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VIC statement: Blue Ridge rolls past Miller with monster first half

Photo: Ashley Thornton

It’s hardly a secret in the VIC that there’s a team playing for keeps right now. The first meeting was a 13-point win for Blue Ridge during the Joe Miller Invitational over the holidays. But with Miller sitting at 9-3 and fresh off its road win with defending VISAA Division 2 champion, Virginia Episcopal, well there was hype coming into round two of the Barons visiting the Mavericks. And while it was a relatively close first quarter, when Blue Ridge caught fire in towards the end of the frame, it never went. Behind a huge night beyond the arc from Darius McGhee, the Barons went up early, stayed out in front and never wavered in an impressive 78-59 win on the road.

 

“We held them to 27 points in the first half and that’s a team that likes to score a lot of points,” said Blue Ridge coach Cade Lemcke. “So we prided ourselves on getting stops. The boys did a great job of following the game plan. And obviously on offense, we’ve got a lot of firepower. You never know in which game who’s going to step up.”

 

Trailing 7-4 in the first few minutes of the first, Blue Ridge started knocking down one open shot after another to claim a 10-7 lead before going on an 11-2 run in the second that put them up comfortably. And then McGhee got started. The junior hit seven three’s on the night, shooting 54 percent along the way.

 

“I was trying to get open and my teammates (pass the ball well), we love to find each other,” McGhee said. “Luckily I was just the one that got open tonight.”

 

But McGhee was hardly the only one warm from outside. Sadaar Calhoun, Josh Colon, Aamir Simms and Dhruv Mehrotra all hit from beyond the arc. And with Simms and Richard Amaefule cleaning things up in the paint, the Barons offense looked as good as it has all year.

 

“Everything we do, it’s to try and get the ball to the open man,” Colon said. “We shoot with confidence. We give each other the best possible chance to score. We played them once before so we know what we had to do but we wanted to do it better.”

 

As such, Miller found itself in a 45-27 hole to start the third quarter.

 

“I think it came down to maturity,” Mavericks coach Danny Manuel said. “Adversity came and we missed a few shots. Older guys know that they have to keep chopping wood everyday. We’re still learning that, trying to play more consistent. You’re playing hard but maybe not taking the best shots, not doing the little things. Against a team like that, it snowballs quick.”

 

Miller got plenty of scoring from Deshaun Wade, DaeDae Heard and Andre Hyatt but wasn’t able to dig into Blue Ridge’s lead in the second half as the Barons continued to shoot well and pound the glass. The Barons went up 62-34 late in the third and while the Mavericks poured in 24 points in the fourth quarter, the damage had already been done.

 

“We kept fighting and that’s never a question,” Manuel said. “So I’m happy with that. I’m asking a lot from these young kids — and we’ve got three sophomores on the floor at any given time — but we’ve gone from a program that won six and eight games just a few years ago. We’re working on the talent to be able to beat Blue Ridge, VES on any given night. But this doesn’t happen over night and I’m trying to be mindful of that.”

 

For Blue Ridge, McGhee had 21 points with his seven trey’s. Simms poured in 18 points and 14 rebounds and two blocks. Colon finishing with 16 points and four assists.

 

“I think we made a statement,” Simms said. “It was important for us to keep everyone under 60 points. If we do that, play our defense, we’ll be fine.”

 

Miller was paced by Heard’s 18 points. Wade finished with 14 while Hyatt added 10 to put three Mavericks in double figures.

 

The Barons (18-1) travel to Liberty Christian Saturday at 3:30 p.m. while the Mavericks (9-4) will head to Millwood on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m.

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