The Mountain Lions were thrilled to play basketball on a snow day, giving Moorefield a 79-38 lesson on Wednesday night.
“Imagine that, playing basketball on a snow day. I love it. I love playing basketball on a snow day. I knew we would be coming here today. I wish we could do this every snow day, we love playing basketball on a snow day,” Tucker County Coach Jim Ambrose remarked.
The frigid temperatures froze the rim as the Yellow Jackets (3-7) missed 30 field goals and Tucker County (5-6) hit the rim 41 times, but the Mountain Lions melted the ice with second chance shots and forced 30 turnovers meanwhile only committing seven on the game.
“We have to work harder to get where we need to be at the end of the year. We’re not a very good team right now. We should have been able to break the press all night. We had a lot of turnovers. That’s the most turnovers we’ve had all year. We’re not hitting shots, we’re not taking care of the basketball and we’re not rebounding. That’s the game, so we have to fix it,” Moorefield Coach Scott Stutler commented.
Tucker County scored eight seconds into the game as Wesley Snyder passed to Jeffrey Snyder for a field goal in the paint.
The full court pressure of the Mountain Lions forced Moorefield into a timeout, then Jeffrey Snyder snatched a defensive rebound.
After a travel by Tucker County, the Yellow Jackets missed a shot and Wesley Snyder grabbed the rebound.
Alec Cummings hauled in a loose ball off a tip by Moorefield’s Blake Watts and fed Corrick Ambrose for a basket to take a 4-nil lead at 6:50.
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Tucker County’s Luke Poling stole the ball, but fell losing the ball out of bounds.
Snyder made a defensive rebound, then Moorefield’s Garrett Haggerty collected a defensive board.
Haggerty drew a foul and netted one free throw at 6:03 as the Yellow Jackets were down 4-1.
Watts grabbed a defensive rebound, then Ambrose blocked a shot and Haggerty recovered.
Moorefield’s Ben O’Neill snatched an offensive board, then a jump ball was created and the next attempt by the Yellow Jackets ricocheted off the rim out of bounds.
Poling drilled a 3-pointer for a 7-1 edge at the 5:08 mark.
The Yellow Jackets lost the ball on an over and back violation at mid-court, then Tucker County kept the possession alive with two rebounds before Ambrose found the net.
Haggerty drove inside and contact was made with a trip to the line coming and both shots were added for a 9-3 score.
After a field goal by Cameron Wamsley, Moorefield responded with two field goals starting with a layup by Brent Moran.
There was an offensive foul on the Mountain Lions during a rebound attempt, then Chase Vance assisted Haggerty on a basket in the paint as the Yellow Jackets pulled within four points, 11-7.
Tucker County got a score from Ambrose, then the Yellow Jackets walked and Jeffrey Snyder made an offensive rebound with a pass going to Ambrose, who drew a foul and added the free shots.
Moorefield’s Thomas Williams drilled a 3-pointer off a pass from Haggerty in the corner to cut the deficit to 15-10 with under a minute left in the first period.
Both teams had a turnover and missed several shots to close out the frame with Moorefield rebounding efforts coming by Moran, Vance and Watts.
Tucker County scored six points in 30 seconds to start the second period which extended the lead to 21-10 as Jeffrey Snyder made a jumper, then Ambrose stole the ball and scored, then after a foul by Moorefield during the full court press it was Snyder finding the hoop again.
The Yellow Jackets finally broke out of the press and Williams knocked down a 3-pointer at the 7:07 mark.
Moran made a defensive rebound, but Wesley Snyder swiped the ball and dished to Jeffrey Snyder for the basket.
Tucker County’s Brandon Zirk stole the ball and completed the breakaway layup before a timeout was called, 25-13.
Cummings stole the ball, but failed to score and O’Neill grabbed the rebound for the Yellow Jackets.
After an offensive foul, Ambrose took the ball inside and scored.
After missed shots in both directions, Haggerty made a rebound on the latter and passed to Williams, who assisted Lane Ours on a jumper, 27-15.
Cummings made a rebound and was fouled, then added both free throws.
Jeffrey Snyder swiped the ball and passed to Wesley Snyder for a score in the paint.
Haggerty was fouled going to the rim and connected on both charity stripe shots.
Wesley Snyder executed a mid-range jumper, then the Yellow Jackets lost the ball out of bounds.
The Mountain Lions went up 38-19 on an old-fashioned three-point play by Luke Poling with 2:24 remaining in the first half.
Watts added a free throw on the following possession, then Poling hit a jumper.
Williams scored on a fadeaway jumper, then Poling was whistled for a charge.
Haggerty drew contact and made both free throws, then snatched a defensive rebound and passed to Vance for a trifecta with a minute left to cut the deficit to 40-27.
Cummings scored on the next series for the Mountain Lions, then Moran walked and Haggerty hauled in another defensive board, however, Jeffrey Snyder stole it back leading to a basket by Ambrose before the horn sounded for a 44-27 halftime advantage.
The Mountain Lions outscored Moorefield 19-8 in the third period as the lead stretched to 63-35.
The second half opened with a steal by Cummings which led to a missed layup and Ambrose collected the rebound and was fouled in the process, then added both free throws.
Moran assisted Watts on a basket in the paint for the Yellow Jackets.
Watts grabbed a defensive rebound, but stumbled backwards creating a turnover and Ambrose scored.
Midway through the third period, Vance nailed two free throws and Haggerty blocked a shot and fumbled the ball out.
Tucker County lost the ball out to give the Yellow Jackets the possession an Moran discovered an opening for a layup to make it 52-33 at 3:40.
Zirk hit two field goals in 30 seconds, then Wamsley stole the ball and fed Zirk for a layup increasing the advantage to 58-33 at 1:58.
Wamsley blocked a shot, then Ben Cromer scored on the ensuing series.
Vance passed inside to Haggerty for a basket, then Haggerty made a defensive rebound.
Poling hauled in a defensive carom and passed to Wamsley for a 3-pointer as Tucker County went up 63-35 heading into the final stanza.
A minute and change into the fourth period, Moorefield’s Chase Vance drilled a 3-pointer which ended up being the only points the Yellow Jackets could muster in the frame with the score standing at 65-38.
Moorefield would miss a total of ten field goal attempts in the fourth period and made eight turnovers as well.
Blocks by Haggerty and O’Neill were a couple of highlights for the Yellow Jackets in the last quarter, while Tucker County snowballed to a 79-38 victory.
“What impressed me the most is we had five guys in double figures, we shared the ball really well. That’s the first for us, five guys in double figures. It’s what you want to see. Our pressure really had an affect tonight and was the difference maker. Our full court press really set the tone. I was really pleased with our overall effort. We always talk about dominating effort. You can’t control some of the other stuff, but you can control effort and that is pretty much Tucker County Basketball. I was proud of them,” Coach Ambrose stated.
Ambrose scored a game-high 18 points for the Mountain Lions leading four others in double figures as Snyder contributed 13 markers, Cummings added 11, while Zirk and Poling pitched in ten points apiece.
Haggerty led the Yellow Jackets with 13 points, followed by Vance and Williams with eight markers each.
In JV action, Moorefield edged Tucker County 47-44 in overtime.
The Yellow Jackets trailed most of the game, but managed to take a six point lead with a couple minutes remaining in regulation.
However, the Mountain Lions erased the deficit to force overtime.
Moorefield’s Addison Barb and Hayden Baldwin both knocked down timely 3-pointers in overtime to provide the cushion needed to garner the win.
Baldwin guided the Yellow Jackets with a game-high 19 points, while Tucker County was led by Wyatt White with 15 points.
Moorefield continues with a four-game home slate greeting Strasburg this Saturday, then Frankfort visits the Hive on Monday, Petersburg comes over on Wednesday and Trinity Christian is in town next Saturday.
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