PREP HOOPS: John Battle advances in region with win over Grundy

GRUNDY, Va. – John Battle thrived by being active, not for its health, but just to stay alive in the Region D playoffs.

The Trojans kept their season alive, advancing to the Region D, Division 2 quarterfinals with a 59-47 win over Grundy on Tuesday night.

Travis Lester scored Grundy’s first 12 points in an opening half that featured nine lead changes.

A slightly quicker pace, jumpstarted by a more active defense and more movement on offense as well, fueled a 19-4 Battle run to start the second half. It changed the complexion of the game for good.

“We started out the game in our full-court press and I thought [Grundy] handed it pretty good, and they were getting the ball down low for some easy buckets by [Travis Lester],” John Battle coach Tim Sholes said. “We adjusted to that, then we wanted to keep the pressure on, so we changed our press up in the third quarter.

“We seemed to get a lot more turnovers out of it, and it seemed like our momentum picked up and we were able to play the type game we want to play.”

Junior post Matthew McMurray scored inside twice on the secondary break, Grant Tipton got three steals and Alex Posey hit a 3-pointer in the Trojans’ decisive third period run.

Battle extended a 28-27 halftime lead to 47-31 after a fastbreak bucket by Tipton with 2:23 remaining in the third quarter. Grundy could get no closer than 55-44 the rest of the way.

“Sometimes we want to be patient, and sometimes we need to open it up a little bit, and tonight we did a good job in transition and got some buckets that way,” Sholes added. “McMurray got a couple of key baskets, Derek Maiden did a heck of a job running the offense at the point, and Grant and Alex hit some big shots. It was pretty much a whole team victory.”

McMurray finished with a double-double with 21 points and 11 rebounds.

Tipton (14 points) and Posey (10) also scored in double figures, while Maiden handed out six assists and added eight points.

Battle got a slew of layups in the second half when they hit 10-of-16 shots (62.5 percent) from the field. The Trojans were 22-of-45 (48.9 percent) overall.

In the final game of a stellar four-year career, Grundy senior Ben Rife, despite extra defensive attention from the Trojans backcourt, scored a game-high 22 points, 10 in the fourth quarter. Lester scored just two points and took just one shot over the final three periods and finished with 14 points.

It was a frustrating end to a disappointing season for the Golden Wave in its first season in Group A. Grundy (10-16) turned the ball over 16 times, including 11 times in the second half.

“[John Battle’s] pressure bothered us, they’re quicker than we are and we weren’t able to take care of their shooters,” Grundy coach Bill Christian said. “Then they got a lead and they spread the floor and we had to play man and we got a little tired.”

After chasing the Trojans on defense the tiring Wave made just two of its first 11 shots in the second half. Lester, meanwhile, didn’t take a single shot after halftime.

“We weren’t able to knock shots down,” Christian added. “They came out a little more aggressive than we were in the second half. They doubled down on Travis and we just weren’t able to get the ball back to him.”

The Trojans face a familiar opponent at Gate City tonight at 7.

“It seems like it always comes right back down to the Clinch Mountain District,” Sholes said. “It’ll be tough, but we’re looking forward to the challenge.”