Blues Trounce GW, 71-45 In Region Quarterfinal Game

The Parry McCluer High School boys basketball team secured a dominant 71-45 home victory over George Wythe in the Region 1C quarterfinals on Tuesday night in Buena Vista.

For the Fighting Blues, it was a game against a familiar opponent. In the last two seasons, PM had fallen to the Maroons in the Region 1C tournament, last year in the regional finals and two years ago in the semifinals.

In the first quarter, the Blues, the top seed from the Pioneer District, put an early chokehold on George Wythe (16-9), the fourth seed from the Mountain Empire District. PM’s Langston Cook and Nathan Glass combined for a quick 7-0 run in the first minute.

Leading 9-3, the Blues went on an 8-0 run to extend their lead to 17-3. At the end of the

, page A10 first quarter, PM led 23-5, as Sam Griffin made a 3-pointer in the closing seconds.

Cook and Jamier Jordan linked up for a pair of assists and scores between each other early in the second quarter. When PM led 29-12, Jordan made a 3-pointer. The Blues kept rolling and took a 38-20 lead into halftime.

“We just wanted to get out in that full-court [defense] early on; we didn’t need to play hero ball,” said PM head coach Tyler Kerr, “Just getting out there and making George Wythe earn everything set the tone for us. It takes discipline to do that, and it was a great effort from our guys defensively.”

After scoring six points to start the next half of action, PM had its first scoring drought of the night. GW’s Cade Bralley and Aiden French gave the Maroons life after they both made three-point plays. French then hits two free throws to cut PM’s lead to 44-32.

That was the closest GW would get for the rest of the night, as PM went on to extend its lead to 58-34 by the end of the third quarter.

“We didn’t want to get too high coming out of halftime,” said Kerr. “We wanted to keep that zero-zero lead. Don’t worry about our lead, but let’s keep growing it.”

Glass made two baskets to start the final quarter, and two free throws by Parker Snider extended PM’s lead to 62-42 lead. Cook and Griffin made the final baskets for the Blues’ starters, and PM played its reserves in the final few minutes.

Cook led the Blues with 24 points, Glass scored 17 points and pulled down nine rebounds, and Jordan chipped in 10 points. Also contributing was Snider with eight rebounds, three steals and three assists.

Praising Snider for stepping up, Kerr said, “Parker is one of those guys that the points are irrelevant to. He is just a winner. He’s a difference maker on defense.”