Bluefield – Bluefield hopes to host a regional championship game in March and Wednesday night’s matchup served as a potential preview of what one could look like.
The Class AA No. 5 Beavers survived an overtime bout with No. 4 James Monroe, toppling the Mavericks 74-71 in Bluefield.
Trailing by as many as 11 points in the first half, the Mavericks battled back to take the lead in the third quarter and tie it once again late in the fourth before falling to a Beaver squad that relied on several role players to close the game out.
That was necessitated after Bluefield all-stater Jase Smith was called for his fifth and final foul in the waning seconds of regulation. But the Beavers were prepared as Smith sat the first half of the fourth quarter, missing eight of the final 12 minutes.
“Mental toughness, that’s what we’ve been trying to get in their heads,” Bluefield head coach Tony Webster said. “Our physical play, we’ve got that and the talent but we’ve got to get that mental toughness and I thought the mental toughness came out. Jase didn’t play a few minutes in that second half and had the foul problems and had to sit. I think those others that had a chance to play, they turned it up a little bit. We’re also missing Grayson (Parris) right now so we had two starters that weren’t in there at the end of the game. And our other guys showed real toughness and put it on and we won that game.”
For James Monroe turnovers and rebounds proved to be the back-breakers.
The Mavericks turned the ball over 21 times and yielded 11 offensive rebounds, though they ultimately won the boards 45-33. But their lapses came at the worst times.
Ahead 67-65, Bluefield’s Isaiah Mitchell grabbed an offensive board off a free throw and put it back to tie the game and Amari Helm jumped the inbounds pass on the following play for a quick layup and a 69-67 advantage.
James Monroe tied the game up once more afterwards but didn’t have enough juice to close the game.
“We were right there,” James Monroe head coach Kelly Mann said. “That was a heck of a ball game. A great environment and what we’re looking for. We grew up a lot tonight but late it was really loud. The band, (the crowd) it was really hard to communicate so guys had to kind of figure it out on their own sometimes and we were out of timeouts. But there was a free throw box out we didn’t get, a couple plays that didn’t go our way, a couple calls we didn’t get that I thought were obvious and really late. It is what it is but we should’ve definitely been in a better position by that point. We gave some things away and credit to them, they fought all night.”
Both teams came in undermanned – Bluefield missing Parris and James Monroe missing Bryce Gardinier – but buzzed from the jump. James Monroe’s Kadyn Hines and Bluefield’s Devin Totten exchanged treys to open the game. A layup from Hines and 3 from Bryer Surface pushed the Mavs lead to 8-3 but the hosts eventually lined the advantaged at 13-12 on a Jase Smith jumper.
Two more lead changes ensued before the first quarter buzzer rang with the hosts ahead 19-14. Treys from Lane Taylor and Hines helped bring the visitors back within a point at 21-20 and later 23-22, but the Beavers embarked on an 8-0 run the featured buckets from Smth and Davion Hickman.
The advantage eventually ballooned to 11 following a Totten 3 but a 15-2 swing that spanned the second and third quarters reset the board.
Out of the break James Monroe scored the first 12 points of the second half, turning what was a 36-25 deficit into a 40-38 advantage halfway though the third quarter.
“They missed a couple shots,” Mann said. “Bluefield, historically, their message is they’re the aggressors most of the time. We came out of the half and said, ‘Win or lose, let’s be the aggressors and be aggressive.’ I thought that changed things and we really started locking in and saying we’re going to at least play our game and not let their speed and athleticism bother us and I really thought that was the key to starting that third quarter. We had things kind of going our way and a lot of second chance points we just didn’t make.”
The remainder of the quarter featured seven lead changes with the Beavers establishing a 56-51 advantage heading into the fourth quarter. That proved to be the first stretch hosts needed to survive with Smith sitting on the bench through the first four minutes of the frame. The Beavers held serve, clinging to a 58-57 advantage before Smith returned and pushed the lead back to three points. But the Mavs still rallied.
Ryan Mann’s layup brought the visitors to within three points before Lane Taylor nailed a 3 from the left arc with a minute remaining. Chaos ensued over the final 60 seconds with each team turning the ball over once and Smith fouling out with under 10 seconds left in regulation.
Ultimately neither miscue resulted in points, forcing overtime.
James Monroe struck first on a. Ryan Mann bucket before Ricky Dunford netted a corner 3 for a Beaver lead at 65-64. Taylor again had an answer on the other end but the advantage flipped hands once Mitchell and Helm made their game-changing plays.
“I was real upset about the first three minutes in the third quarter,” Webster said. “I always tell our kids the first three minutes of the third quarter dictate the momentum of the game. They went in like a 12-0 run on us. Iszaiah came off the bench, played hard, gave us a key steal, put it back in, Amari got to the rim. Those two, that changed the momentum of the game. I thought those were huge and I thought our kids grew up today. Jase on the bench and Grayson not in, some of these young ones grew up and that’s what we’re looking for – not man up.”
Bluefield built a cushion at the free throw line in the final minute but still missed enough to give the Mavericks one final shot at tying. That pull-up shot from 30 feet out rattled off the rim, giving the Beavers a leg up for home court advantage in the regional standings.
Hines led the Mavericks with 29 points while Taylor netted 15.
Smith’s 18 paced the Beavers while Davion Hickman netted 17.
James Monroe
Kadyn Hines 29, Lane Taylor 15, Jayden Miller 2, Bryer Surface 8, Wyatt Mann 4, Ryan Mann 11
Bluefield
Davion Hickman 17, Amari Helm 11, Isaiah Mitchell 7, Ricky Dunford 10, Devin Totten 11, Jase Smith 18
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