By Dennis Glade
Washington Times Herald
MONTGOMERY —
After struggling offensively in its season opening win
at Washington last week, the Barr-Reeve boys’ basketball team needed a
quick start Friday evening, and that’s exactly what they got.
The Vikings (2-0) defeated Pike Central (0-1) 47-30 Friday evening in
its home opener at Kavanaugh Kourt.
With the home crowd behind them, the Vikings scored the games first 11
points as it suffocated Pike Central with defensive pressure.
Barr-Reeve got five points in the opening quarter from sophomore
Addison Wagler to take a 13-4 lead.
The Vikings scored the first four points points of the second quarter,
before Shaine Eck made the first field goal of the game for the
Chargers at the 4:30 mark. Garrett Elliott’s three-pointer cut the
lead to seven at 19-12, but Jon McMullen answered with a three-pointer
of his own to push the lead back to 10.
“We wanted a good start,” said Barr-Reeve head coach Bryan Hughes. “I
thought we had a good first quarter, we made some subsitutions, and
our second quarter was about like our third quarter last week against
Washingon. We just didn’t get a lot done.”
Trailing 22-15 with possession and 10 seconds remaining before
halftime, Chargers’ guard Dustin Meny looked over to head coach Jon
Mokris for instruction, and Micah Bullock swiped the ball away, and
scored a layup to extend the lead to 24-15 at halftime. It was a
four-point swing, and as close as the Chargers would get the rest of
the night.
“It was a big play,” Hughes said. “Micah (Bullock) has long arms, and
he had the big steal last week too.”
The Vikings came out as fast as they did in the first quarter, scoring
the first 10 points of the quarter, on its way to winning the third
14-7. Barr-Reeve got nine points in the quarter from Jacob Bledsoe,
making all three of his field goal attempts and all three free throw
attempts on his way to a 15-point night. Addison Wagler added 14
points for the Vikings.
“Well Jacob (Bledsoe), I thought he played well when he was on the
floor,” Hughes said. “He has a tendency to pick up a couple fouls
early in the game like he did in the first quarter. He’s got to be a
little more patient on the defensive end. When he’s on the floor he
can make some things happen.”
Barr-Reeve took a 38-22 lead into the fourth quarter on its way to the
17-point victory. The combination of Bledsoe and Wagler was too much
for the Chargers, who’s high scorer was forward Trevor Claridge with
nine points. Bledsoe and Wagler combined for 29 of the Vikings 47
points, as Barr-Reeve tries to find its stroke on the perimeter.
“I thought with our two inside players, Jacob Bledsoe and Addison
Wagler both had nice ball games for us tonight in the paint area,”
Hughes said. “We got to have guys step up consistently to hit
perimeter shots.”
