It’s almost the same situation they were in last season in the VIC championship game, only this time Blue Ridge was up a basket. Nonetheless, with just a few ticks left on the clock and the ball was in Miller guard Mychal Parker’s hands. Same situation, but a different result as the Barons’ deep roster was able to hold off a talented Mavericks squad in the waning moments of the first meeting this year between these two, 52-51.
“It was a very physical and aggressive game throughout,” said Blue Ridge coach Bill Ramsey. “And that means that last minute is war, the last man standing.”
Initially, it looked like the Barons were going to be able to enjoy the final two minutes of the game. Up by four points, Chad Holley was able to hit a wide open Cameron Anderson underneath the basket and Anderson put Blue Ridge up by six points with 1:49 to play.
“Without his play we wouldn’t have that lead,” Ramsey said. “I really feel like he’s coming along and he’s definitely a scholarship athlete at the next level.”
But although Anderson gave the Barons their largest lead of the second half, Miller clawed their way back, as D’Andre Corbin knocked down a 3-pointer to cut the deficit in half and then a Hippolyte Tsafack dunk after a Blue Ridge turnover made it a one possession game. Blue Ridge then turned the ball over again on a jump ball with 8.9 seconds to play to set up the final play of the game.
Though he shared a lot of minutes with his teammates, Anderson’s play proved to be the difference down stretch as he made his presence known in an already crowed key.
“Whenever I saw Cameron I just told him to be aggressive,” Holley said. “He’s a real long guy and he’s athletic. I don’t know if he even knows how athletic he is. He can jump just as high or higher as any of those guys from Miller.”
Blue Ridge controlled the pace of the game throughout the contest, save for the opening minutes of the third quarter when the Mavericks put together a 7-0 run to erase the Barons’ 4-point halftime lead. With Corbin and Preston Terrell penetrating the key with success, Ramsey was forced to make a change he admittedly hates to do – switch to a zone.
The switch worked and while both teams exchanged leads a handful of times at the end of the third and beginning of the fourth, the Barons were able hold a two possession lead until the final minute of the game.
“We made some mistakes and gave (Blue Ridge) some layups and then they made some mistakes and allowed us to hit some shots to get back in it and we had a chance to win it,” said first year Miller coach Scott Willard. “But they had the advantage without question in the last two to three minutes. (The game) was in their favor.”
While the Mavericks relied heavily on Parker all game long, the Blue Ridge offense was very balanced. Holley led the Barons with 16 points but just behind him were teammates Malick Kone (11), Anderson (10) and Turner (7). Turner also collected 12 rebounds and had three blocks.
Parker led all scorers with 22 points while Corbin and Tsafack finished with 12 and 10 respectively. The three Mavericks scored all but seven of their team’s points. Tsafack and Parker also hauled in 14 rebounds a piece.
Miller (4-4) travels Fishburne Military Academy to play its postgraduate program Thursday at 7 p.m.
Blue Ridge (8-4) will head to North Cross on Friday at 4:30 p.m.
