By TOM BONE
Bluefield Daily Telegraph
PRINCETON — Seventeen minutes.
That was the span of time that the Princeton Tigers held James Monroe without a successful field goal on Friday night, taking a 64-34 win in the opening round of the Princeton Senior High Christmas Tournament sponsored by Alpha Natural Resources.
The Tigers (1-1) never trailed, taking an 8-0 lead in the first 2:32 of the contest. After Wes Jones scored on a layup for the Mavericks with 57 seconds left in the first quarter, the long dry spell began.
Back-to-back three-pointers by Princeton’s Hunter Walters and Ryan Meadows kick-started a 42-to-4 surge ending early in the fourth quarter.
Meadows said, “We just knew we had to come out with a lot of energy. This was a redemption game from losing on the road to Cabell (Midland on Wednesday).
“We knew if we had the intensity going, and came out with the right amount of energy and in control of ourselves, we’d be all right.”
“Things were clicking for us.”
Princeton head coach Ernie Gilliard said, “That’s the kind of effort that we’re looking for. They all came out and they all tried to match the energy that Ryan brings to the game. I think that was key for us tonight. ... We just hope we can continue to build on it.”
Gilliard said, “I think we’re getting better. Tonight was a good night for us, but our opponents will only get better, so we’ve got to continue to improve in our defensive area.
“We did some things wrong. We’re going to look at the film and try to correct those things defensively so that we can be a complete defensive team.”
James Monroe head coach Jonathan McPherson said, “Princeton really came to play from the start, and we didn’t. ... We didn’t take care of the ball like we needed to.”
After starting out 4-0, the Mavericks were coming off a Thursday night loss at Shady Spring.
McPherson said, “The first four games, we told our boys, with our team, we should win them. Playing Shady and Princeton back-to-back, and now PikeView ... it’s really tough for a team to do that, early in the season.”
Nine Princeton players scored in a game where the bench saw lots of minutes.
Gilliard said, “We’re still evaluating personnel at this point. ... We want to give some kids opportunities under game conditions and see what they can do. ... Tonight was a good night for those subs, to give them a chance to get in there.”
Zen Clements had four field goals and 10 points off the bench. He said, “It felt good to get a bunch of experience. ... Being able to do what I could, and have a chance to calm down a little bit, like my coaches told me to do. ... it felt really good.”
He said, “I think we really looked good, offensively and defensively. We’re getting a lot better at moving the ball and stuff. We still have some things to improve on, but we’ll get that going into the next game, when we play Bluefield tomorrow.”
Meadows topped Princeton’s scoring with 13 points, and added nine rebounds, four steals and three assists.
Meadows said about his rebounding, “I owe it to my teammates. They did their job, boxing out their guys, and that enabled me to go in there and clean it up and get the rebounds.”
Austin Southcott led the Tigers in rebounds (12) and assists (4).
Zach Hatfield was the lone Maverick in double-digit scoring with 12 points, making five of his team’s 13 field goals. Brad Jackson had five rebounds.
The Tigers (4-2) take on their old rivals the Bluefield Beavers for the championship of the tournament this evening at approximately 7:30, following the 5:30 consolation game between James Monroe and PikeView.
Asked about facing Bluefield for the first time in hoops season, Meadows said, “It’s an awesome rivalry. You can tell they’re quick. They’ll be ready, we’ll be ready. It’ll be a good game.”
Clements said, “We’re excited for it, like always. ... I think we’ll do good against them. We’ll try our hardest.”
Gilliard said about Bluefield, “I know they’re a very good basketball team. They’re going to be well-prepared. They have been waiting on this game for quite some time. ... They’re a great opponent. I think the game is great for both communities.”
The early game will pit PikeView coach William Anderson against his former player, McPherson of James Monroe. McPherson said, “I’m excited to coach up against Coach Anderson. I would root for his team any other time, other than when they play us.”
“It’ll be an exciting game.”
— Contact Tom Bone at
tbone@bdtonline.com

At Princeton Senior High School
JAMES MONROE
Ryan Bishop 0 3-6 3, Zach Hatfield 5 1-3 13, Mark Dixon 3 1-5 7, Brad Jackson 0 0-2 0, Wes Jones 1 0-0 2, E.T. Weiss 1 1-4 3, Garrett Mann 3 0-2 6. Totals 13 6-22 34.
PRINCETON
Ryan Meadows 5 2-3 13, Tré Hopkins 5 0-0 10, Darnell Palmer 1 4-4 7, David Brewster 2 1-2 5, Austin Southcott 1 4-9 6, Hunter Walters 2 1-1 6, Derek Jennelle 2 1-3 5, Storm McPherson 1 0-0 2, Zen Clements 4 2-3 10. Totals 23 15-25 64.
James Monroe...11 2 0 21 — 34
Princeton......18 16 23 7 — 64
Three-point goals: JM 2 (Hatfield 2); PSHS 3 (Meadows 1, Palmer 1, Walters 1). Fouled out, none.