By GEORGE THWAITES
Bluefield Daily Telegraph
NARROWS, Va. — Dominic Lewis and the James Monroe boys basketball team tried its best to be Giles’ Nightmare Before Christmas, but Connor Martin and his cohorts led red jerseys in a green gymnasium to holiday cheers.
Martin scored 20 points to lead the Spartans to a 73-69 overtime victory over the Mavericks in Saturday’s Narrows Christmas Tournament Championship game at the William B. Patteson gymnasium.
“We had 13 offensive rebounds in the second half and overtime, and that translated into extra possessions. That really helped us get back in the ballgame,” said Giles head coach Seth Davis.
The Spartans (4-2) had a chance to win it in regulation on Ryan Beidleman’s in-bounds oop to Cole Meadows, but the talented freshman’s shot rimmed out at the buzzer.
The overtime period was a war of attrition that saw Martin score seven straight points before sitting down with his fifth foul. James Monroe saw Caleb Spencer, Dakota Copenhaver, Clay Havens and Jalen Lewis all foul out in the contest.
Dominic Lewis wove his way to the rim to keep the Mavs within three as late as 1:04 in the overtime period, but by then he was on the verge of running out of friends on the floor. Except for a Meadows stick-back, the Spartans stayed aloft in the stretch with a crummy Bedford Falls 4-for-12 showing at the free throw line.
Beidleman, who was named tournament MVP, scored 17 for Giles and Meadows finished with 18 points.
Dominic Lewis scored 18 to lead James Monroe (3-1) and Havens scored 18. Lance Wilson added nine points.
“It was definitely a good game. We hate to be on the losing side because we played pretty well. Just shots weren’t falling as much as they have been,” said Monroe head coach Johnathan McPherson, who lost to the Spartans in double-overtime in last year’s George Wythe tournament.
“Giles plays really hard and their guards are pretty tall. All of them are well over 6-foot. They had us with size. We’ve had good games in the past and its a close kind of rivalry,” he said.
Giles plays Graham at home on Monday night. James Monroe travels to Mercer Christian.

At William B. Patteson Gym
JAMES MONROE (3-1)
Spencer 3 1-2 7, Boothe 0 0-0 0, Wilson 4 0-0 9, Copenhaver 3 0-1 7, J. Lewis 3 1-4 7, Shires 1 0-3 2, Dominic Lewis 6 6-8 18, Clay Havens 5 2-4 17, McMahan 0 2-2 2. Totals 25 12-24 69.
GILES (4-2)
Willams 0 0-0 0, Harless 1 3-4 5, Cole Meadows 7 4-8 18, Ryan Beidleman 6 5-6 17, Canaday 1 0-0 2, Pruett 3 3-6 9, Kirk 0 2-2 2, Connor Martin 7 6-11 20. Totals 25 23-37 73.
James Monroe.....11 16 13 17 12 — 69
Giles.....................13 10 9 25 15 — 73
3-point goals— James Monroe 7 (Wilson, Copenhaver, Havens 5). Giles (None).