Blues Down Highland, Craig To Claim No. 3 Seed
The Parry McCluer High School girls basketball team wrapped up the regular season on a high note, recording home wins over Pioneer District foes Highland County and Craig County last week.
With the back-to-back victories, the Fighting Blues (8-12 overall, 5-5 district) claimed the No. 3 seed in this week’s Pioneer tournament. PM was slated to play host to Highland, the No. 6 seed, in Monday’s quarterfinal round. (See separate story.)
On Monday of last week, the Blues pulled away from the Rams in the fourth quarter to claim a 46-26 result. Kayleigh Ramsey celebrated her senior night in style, leading PM with 18 points and nine rebounds, while Josie Martinez added 15 points. Brooke Williams paced Highland (4-13, 0-10) with 14 points and 13 boards.
Trailing 8-5 midway through the opening frame, the Blues closed out the quarter on a 9-0 run to go in front for good at 14-8. But PM couldn’t shake the Rams for most of the night, leading 20-14 at halftime and 26-17 by the end of the third period.
The Blues’ offense finally came to life in the final stanza, getting eight points from Martinez, six from Ramsey and four from Caroline Watts as part of a 20-point barrage that left Highland in the dust.
“It just looked like we had a little bit more intensity in the fourth quarter than we did in the first three,” PM head coach Adam Gilbert said. “But we did enough to give ourselves a lead in the first three quarters, and we were able to pull away there in the fourth quarter.”
Watts finished with seven markers for the Blues, while Emory Slagle dished out a game-high five assists. Makynley Smith had six points for the Rams, and Colleen Adams totaled four points and seven rebounds.
In between the girls’ and boys’ varsity games, PM honored all of its winter student-athletes who are seniors. That list included two girls hoopsters, Ramsey and Katie Tomlin – who rejoined the program this year for her first varsity season – as well as team manager Isaiah Woods.
“Kayleigh’s been with us for a while. She’s been a part of some pretty good teams, and she’s been a crucial part of some big wins for us over the last four years,” Gilbert said. “Katie coming back… she’s helped us a lot this year, giving us an extra person off the bench and playing some significant minutes.
“Isaiah has been a shadow the last four years with us in the varsity program. He’s been instrumental in behind-the-scenes stuff,” the PM coach added. “We’re really going to miss all three of them next year.”
PM 54, CC42
After finishing strong against Highland the day before, PM came sprinting out of the gates on Tuesday of last week, building up a massive first-quarter lead and keeping Craig County at arm’s length in a 54-42 victory.
Martinez racked up 24 points and 16 rebounds for the Blues, and Ramsey added 14 points. Emily Smith posted 24 points and seven rebounds for the Rockets (6-7, 4-6), and Annalese Zimmerman recorded 11 points and 10 boards.
The Blues were firing on all cylinders early, utilizing a 13-0 spurt that helped them claim a 24-6 lead by the end of the opening period. Martinez had 12 of her points in the first eight minutes, and Slagle doled out five assists in the frame. PM also capitalized on six early Craig miscues.
“Defensively, we got out – got some turnovers, and we rebounded pretty well,” Gilbert said. “I thought we ran the floor well offensively, and we attacked the basket. … We hit some shots early, and that settled us into the game a little bit.”
While the offense cooled off in the second quarter, the Blues stayed locked in on the defensive side. A scoring drought of nearly five minutes prevented the Rockets from making a serious dent in the margin, and PM took a 29-14 lead into halftime.
Craig continued to whittle away at the deficit in the third quarter. But the Blues never let the Rockets turn the corner, and the lead didn’t shrink below 11 points after halftime.
Martinez had a monster game, completing a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds by the intermission. The sophomore forward continued to trouble the Rockets’ defense in the second half, adding four points in the third period and seven more in the fourth.
“Josie’s been solid for us all year,” Gilbert said. “She played well tonight. We’re going to need her moving forward into the postseason.”
Watts had six points and six rebounds in the game for PM, and Slagle finished with seven rebounds, seven assists and three blocks.
