By BOB REDD
Bluefield Daily Telegraph


PRINCETON — Quick out of the gate. To say the Princeton Tigers were quick out of the gate Friday night would be a bit of an understatement. The Tigers scored the game’s first 13 points and went on to claim their first victory of the season, 76-41 over the James Monroe Mavericks in the nightcap of the Alpha Natural Resources Holiday Tournament on the Ralph Ball Court.

A basket by Aaron Ferguson and two steals and two lay ups by Ashton O’Dell staked Princeton to a 6-0 lead in the game’s first 47 seconds at which time James Monroe called time.

“Getting off to a good start is huge for any basketball program, any sports team,” said Tigers head coach Ernie Gilliard. “I think if you get out of the gate good, a lot of other things tend to go well and I thought that kind of energized our kids and they began to play well.”

And play well did the Tigers. The A&A duo, Aaron Ferguson and Ashton O’Dell, continued in the first period as those two players accounted for 19 of Princeton’s 23 points. Ferguson had 10 points and O’Dell nine, including one three pointer. Princeton led 23-6 at the end of the first quarter.

In the second period the inside play of Zen Clements extended the Tigers’ lead. Clements scored nine points in the quarter and helped Princeton carry a 43-20 lead into the intermission.

Utilizing its bench in the third period, Princeton continued to extend its lead and got key baskets from Jay Palmer, Logan McKinney and Garrison Hartwell. Meanwhile the Tiger defense held the Mavericks without a field goal until the 3:00 mark of the quarter.

Late in the fourth quarter the Princeton lead went as high as 40 points, but James Monroe continued to battle against the bigger and taller Princeton squad.

Ferguson led Princeton with 17 points. O’Dell tallied 12 and Clements added 11. Each player on the Princeton roster played and scored.

Asked the importance of being able to get playing time for his entire roster, Gilliard said, “For this particular bunch of kids, because we are young experience-wise, it’s huge. We had to get the monkey off our back so to speak. I know James Monroe is a struggling team right now, but we had to have some positives in our season and tonight was a positive.”

Caleb Spencer topped the Mavericks scoring column with 11 and Landon Shires popped in 10.

“Princeton jumped off to a big start and we just struggled offensively, taking care of the ball,” said James Monroe head coach Jonathan McPherson.

“I will say I am proud of our guys. We fight to the end regardless of the score. We’ve just got to take better care of the ball on the offensive end of the court.”

James Monroe (0-5) will take on Webster County (0-5) in tonight’s consolation game which tips at 5:30. Princeton (1-3) will battle PikeView (2-1) for the tournament championship at approximately 7:30.



At Princeton High School

JAMES MONROE (0-5)

Caleb Spencer 5 0-0 11, Caleb Brown 0 0-0 0, Lance Wilson 0 0-0 0, Dakota Copenhaver 1 0-0 2, Connor Booth 0 2-6 2, Landon Shires 4 2-6 10, Ronnie Prunesti 0 3-6 3, Preston Jones 3 0-0 6, Rasheed Lowe 0 0-4 0, Dominic Lewis 1 0-1 2, Tripp Shiflet 0 2-2 2, Jacob McKlarney 1 0-0 3, Aaron Jones 0 0-0 0, Totals 15 9-25 41.

PRINCETON (1-3)

Colton Fix 1 0-0 2, Arrien Porterfield 0 2-2 2, Ian Southcott 1 0-0 2, Mason Kroll 1 1-4 4, Jay Palmer 3 0-0 6, Logan Watkins 1 2-4 4, Michael Mills 2 0-1 4, Logan Angell 1 0-0 2, Zen Clements 5 1-1 11, Ashton O’Dell 4 2-2 12, Logan McKinney 2 1-2 5, Aaron Ferguson 7 3-4 17, Garrison Hartwell 2 0-0 4, Totals 30 12-20 76.

James Monroe...............6 14 10 11 — 41

Princeton.......................23 20 17 16 — 76

3-point goals: JM 2 (Spencer, McKlarney); P - 3 (O’Dell 2, Kroll). Fouled out - None. Technical fouls - None.