Mavericks oust Cee-Bees, will play for championship repeat (With Gallery)

Mar. 17—CHARLESTON — For the second season in a row, the James Monroe Mavericks will be playing for the trophy on the final day of the state tournament.

Forcing Clay-Battelle into 30 turnovers, the James Monroe defense led the way in their Class A semifinal on Friday afternoon, defeating the Cee-Bees 76-47 under the bright lights of the Charleston Coliseum.

The Mavericks (24-2) will play Tucker County (20-4) for the small-school state championship Saturday. The encounter between the Mavs, the top seed in Class A, and the third-seeded Mountain Lions is scheduled to tip off at 12:30 p.m.

Clay-Battelle head coach Josh Kiser said, "James Monroe's a heck of a team, and they proved it tonight."

Once the Mavs' defense started clicking late in the first quarter, the defending champs began to exert control over the game. Despite a height advantage, the Cee-Bees (20-7) couldn't often get the ball into the hoop from the paint.

Surrounding the Clay-Battelle ball handlers, the Mavs opened up opportunities for steals that turned the tide. Those court-flipping plays fueled a 14-to-2 run to end the first half, giving the white-clad Mavericks a 34-15 edge on the scoreboard.

Mavs head coach Matt Sauvage came into the postgame press conference and said he was surprised to hear the Cee-Bees' turnover total.

"Thirty turnovers? I'll take that, any night," Sauvage said. "I'll be the critical coach, real quick. I think we only had 33 points off of that. And I say 'only' because a lot of them were live-ball turnovers. So, that's the part (where) we weren't finishing the way we felt like we needed to. ... But we'll take it."

Kiser had said a few minutes earlier, "James Monroe's quick. ... They move very well, and play great defense."

In the final box score, James Monroe had grabbed 23 steals. Senior Collin Fox set a new post-2005 Class A state tournament record with 10 of those steals.

Sauvage said, "Collin reads the game well, and that's where the 10 steals come from. (Off defensive traps by his teammates), Collin reads what that player is going to do, and is able to create that steal."

Fox "did it on a little bit of a limp leg," Sauvage said. "He rolled it early in the first quarter, and he was able to fight through it."

Fox deflected praise for setting the steals record, stating that he was pleased that it "helps the team."

"Most of those steals, I'll give credit to the team," Fox said. "They come from them, trapping, and I'm just waiting to pick off the pass that they throw. (My teammates) make them throw the ball up higher, which (gives) me more time to read the ball and go up and get it."

Fellow senior Eli Allen scored 14 of his 26 points after halftime, popping improbable jumpers and slipping around would-be defenders. His boxscore line showed seven assists, six steals and three blocks — outlining his work on both ends of the floor.

Allen said, "I was frustrated, a little bit (at halftime), but I had to come back level-headed."

Sauvage noted that Allen was hampered with two fouls in the early going.

"I felt in the third quarter, he was able to let loose again," the coach said. "When you let loose and play, then things roll a little easier."

All four of Josh Burks' field goals came from three-point range. He had 12 points, five boards, three assists and two steals.

Sauvage said that Burks' published stats may not always be eye-popping, "but when he's holding the best offensive players on the other team to seven, eight or nine points every night, (that's) a pretty important player."

The coach told media members in his postgame comments, "I defy you to show me a better on-ball defender."

Senior center Owen Jackson sank seven of 10 field-goal tries for 16 points — including two 3-pointers — and fought for five rebounds against a tall crew of Cee-Bees.

"Each one of our players buys into what their role is," Sauvage said. "When they succeed in those roles, that's what it's all about."

Clay-Battelle's 6-foot-6 sophomore forward Preston Luzader had 10 of his team's 38 rebounds and scored 26 points, going 10-for-14 from the field.

The Mavs scored on just five of 18 attempts in the first period, but shot 53% in the next two quarters and 40% in the final stanza. The Cee-Bees shot 40.4% in the game.

The combatants in today's title tilt are familiar with each other. James Monroe defeated Tucker County 63-54 in a tournament on Jan. 13.

"I think it's going to be a great game," Sauvage said. "I expect Tucker, first of all, to come in fired up, ready to play. I mean, a state championship game. I don't think they're going to look at a January game and think, 'I think we'll just lay down tonight.'"

"Tucker (County) brings a lot of physicality. But, you know, I tell people, we may not be as big as some teams in certain positions, but we're just as physical as any team we play."

The Mountain Lions' sophomore guard Trevan Bonner scored on 10 of his 15 floor shots in Friday morning's semifinal, accounting for 22 points. Ashton Lycliter added 10 points and 10 rebounds. Tucker County limited Tug Valley to 38 percent shooting.

C-B 8 7 16 16 — 47

JM 13 21 20 22 — 76

Clay-Battelle (20-7)

Carson Shriver 1 0-0 2, Kohlton St. Clair 2 0-0 6, Colby Barr 5 101 11, Preston Luzader 10 5-10 26, Matthew Gadd 1 0-0 2. Totals 19 6-11 47.

James Monroe (24-2)

Josh Burks 4 0-0 12, Cooper Ridgeway 1 1-1 3, Eli Allen 11 4-8 26, Collin Fox 3 0-0 9, Owen Jackson 7 0-0 16, Juan Hopkins 2 0-0 4, Ethan Ganoe 1 0-0 3, Evan Hunter 1 0-0 2, Layton Dowdy 0 1-2 1. Totals 30 6-11 76.

3-point goals: CB 3 (St. Clair 2, Luzader 1); JM 10 (Burks 4, Fox 3, Jackson 1, Ganoe 1). Total fouls: CB 9, JM 13. Fouled out: Barr, CB. Technical fouls: none.