By JONATHAN GREENE
Bluefield Daily Telegraph
PRINCETON — When the sectional tournament began, the PikeView Panthers had a simple goal. Get back to the championship game.
On Tuesday night, they were able to accomplish their goal as they held off James Monroe 77-60 in the second Class AA, Region 3, Section 2 semifinal at Princeton Senior High School.
“It was the [type of game] we’ve been waiting for us to play,” PikeView head coach William Anderson said. “We haven’t played like that in about month.”
The Panthers (13-10) scored the game’s first seven points while taking a 23-10 advantage after the first. The lead grew to 46-15 at the break before the Mavericks (14-10) tried to rally in the second half before ultimately falling short.
“I thought they jumped on us early,” James Monroe head coach Jonathan McPherson said. “I thought that first quarter dictated the game. We kept fighting back.
“That’s one thing I’m proud of this group is they never give up. That was a lot to overcome. That first quarter really hurt us.”
The Panthers won the tip and then David Keen opened up the scoring with a jumper. A Maverick miss quickly turned into a three-point play by Will Webster. PikeView capped off their 7-0 opening run with a Zach VanBlaricom layup.
James Monroe finally got on the scoreboard when Mark Dixon hit one of his two free throw attempts with 6:48 left in the first. Webster followed with a drive to the basket then added another lay-in following a Panther steal. VanBlaricom added putback before E.T. Weiss hit the Mavericks first shot from the floor to make it 13-3 with 3:20 remaining in the first.
“It was probably a little bit of jitters,” McPherson said of the Mavericks’ start. “We’re not use to these big sectional games. There is a lot on the line like going to regionals if we win.
“They jumped out quick and they looked to attack. They had a game plan and I thought they executed it well.”
PikeView would score the next six points before James Monroe went on a 7-1 run to close the deficit to 10. But before the buzzer sounded, Webster was able to get open and nail a three.
The Panthers kept attacking in the second quarter expanding their lead to 22 points after a 7-0 run where Keen accounted for six points. Zach Hatfield would the run with a three, but Webster would add a drive to the hoop to push the lead to 46-25 at the break.
The third quarter saw a different Maverick team. James Monroe came out the aggressor and scored seven unanswered points.
“We made some adjustments at halftime,” McPherson said.” A lot of it is the fight in the boys. PikeView shot extremely well in the first half.
“I said it’s hard for someone to keep shooting that well in the second half. At first, they didn’t shoot well and we jumped on them defensively. Not quite enough to close them out.”
The Panthers interrupted James Monroe’s run with a free throw from Webster and steal and score by Keen. However, the Mavericks went right back to work on lay-in from Brad Jackson and four straight points from Dixon.
“We shot our quota in first half and we were waiting for a quota in the second to start,” Anderson said of PikeView’s third quarter woes. “We were shooting too many 3’s instead of going inside or midrange.”
James Monroe was able to trim the lead to 12 following a jumper from Clay Hunter, but Webster and Keen helped PikeView rebuild their lead to 61-44 after three.
Micah Deskins started the fourth off with drive to the basket, but Keen responded with a three. After Wes Jones hit a three for the Mavs, PikeView got a big lift from a tip-in by Webster.
James Monroe would only be able to cut the lead to 13 points down stretch before each team went to their bench.
Keen and Webster combined for 54 of PikeView’s 77 points. Keen had a game-high 28 points while Webster finished with 26. They were the only two Panthers in double figures.
“They feed off each other,” Anderson said. “They were looking for the other trying to set each other up. All five guys out there were looking for the open man. We played very unselfish ball.”
Dixon led the Mavericks with 16 points. Hatfield had 13 points and Jones finished with nine.
“I’ve very proud of these guys especially the seniors,” McPherson said. “As coach this is my first year and it’s my first group of seniors. I’ll never forget them, because they exceeded everybody’s expectations for the season. This group has that will to win and they showed it all season.”
PikeView will get to defend its sectional crown on Friday night against Bluefield who defeated Greenbrier West 78-45. The Beavers swept the season series.
“We have to stop them from scoring,” said a smiling Anderson on how to defeat Bluefield. “Every team they face tries the same thing, but they find a way to score. We’ll react to whatever is presented to us.”
Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. at Princeton Senior High School.
—Contact Jonathan Greene
at jgreene@bdtonline.com

At Princeton Senior High School
JAMES MONROE (14-10)
Ryan Bishop 1 0-2 2, Chastin Wickline 2 0-0 4, Zach Hatfield 5 2-2 13, Mark Dixon 5 6-7 16, Brad Jackson 2 0-0 4, Micah Deskins 1 0-0 2, Wes Jones 4 0-0 9, E.T. Weiss 3 0-0 6, Andrew Carter 0 0-0 0, Garrett Mann 0 0-0 0, Ryan Wickline 0 0-0 0, Chord Settle 0 0-0 0, Josh Gannoe 0 0-0 0, Clay Hunter 1 0-0 2. Totals: 24 8-11 60.
PIKEVIEW (13-10)
Nathan Taylor 0 0-0 0, Will Webster 10 5-10 26, Tanner Farley 0 0-0 0, Zach VanBlaricom 2 0-1 4, Jason Weitzel 2 3-4 7, Corey Peyton 1 1-3 3, Tyler Ruble 3 0-0 6, Brandon Hazelwood 1 0-0 2, Zach Meadows 0 1-2 1, David Keen 9 9-11 28, Willie Sizemore 0 0-0 0. Totals: 28 19-31 77.
James Monroe.................10 15 19 16 — 60
PikeView............................23 23 15 16 — 77
3 pt field goals: JM 4 (Hatfield 3, Jones); PV 2 (Keen, Webster). Fouled out: None.