There were a whole lot of maybes coming into, and to some extent, coming out of Tuesday’s contest in St. George. Maybe Blue Ridge would run out of gas after winning an intense game with Carlisle the day before. Maybe if Miller had an extra quarter, things might have gone differently. But there was no questioning the way the Barons played in the first half, and that negated everything. That was concrete, no maybes about it.
“We are traditionally a second half team,” said Blue Ridge coach Cade Lemcke. “It’s a pleasant surprise to be cooking like that in the first half.”
Blue Ridge was so dominant in the first 16 minutes, that the last 16 minutes didn’t seem to matter much. Thanks to its outside shooting early, the Barons were able to race out in front and then hold off Miller 59-48 (in a rare home game this year, just their fourth) and earn a nice eight day rest before meeting up again with Carlisle.
“We were very nervous when the Carlisle game was rescheduled, it’s on the road and then the turnaround,” Lemcke said. “Rest was going to the tough piece. I encouraged the guys to take a nap on the bus ride (last night)… We called it a trap game. The other thing that fed us though was this was our first home game since January 5th.”
The comfort at home showed, the tired legs early didn’t. The Barons got off to a 6-0 start and after that, the 3-pointers started to launch. Blue Ridge senior Scott Spencer knocked down a pair of three’s to make it 15-3 late in the first. In the second, the Barons saw Malik Johnson and Aamir Simms get warmed up from outside too as they helped turn a 27-13 advantage into a 35-15 lead into the break on an 8-2 run.
“Usually the game plan is defensive and we just know that the offense will come off of that,” Simms said. “We know we can make a lot of different shots and I guess tonight they were just from outside early.”
In the third quarter, Blue Ridge was able to work in the bulk of its bench as they maintained a comfortable lead. One thing that did change though was that Miller finally found some confidence offensively. Chance Sheffey got rolling in the third with a trio of field goals to help at least counter Blue Ridge’s attack. But with the Barons still thriving with Johnson and Josh Colon keeping pace offense, the closest that Miller got to Blue Ridge in the third was within 16 points.
“It was relaxing, made us all calm to go up like that coming off a close game yesterday,” Simms said. “You win by four in a close game with Carlisle, have a four hour drive back, go to school in the morning and then play again today — it felt like AAU all over again. To have that lead at the half was a life saver. It gave us a breath.”
That changed in the fourth though. As the Barons worked more and more bench in, the Mavericks slowly chipped away at the lead. Sheffey’s work at the free throw line paired with Tyler Creammer’s work inside and Ron Alston finding his groove allowed the Mavericks to get within at least fouling distance.
“I would have liked to get more guys in but to Miller’s credit, they didn’t quit, they kept fighting,” Lemcke said. “They made it a better game in the second half.”
But time was the enemy in the long run as Blue Ridge finished up the game with limited stress and wrapped up the win, having never led by less than double digits after the first quarter.
Four Barons finished in double figures. Simms led with his 14 points on 5-for-7 shooting and five rebounds to go with three blocks. Johnson had 13 points, seven assists and four steals. Spencer added 10 points, three assists and three steals. Colon finished with 11 points, five rebounds and three assists.
For Miller, Alston led with 14 points. Creammer threw in 12 points. Sheffey finished with 11.
The Mavericks (11-10) head to Benedictine on Friday at 6:30 p.m. while Blue Ridge (18-3) will host Carlisle next Wednesday at 6:30 p.m.
Spencer adds to BRS season 3-point record
While Spencer didn’t do a lot of outside shooting, his two first quarter three pointers did effect more than the game. The previous night, the Barons’ senior broke the school record for 3-pointers in a season, previously set by Trey Mines back in 2006. Now with 59 on the year and counting, Spencer is aiming for Mines’ career record as he sits at 98 during his career.
“I didn’t realize I broke it until after I came off the court and my teammates told me,” Spencer said of setting the mark. “It was an amazing feeling to know that you’ve made an impression on the program, set a mark for someone else to try and beat. Hopefully someone else is going to work hard and try to beat it.”
Spencer sits just seven 3-pointers shy of trying to chase Mines’ career record of 105. The Barons have two more regular season games before entering the VIC tournament. They also have the VISAA state tournament afterwards giving Spencer a very realistic window of eclipsing that mark. And it’s a mark, both the career and single season one, that didn’t happen by accident. Spencer didn’t become the outside sniper he is just like that.
“I spent summer after summer after summer to try and be consistent and have my technique the same way each time,” Spencer said. “I still do the same drills, put in the same hours, the same shots a day. It’s all about the hard work.”
And with just under a month to go, do not be surprised if Spencer’s hard work winds up yielding more fruit.
