It was bad enough that Miller coach Scott Willard never had to raise his voice in the second half. He watched and waited for it to be over, and understandably so — from start to finish, the game belong to Blue Ridge.
“14 turnovers and just two assists against a team that’s not trying to pressure you?” Willard asked rhetorically. “Yea, we weren’t ready to play. We didn’t belong on the court today with a team that this good. You can’t afford to do that against a team this good in their own gym.”
The top-ranked VISAA Division 1 Barons came out swinging early, and once they established a double-digit lead on a slew of Mavericks turnovers, that was that. The meeting between these two rivals almost always seem to come down to the wire, but not on Tuesday night as the unbeaten Blue Ridge cruised to a 54- 35.
“I thought our defense was just tremendous,” said Barons coach Bill Ramsey. “We switched up defenses because they hurt us at their place (earlier in the season) by going by us and triple penetration. (Last time) we tried playing full-court zone press, man press and I said let’s just pack it in because they’re going to come at us. We’re not going to have to force the tempo.”
Blue Ridge established the double-figure difference in the opening minutes of the first quarter as they scored the first six points on the game in what eventually was a 14-2 start. The Barons worked patiently on both offense and defense, waiting in anticipation of the up-tempo visitors to run up and down the court like Miller prefers, but with those 14 first half turnovers, that never happened.
“We went hard on defense, filling the passing lanes and getting a lot of deflections,” said Blue Ridge Chad Holley. “That led to a lot of lay ups for us, and we fumbled the ball a lot too. I think we could have had even more.”
Blue Ridge’s defense did not allow much access in the paint, and just about every mid-range or long-range jumper a Miller player took, eventually clanged off the rim and landed in the hands of a nearby Baron.
Up 26-11 heading into the third, Blue Ridge pulled away by going up by as many as 21 points as it neared the fourth and final frame. Early in the fourth, Andrew White provided the only significant run for the Mavericks, trimming the Baron’s lead to 14 points, but the hosts hardly panicked and were quickly back up by 18 just moments later, and soon enough, the game was over.
“It’s a close rival for us, we were 20-0 and we just want to keep this win streak going,” said Barons power forward Cameron Anderson. “This is a big win for us.”
At 21-0, this is the furthest Bill Ramsey’s team has ever gone unbeaten, and he wasn’t sure if his players are keeping it cool in the nonchalant wins, or wrapped up in the last two playoff losses this team’s faced, both in the state championship.
“Sometimes I wish they’d get a little more excited, it confuses me,” Ramsey said. “Everyone’s guarded because a few veterans have lost in the state finals.”
Holley led all scorers with 19 points but also had a strong game working the ball around to his teammates. He finished with eight assists. Anderson had 12 points and five rebounds. Sophomore Darryl Smith contributed six points, four steals and four assists. Malick Kone had 11 points.
For Miller, White had a team high 10 points and five rebounds. Travis Hester finished with seven points and five rebounds. Hendrix Emu scored six points.
Willard is looking to forget the second meeting against Blue Ridge as soon as possible. But he’s waiting for his players to find a way to play on the road like they have at home. Miller is 8-3 in its last 11 games with each win coming at home.
Ramsey expects to see the Mavericks again, this time in the VIC tournament in Lynchburg, which is worthy of note to him.
“We’re both going to have to get off the bus there,” Ramsey said.
Miller (13-10) travels to Liberty Christian on Thursday at 7 p.m.
Blue Ridge heads to play Riverdale Baptist on Friday in Maryland at 3 p.m.
