By ED ROBINSON
Princeton Times
— PRINCETON — Recent road games were not kind to the Princeton Tigers.
On Feb. 16, Princeton traveled to Hurricane and sustained a tough 65-64 loss, as the Tigers surrendered the winning goal at the final buzzer. They visited Bluefield on Feb. 20 and were upended 68-55. And, PikeView handed a visiting Princeton quintet a 67-48 setback on Feb. 23.
PRINCETON—64,
HURRICANE—65
With 1:30 left in the game, Princeton had an eight-point bulge.
The Tigers could almost taste a victory. This euphoria, however, did not last long. With 20 seconds remaining in the contest, Hurricane had cut their deficit to two points (64-62). At the buzzer, Rasaah Harris banked in a three-pointer to turn a near-certain loss into a Redskin win. This goal represented the only points Harris scored.
Princeton led at halftime 26-23. For the game, the Tigers shot a season-high 61 percent from the field. A subpar rebounding effort, however, limited Princeton’s scoring opportunities.
Newly elevated freshman point guard, Ryan Meadows, paced the Tiger attack with 22 points. He also dished out six assists. Tevin Allen bucketed 17 points and was the team’s leading rebounder with five.
Tre’ Hopkins was a perfect four-for four from the field and totaled nine points. Quiwuize Lee tallied eight points on three-for-three shooting including two long-range bombs. Adam Mills and O.B. Pannell each scored four points.
TIGERS—55,
BLUEFIELD—68
The home-standing Bluefield Beavers jumped out to a 23-11 first-quarter advantage, and by the half extended their lead to 40-23. The Tigers could not catch up.
The Tigers’ marksmanship was faulty, as they connected on less than one-third of their field goal attempts. On the positive side, Princeton committed only 11 turnovers.
O.B. Pannell bucketed 16 points and grabbed a team-high seven rebounds. Ryan Meadows produced 15 points as he hit on nine of 10 attempts from the foul stripe. Tevin Allen and Tre’ Hopkins each scored eight points. Rounding out the scoring were Shane Musick (four points), Adam Mills (two points), and Sean Williams (one point).
Bluefield’s Craig Ponder drilled three three-pointers and was the game’s high scorer with 17 points.
TIGERS—48,
PIKEVIEW—67
Powered by four three-pointers (two by Nick Branson and one each by Adam Mills and Sean Williams) the Tigers jumped out to a 19-15 first quarter lead.
The second quarter was completely different story-an unpleasant one for Princeton. Mired in a five-minute scoring drought, the Tigers produced only five points during the period. Meanwhile, the Panthers were on the prowl. Paced by sharpshooter Jordan Weitzel’s four three-pointers, PikeView tallied the 20 points to take a 35-24 lead at the break. Weitzel was the game’s high scorer with 23 points.
In the second half, Princeton was unable to mount a serious challenge. The Tigers’ effort was hampered by poor shooting from the field and the foul line. Moreover, they committed 27 miscues — more than double the total of their opponent.
Adam Mills had a fine game, pumping in 14 points, including two goals beyond the arc. In addition, Mills did not have any turnovers
Nick Branson nailed three long-range goals and scored 11 points while freshman point guard Ryan Meadows added 10 points. Tre’ Hopkins chipped in four points while Sean Williams contributed three points. O. B. Pannell, Robert Redd, and Quiwuize Lee each had a field goal.
In junior varsity play, Austin Southcott scored on a layup at the buzzer to record a 47-45 exciting overtime win. Tiger scorers included David Brewster (nine points), Shane Musick (eight points), Southcott (eight points), and Darnell Palmer (seven points). Brandon Fulp connected on two long-range bombs for six points.
