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Galax Ousts PM Girls Blues Wrap Up Basketball Season With 17-6 Record
Struggling to produce offense, the Parry McCluer High School girls basketball team saw its season conclude with a 36-20 home loss to Galax in the opening round of the regionals on Tuesday of last week in Buena Vista.
In the first half, the Fighting Blues (17-6), the second seed from the Pioneer District, kept pace with the Maroon Tide, the third seed from the Mountain Empire District, with Galax leading 9-8 at halftime.
The first half was a lowscoring affair, as the Blues led 4-2 after the first quarter. Galax responded and took a 9-6 lead with a little over five minutes left in the half before PM’s Victoria Hamilton found Peira Conner for an inside shot for the final basket of the half.
“First half, I thought we executed really well,” said PM head coach Adam Gilbert. “We were just trying to slow the game down as much as possible, and we did that.”
After PM missed a shot at the start of the second half, Galax senior forward Jenna Sawyers got going, fueling a 12-0 run by the Maroon Tide in the first few minutes to give the visitors a 21-8 lead. “She got going to her left hand, and we couldn’t figure it out, couldn’t get a stop,” said Gilbert of Sawyers, who led all players with 13 points while pulling down seven rebounds.
The Blues cut the deficit to 26-18 by the end of the third quarter, with Hamilton scoring six of her team-high eight points during the period, but Galax held PM to two points in the fourth quarter to pull away. (Galax lost to George Wythe in the regional semifinals, 56-38, to finish the season with a 19-4 record.)
Reviewing the second half, Gilbert said, “We got behind and had to go away from what we were doing early on and kind of had to play their game, so to speak. Credit to Galax. They hit shots when they were open. They shot pretty well tonight.”
For the game, the Maroon Tide shot 45.2 percent (14-of-31) from the field while holding the Blues to 30.4 percent (7-of-23) shooting.
Other than Hamilton, PM’s leaders were Natalie Mohler with six points, Conner with four points and six rebounds, and Kayleigh Ramsey with two points and four steals.
In addition to Sawyers, other leaders for Galax were Kayla Young and Jayden Leonard with nine points each. Leonard led the Maroon Tide with nine rebounds.
PM committed 17 turnovers while forcing 12.
Gilbert said his team put forth “a good effort” against a talented opponent. “I couldn’t be prouder of our group.”
PM had a solid season, going 6-2 in the Pioneer District. Both of the Blues’ regularseason district losses were to Pioneer champion Narrows, which also beat PM in the district finals. The Blues pulled out close wins over district rivals Eastern Montgomery and Bath County and also earned quality nondistrict victories.
The Blues will graduate four seniors: Conner, Hamilton, Mohler and Kyleigh Ramsey.
Hamilton, last year’s Pioneer District player of the year, and Mohler played varsity for all four years for the Blues. They were both freshmen when the Blues won the Region 1C title and made the Class 1 state semifinals in 2022, and they helped the Blues win district titles three years in a row, making the regional semifinals twice. Mohler and Kyleigh Ramsey joined the varsity squad as juniors.
While the Blues will miss their seniors, they had some talented underclassmen this year, including a pair of starters, junior Kayleigh Ramsey and sophomore Emory Slagle, along with freshman Josie Martinez, who contributed valuable minutes.
Highlighting his senior class, Gilbert said, “That group’s been with us for obviously big years, and you get to know them on and off the floor, and it becomes a family atmosphere. You have your ups and your downs… I’m just proud of the group, and I appreciate all that they’ve done for us.”
