PM Girls Outlast Knights In Double OT
The Parry McCluer High School girls basketball team collected its first win of the young season on Tuesday of last week, overcoming James River 51-45 in double overtime in Buena Vista.
The Fighting Blues then dropped a hard-fought 35-29 decision to Eastern Montgomery in their Pioneer District opener before falling 60-24 at Riverheads on Saturday, heading into the Christmas break with a 1-5 overall record.
In last Tuesday’s game, PM knocked down seven straight free throws in the decisive second overtime period, claiming the victory despite seeing a 15-point advantage slip away in the second half.
Kayleigh Ramsey tallied 13 points to pace a balanced scoring attack for the Blues, while Emory Slagle notched 12 points, six rebounds and five assists. Josie Martinez totaled 10 points and seven boards for PM, and Caroline Watts added nine points and 10 rebounds.
Jalen Thompson led the Knights (4-2) with 16 points and 13 rebounds. Audrey Benson had nine points and eight boards for JR, while Gillian Smith also scored nine points and Siera Davis chipped in seven markers.
“That was a good way to get one, for sure,” PM head coach Adam Gilbert said. “I thought the kids persevered through some things. They could have folded a few times, but they didn’t. They bounced back; they were pretty resilient.”
The Blues led 32-17 on a bucket from Ramsey with 4:13 to play in the third quarter. But the Knights’ full-court pressure got them back in the game: JR forced 16 PM turnovers in the second half, and 11 of the Knights’ points during a critical 14-4 fourth-quarter run came in transition.
PM still had a chance to win the game in regulation. But Martinez narrowly missed a mid-range jumper at the buzzer, and the teams headed to OT tied at 42-42.
Each squad managed just one hoop in the first extra period. Thompson hit a jumper 35 seconds in, and Patience Hill tied the game for PM on a feed from Slagle with 1:13 to go.
But the Blues found their groove at the foul line down the stretch in the second bonus session. Ramsey, Kat Zissi and Slagle each converted two free throws to give PM a 50-45 advantage with under a minute remaining, and Zissi then went 1-of-2 with 23.1 seconds to play. The Blues also limited JR to a single point in the second OT.
Gilbert said that his message to the team late in the game was to “stay poised, make sure we were meeting passes, and you’re making good decisions with the basketball. Don’t let the game speed up on you.”
“That’s easier said than done, but I thought we did a fairly decent job of that,” Gilbert added. “We hit free throws late, handled the ball late when we
needed to – overall, good team win.”
EM 35, PM 29
On Thursday, Eastern Montgomery dealt PM a 35-29 setback in the first district game of the season for both teams in Buena Vista.
Olivia Boone had 16 points and eight rebounds for the Mustangs (3-2), and Macie Akers notched 15 points. Ramsey led PM with 12 points, while Slagle chipped in nine markers. Martinez totaled six points and six rebounds, and Watts doled out a game-high three assists.
The Blues seemed to have the upper hand when they could control the tempo. But EM scored 18 points in transition, capitalizing on 17 PM turnovers and several long rebounds to get out and run.
“That was our emphasis: we really wanted to make them play a half-court game on both sides of the basketball. When we had success, we did that,” Gilbert said. “But we settled for some long shots, and that led to some easy transition buckets for them.”
PM held a slim 8-7 advantage after the opening frame. But EM scored the first six points of the second quarter to go in front 13-8, and the Mustangs would not trail again. A 40-foot buzzer-beater from Boone sent the visitors into halftime ahead 19-16.
EM opened the third period with another 6-0 spurt, stretching the margin to 25-16 by the 5:34 mark. The Blues held the Mustangs off the board for the remainder of the frame, getting a bucket from Watts and a 3-pointer from Ramsey to trim the margin to 25-21.
PM then pulled to within 27-26 on a triple from Slagle with 5:24 remaining in the fourth quarter. But that would prove to be the Blues’ last field goal in the game, and Akers tallied six of the Mustangs’ final eight points as EM held on for the win.
Both squads are expected to compete in a deep Pioneer District field this year. Despite the loss, Gilbert believes his team is just a few adjustments away from being able to win against other high-level teams in the district.
“It’s nothing that we can’t fix,” the PM coach said. “I thought when we moved the basketball – when we got some movement – we got some good looks. … That’s something that we can work with and work on.”
Riverheads 60, PM 24
PM wrapped up the week with a 60-24 defeat at Riverheads on Saturday evening.
Avery Glover tallied 21 points to lead the Gladiators (5-3) to a season sweep of the Blues, after Riverheads had secured a 50-37 win in Buena Vista back on Dec. 10. Abi Bennington added 16 points for the Gladiators in Saturday’s rematch, and Chesney Dunlap contributed 12 points.
Hill led the Blues with 10 points, and Martinez had six markers. PM trailed by a manageable 25-14 margin at halftime, but Riverheads outscored the Blues 22-3 in the third quarter to break the game open.
PM will return to action at local rival Rockbridge County on Monday, with tip time slated for 4 p.m. The Blues will then play host to RC on Saturday, Jan. 3, with the game scheduled for 4 p.m.
ABOVE, PM senior guard Kayleigh Ramsey dribbles down the court while a pair of James River players try to stop her and teammate Emory Slagle (11) watches. Ramsey led the Blues with 13 points.AT LEFT, Fighting Blue freshman guard Caroline Watts looks for an open teammate while JR’s Gillian Smith guards her. BELOW, PM head coach Adam Gilbert (leaning in) and his assistant coaches and players watch the action on the court. (Ronnie Coffey photos)
