Pioneers Hold Off Blues In Region

Championship

PM Boys Come Up Short In Region 1C Final, 76-74

The Parry McCluer High School boys basketball team reached the championship game of the Region 1C tournament for the second straight season, and for the second straight year. the Fighting Blues fell short of the title, this time in heartbreaking fashion.

After rolling past Auburn 75-58 in the semifinals on Friday at Pulaski County High School in Dublin, PM saw the regional title trickle away as two potential tying buckets rimmed out in the waning seconds, and Fort Chiswell held off a PM rally, 76-74, in Saturday’s thrilling, and somewhat controversial, title tilt.

“That’s what basketball looks like,” said PM head coach Tyler Kerr. “It’s supposed to be good teams trading buckets. [Our players] gave me everything they had; we just came out on the short end of it. That was a really, really fun environment, and it can only make us better going into Tuesday night.”

PM (22-4) was scheduled to face Patrick Henry-Glade Spring (23-3), the team that knocked the Blues out of the Class 1 state tournament last year in the quarterfinals, following the Blues’ 75-57 loss to George Wythe in the Region 1C finals. For the result of last night’s game and state tournament updates, visit www. thenews-gazette.com. The story and photos from the state tournament will be in next week’s newspaper.

The Blues were in dire straits with 45 seconds to play when Fort Chiswell’s Kenton Sutphin hit a pair of free throws to extend the Pioneers’ lead to 75-71. The Blues were not done, however, as Sam Griffin nailed a 3-pointer from the corner with 28 ticks remaining. Sutphin then missed three of his next four free throws to keep the PM hopes alive, and twice the Blues got exactly the shot for which they were looking.

But with just over seven seconds left, a Langston Cook chip shot circled around the rim before falling out. The same thing happened as time expired, and the Pioneers (22-5) survived to take the title.

“We got the shots we wanted at the end, two different times,” said Kerr. “I feel better about that and missing [rather than] being timid and not playing aggressively. The shots just didn’t fall for us. I can’t be upset about the looks. We just came out on the bad end of a couple of in-and-outs, but that’s basketball.”

Perhaps the turning point of this back-and-forth contest came with six minutes to play in the third quarter. At that time, Cook drove the lane and was fouled. The initial indication was that the PM junior was in the act of shooting, but in the confusion after the Blues were whistled for a technical foul, officials ruled that the foul occurred on the floor. As a result, Fort’s Owen Jackson hit one of two free throws, nailed a 3-pointer on the ensuing possession, and then drilled two more foul shots to push a 40-36 Fort lead to a 46-36 advantage with 5:36 remaining in the third quarter.

“I think in a championship game, if you haven’t given any warnings, I think that should have been a moment when the warning was issued,” ‘said Kerr about a couple of bumps between players after Cook was fouled. “I think in that moment, it was too quick on the trigger, especially with the Fort Chiswell player being involved as well.”

Jackson enjoyed a big game for the Pioneers, tallying 26 points and shooting more free throws by himself than the Blues did as a team. He led a quartet of Fort Chiswell players in double figures, joined by Sutphin, who tallied 18 points, along with London Eversole and Jessi Ayers, who finished with 11 and 10, respectively.

Cook paced the PM attack, pouring in 34 points and dishing out five assists. Nathan Glass added 24 points, while Quentin Rosser chipped in 10.

The Pioneers did most of their damage from three point-range and from the free throw line. Fort hit 10 of their 20 shots from distance while draining 20-of-27 foul shots.

“They are a very good shooting team,” said the PM coach. “They are all capable shooters. I didn’t know they would go 50 percent in a championship game, but hats off to them for that.”

The Blues closed the third quarter with a blitz, with Glass leading the charge, to get themselves back in the game. The PM senior, who finished the game with seven rebounds, scored six points in the final 2:42, including a steal and layup with only five seconds left in the period to trim the Fort advantage to 55-53. “That’s a senior just stepping up and making plays,” Kerr said. “He just wants to win. When he decides to assert himself, he is an outstanding player, and I think that’s what he did. He knew overall we were in foul trouble, and he said, ‘It’s go time.’ And that’s what he did.”

The Pioneers pushed the lead back to five points, 61-56, early in the fourth quarter, but the Blues again responded, surging back in front, 62-61, when Glass scored after an offensive rebound. Rosser hit a jumper from 15 feet to put the Blues in front, 66-65, and when Cook hit two free throws with 4:41 to play, the PM lead was 68-65.

“We knew there was an eternity [remaining], but we were feeling pretty good,” said Kerr. “Unfortunately, we didn’t stack enough defensive stops in that last fourminute segment.”

At the same time, the Blues did not make another field goal for the next 3:16, when Glass converted a steal and a layup, and went scoreless from that point until Griffin’s 3-pointer set up the final frenzy.

“I think we just went a little cold,” Kerr explained. “In that stretch, I thought we had some really good looks at the basket. The ball didn’t go in for us. I guess we went cold at the wrong time.

“When you have those upset kids, I wanted them to know there are only eight teams in the state of Virginia still playing basketball, and we’re one of them,” Kerr continued. “I wanted it to hurt [Saturday night], but when the sun rose [Sunday] morning, it was time to move on because we get to go in the gym on Monday. I am so proud of them.”