PM Girls Knock off Mustangs In Pioneer Semifinals
Defense may not have won the Parry McCluer High School girls basketball team a championship last week, as some people say, but it did propel the Fighting Blues into the championship game of the Pioneer District tournament and a spot in the Region 1C playoffs that began this week.
Harassing sixth-seeded Highland County on Monday of last week in Buena Vista, the Blues (10-13 overall, 5-5 district) rolled to a 42-20 victory in the tourney quarterfinals. Exasperating second- seeded Eastern Montgomery in the semifinals the next night, PM eked out a 46-42 overtime upset in Elliston to advance to the championship game and earn that regional berth. The Blues could not maintain the momentum on Thursday at top seed Narrows, however, falling 55-25 to the regular-season Pioneer District champions.
“We’ve been playing better, starting to figure some things out,” said PM head coach Adam Gilbert. “Defensively, we played pretty well. We’ve still got a long way to go, but I think [our] confidence has grown over the course of the season.”
In the Region 1C quarterfinals, the Blues were scheduled to play host to Grayson County, the third seed in the Mountain Empire District, last night. For the result, visit www.thenews-gazette.com, and see next week’s newspaper for the full story and photos from the regional tournament.
PM 42, HC 20
While the Blues surpassed their average regular-season offensive output in the quarterfinal game against visiting Highland, this win was all about defense. PM forced the Rams (4-14, 0-10) into a whopping 33 turnovers in the contest, and the Blues took full advantage, converting those miscues into 30 points.
“Offensively, we couldn’t throw it in the ocean,” said Gilbert, whose team hit just 17 of 50 shots in the game, including a lowly 1-of-9 (11.1 percent) from threepoint range, “but that’s all right. We found a way to win, and in postseason play, that’s what you’ve got to do.
“We did a good job defensively, getting turnovers, creating turnovers,” the PM coach continued. “And we hit enough shots to get a lead and hold on to it.”
The Blues trailed early in this one when Highland’s Taylor Williams hit one of two free throws with 3:13 remaining in the opening period to give the Rams a 5-4 advantage. But the Blues forced nine turnovers in that first quarter, two of which would lead to a barrage that gave PM a lead it would not relinquish.
With 2:12 left in the period, Emory Slagle drained a 3-pointer to put the Blues on top for good. Then, with 1:32 on the clock, Josie Martinez got free in the paint for a chip shot to give the Blues a 9-5 lead at the end of the first eight minutes.
The second quarter ended the same way. With 3:10 to play before halftime, Patience Hill converted one of two free throws after a Highland turnover. As the second period clock ticked under a minute, Hill picked up a steal, started a fast break with a pass to Kat Zissi, who found Caroline Watts for a layup. Then, with 24 seconds left in the second, Hill hit two more free throws, and the Blues, who held the Rams to just one field goal in the final 4:19 of the first half, led 18-10 at intermission.
The Blues put the game away in the third quarter. PM held Highland without a point for the first six minutes of the period, going on a 10-0 run, culminated by Miranda Stanley’s bucket after an offensive rebound to push the advantage to 28-10, and when Watts nailed a jumper from the baseline, after yet another Highland turnover, the lead was 30-12. Highland got no closer than 16 points the rest of the way.
Martinez and Kayleigh Ramsey paced the Blues with 12 points apiece. Ramsey also finished with five steals in the game, matched by Zissi. Williams led the Rams with eight points.
PM 46, EM 42
Last Tuesday’s semifinal contest was a different sort of defensive effort for the Blues. While PM did not force as many turnovers – Eastern Montgomery had 17 in the game – the Blues did frustrate the Mustangs (12-8, 8-2), holding them to just 28.9 percent shooting (17-of-59) from the field.
“Defensively, in the half-court, we were pretty sound,” Gibert said. “They handled the ball pretty well, but they didn’t hit shots.”
PM sure did, at least early in the contest. The Blues drained six 3-pointers in the first half, three in each of the opening two quarters. The first came from Watts just 53 seconds into the game, and when she hit another from distance with 43 ticks on the clock, the Blues took an 11-9 lead into the second stanza.
Watts scored the first eight points of the second period for the Blues, including two more treys, and her fastbreak bucket at the 3:06 mark pushed the PM advantage to 19-11. Then, with 2:06 remaining in the quarter, Slagle sank another three-pointer, and the Blues took a 22-15 lead into halftime.
“That was huge,” Gibert said. “Everybody hit shots. Seeing the ball go through the hoop early on seemed to relax us a little bit. They had a little different look about them going into that game.”
PM led by as many as 11 points, 27-16, when Slagle hit another three with 4:42 remaining in the third quarter. But the Blues managed just one bucket over the rest of the period, one by Martinez, as EM mounted a furious comeback.
The Mustangs trimmed the lead to 29-21 at the end of three periods. EM forced 12 PM turnovers in the final period to keep chipping away, tying the game at 36-36 when Brookelyn Kingery hit a deep three with 58 seconds left.
The Blues went back on top after Ramsey’s drive to the basket at the 27-second mark, and the Blues had the ball with a chance to seal the victory when they had their biggest of the 12 turnovers. Olivia Boone swiped an inbounds pass and scored a layup with 11 seconds remaining to send the game into overtime.
The Blues, who never trailed in the game, controlled the extra session, however. Ramsey hit four free throws to start overtime, and the Blues converted six of eight from the charity stripe to seal the upset victory.
Watts scored a season-high 17 points to lead the Blues, while Ramsey tallied 16 points and dished out six assists. Slagle pulled down nine rebounds to go along with her six points. EM was paced by Boone, who scored 12 points and was the only Mustang in double figures.
Narrows 55, PM 25
Thursday’s championship game was never in doubt. Narrows raced out to a 15-4 lead in the first quarter and held a 34-11 advantage at halftime to defend its tournament title, adding to this year’s regular-season championship in the Pioneer.
The Green Wave (16-5, 10-0) shot 52.5 percent from the field, knocking down eight 3-pointers. Defensively, Narrows hounded the Blues into 18 turnovers, turning those into 21 points.
Martinez led the Blues with eight points and five rebounds, while Zissi chipped in six points.
PM FRESHMAN forward Miranda Stanley battles Highland County’s Brooke Williams (4) for the ball. Stanley’s basket after an offensive rebound helped the Blues pull away in the third quarter. (Ronnie Coffey photo)
FIGHTING BLUE junior guard Emory Slagle holds onto the ball while pressured by Highland County’s Anna Meehan. Slagle scored four points. (Ronnie Coffey photo)
