Parry McCluer High School boys basketball team defended its Pioneer District tournament title by storming to a 70-37 home win over Narrows in the finals on Friday.
With the win, securing the title for the second consecutive year, the PM boys (18-4 overall, 9-0 district) followed up on their district regular-season title. PM has won all three games against secondseeded Narrows (15-9, 7-3) this season, and Friday’s win was the most lopsided of the three. In last year’s district championship game, PM beat Narrows 74-61.
The Blues were scheduled to play host to Grayson County in the Region 1C quarterfinals last night (Tuesday). The regional semifinals and championship game are scheduled for Friday at 6 p.m. and Saturday at 8 p.m., both at Northside High School in Roanoke. For last night’s result and tournament updates, visit www.thenews-gazette.com.
In the district finals, the Blues had a streaky start. Jamier Jordan hit back-toback 3-pointers, and teammate Nathan Glass dunked the ball to give PM a 8-0 lead. The Blues extended their lead to 12-0 before the Green Wave scored on a layup by Sam McGlothlin and a 3-pointer from Cooper Helvey, ending the quarter on a 7-0 run to cut PM’s lead to 12-7.
In the second quarter, Quentin Rosser and Langston Cook made 3-pointers to cushion PM’s lead. The Blues were up 28-14 before Carter Holmes hit a 3-pointer for Narrows, but Rosser responded with a triple at the buzzer to give PM a 33-19 halftime lead.
In the third quarter, Narrows cut the lead to 38-28 behind scoring from Holmes and Elijah Knoetze, but the Green Wave wouldn’t get any closer. PM began to pull away when Cook made two more 3-pointers, and Jordan hit his third 3-pointer to stretch the Blues’ lead to 48-28. Sam Griffin knocked down a triple for the Blues to give them a 53-30 lead at the end of the quarter.
The Blues, who emphasized defense throughout the tournament, held Narrows to just seven points in the fourth quarter while piling on another 17 points. Jordan, Glass, Cook, Peyton Montgomery and Ellis Hill all scored for the Blues in the quarter.
After his team held Narrows to its lowest scoring total of the year, PM head coach Tyler Kerr said, “Narrows has a great combo with Holmes and McGlothlin. They take a lot of effort to slow down. All the work we’ve done defensively wasn’t just about effort, but against them it takes being in the right position.”
Glass and Jordan led the Blues with 17 points each, while Cook scored 14 points.
Kerr credited the back-to-back district championships to the mentality of the program. “I came into a program that’s already been established by tremendous coaches,” he said. “It’s just a testament to the work ethic of the kids and the ‘next man up’ mentality. We started on Nov. 8, and even before then, the kids were there for open gyms. All the kids we have here want to grind it out, and they want to be a part of that process.”
PM 72, HC 35
In the district semifinals, the Blues coasted to a 72-35 home win over Highland County on Tuesday of last week in Buena Vista.
PM started the first quarter on a hot streak and quickly took an 11-0 lead, with Brayden Holdren hitting a 3-pointer during that stretch. At the end of the quarter, the Blues had a 15-3 lead over the Rams (13-9, 5-5).
After two scoreless minutes to start the second quarter, Cook went on a tear and scored 15 points for the Blues. Cook finished his run with a 3-pointer, and Glass made the final bucket of the quarter of the half to give the Blues a 32-15 lead. Cook led the Blues with 33 points.
Glass started the third quarter by going 2-of-4 at the free throw line, and teammate Braedyn Houck, who was PM’s secondleading scorer with 14 points, then hit a 3-pointer to extend PM’s lead to 37-17. Highland had its best scoring stretch of the night in the third quarter, going on an 8-0 run. At the end of the quarter, the Blues led 47-29.
In the fourth quarter, Houck made his second 3-pointer; Jordan then hit a 3-pointer to extend PM’s lead to 53-29. As the Blues stretched their lead to more than 30 points, the teams played with a running clock for the final few minutes. The highlight of the fourth quarter came with two minutes left when Rosser hit back-to-back 3-pointers. The Blues outscored Highland 25-6 in the fourth quarter and ended the game with their reserves playing.
Praising his team’s defensive effort, Kerr said “We’ve just emphasized it all week. At times, we’ve looked lackadaisical, but not anymore. We’ve turned up the effort in the past few weeks.”
Kerr also stressed the importance of his team’s transition game, where many of the Blues’ buckets came from. “I like to run,” he said. “I like to play the transition game. It sets you up for wide-open layups because there’s no defense, and we have the team to run the floor. We have some guys that, when they’re coming downhill and running their lanes, it’s hard to stop.”
