AM
James Monroe vs. PikeView
James Monroe (36) Vs. PikeView (37)
By TOM BONE
Bluefield Daily Telegraph
PRINCETON — A rain delay, of all things, got the James Monroe Lady Mavericks back into Wednesday’s semifinal sectional game in Princeton. The experience of the PikeView Lady Panthers allowed them to weather the storm.
PikeView trailed by five points with five minutes left in the Class AA, Region 3, Section 2 semifinal at Princeton Senior High School, but scored nine of the game’s 13 points to edge James Monroe 37-36 and advance to tonight’s championship game with Summers County for the second year in a row.
The action halted for 12 minutes early in the second half due to rainwater dripping through a ventilation grate in the gym roof. At that point, PikeView led 22-16.
The Lady Mavs took control after the unplanned break and took a 33-28 lead while the Lady Panthers were going 2-for-8 from the field.
James Monroe first-year head coach Malory McPherson said, “We told them at halftime, we had to have some momentum, some spark in the second half.”
The shooting for James Monroe, at the foul line and the floor, went ice-cold from there. PikeView’s Hope Nester scored a pair of field goals, Danielle Compton went 3-for-4 at the charity stripe and Jennifer Taylor canned her only two points on free throws with 39.2 seconds left to produce a 37-34 lead.
With no timeouts, James Monroe got control of the ball with 34 seconds left, and kept it the rest of the way, but could only manage a two-point bucket from the paint as time expired.
McPherson said those final seconds for her team reflected “a lack of experience in these kind of games.”
PikeView head coach Karen Miller said about the comeback, “We knew they had to dig down deep and give it all they had, and they did.”
“The stoppage of the game kind of hurt us a little bit,” she said. “James Monroe was making some runs. Once they got the lead we kind of got down a little. But we kept telling them to believe, and they did.”
McPherson said, “We missed free throws, wide-open layups and didn’t protect the ball.” But she added, “I couldn’t have been more proud of my girls. They fought hard. They didn’t give up. And I’ve got to give the PikeView girls some props.”
Emotions were high for both teams. Adding to PikeView’s, Miller said, was the decision to “dedicate the rest of our season to Mrs. Blankenship.” Lisa Blankenship, media center director at PikeView, died unexpectedly earlier this month.
Compton had 12 points and 11 rebounds for PikeView, while Nester made five of their 11 field goals and scored 11 points.
James Monroe got 16 points and six rebounds from Kelsie Mann, who went 10-for-14 from the foul line. Jordan Page contributed 10 points. The Lady Mavs connected on nine field goals in the game.
In a sloppy first half, PikeView crafted a 19-12 halftime lead after going 6 for 22 from the field. James Monroe was 3 for 13.

At Princeton Senior High School
JAMES MONROE (10-12)
Canterbury 0 2-3 2, Page 3 3-5 10, Pritt 2 0-1 4, Mann 3 10-14 16, Gillespie 0 0-2 0, Throckmorton 1 2-4 4. Totals 9 17-29 36.
PIKEVIEW (15-9)
Nester 5 1-2 11, Wood 0 2-6 2, Compton 3 6-8 12, Taylor 0 2-2 2, Hatfield 1 3-4 5, White 2 0-1 5. Totals 11 14-23 37.
James Monroe…..3 9 15 9 — 36
PikeView……….8 11 7 11 — 37
Three-point goals: JM 1 (Page 1); PV 1 (White 1). Total fouls: JM 16, PV 22. Fouled ut: none. Technical fouls: none.

Game Scoreboard
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 OT SCORE
James Monroe 3 9 15 9 0 36
PikeView 8 11 7 11 0 37
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