Justin Bailey scores 43 points, Blue Ridge's role players step up to keep Tigers alive

GREER – When looking at the final stats from Blue Ridge’s 63-57 win over Wren to advance to the third round of the SCHSL Class AAA playoffs, one thing glaringly sticks out.

Of Blue Ridge’s 63 points, senior guard Justin Bailey scored 43.

And even he was surprised after the game.

“Forty-three?” Bailey said to an assistant coach in the hallway after the game, looking at the blue and white scorebook.

He didn’t even realize he had that many points, it seemed, despite hitting pull-up jumpers, scoring in transition and having a 40-plus point night for the third time this year.

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“Before I came in to the gym, I sat down at my house and I kind of meditated,” Bailey said when asked how he had the night he had. “I was locked in all day, I was ready to play. I was tired of watching film, we’ve been putting in the work in practice and, they came, I was ready to go, and I just had the mentality of like, ‘These guys can’t stop me.’”

That much was true – through three quarters Friday night, the senior had 37 points. At the half, which Blue Ridge led 34-25, he had almost as many points in the game as Wren’s team, with 24.

“He’s the best player in the state,” Blue Ridge coach Richie Stevens said. “He’s a monster, he’s a killer, he’s a competitor and he wants to do everything the right way … I’m just proud of him.”

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Stevens jokes that the only thing Bailey will be mad about after the game is the fact he missed some free throws, which he missed five. His 43 points is one shy of his season high 44 and is five shy of the Blue Ridge single-game record 48 points.

“Oh my God,” Blue Ridge captain and senior Jon Kauffman said after game, “that’s insane.”

Bailey scored 11 points in the first quarter. Then scored 13 in the second. His pull-up 3-pointer with 3:21 left in the second pushed Blue Ridge’s lead to 27-18. From then on, the Tigers never looked in the rear view mirror.

Blue Ridge will play Daniel in the third round next week.

The win continues what has been Blue Ridge’s best season in boys basketball program in recorded history. The Tigers won their first region title ever this season, going 9-1 in region play.

“We’re undefeated at home right now,” Stevens said. “To win at home, there probably hasn’t been that many people in that gym in a long time. I’m just proud of the guys and the way they fought.”

Blue Ridge role players come up big late

While Bailey is the focus of every team's plan and is the driving force behind Blue Ridge’s success – the Tigers have seven other seniors who helped combine for the teams other 20 points. The second-highest scorer on Blue Ridge Friday night was senior Demitre Hall with six points.

But Kauffman and Bailey both agree that as the playoffs go on, the rest of the Tigers will have to contribute when crunch time occurs.

Senior Campbell Douglas had five points in the game, but all came in the fourth. Hall made a free throw and senior center Garrett Stokes had a free throw late in the game, too. Kauffman, too, made a 3-pointer from the corner to push the Tigers lead to 44-29, the largest it got all game, with 4:16 left in the third.

The role players for the Tigers were timely and important when it seemed like Wren was going to make a run.

“For the role guys, we need to step up and hit our shots,” Kauffman said, “to take the pressure off Justin as much as we can. He operates well under pressure but if we can take that pressure off of him, kind of do our thing … that’s what it's all about. It’s important that we step up and hit our shots, and we’ve got guys who are capable of it.”

Joe Dandron covers high school sports for the Greenville News. Contact him at Jdandron@gannett.com and follow him on Twitter: @JoeMDandron.