The Hardy Boys Hardwood Classic was buzzing in action with 19 lead changes and seven ties including a Moorefield buzzer-beater by Brent Moran to force overtime, then the Cougars survived the whirlwind attack of the Yellow Jackets by defending the Den pouncing to a 63-51 overtime victory on Friday in Baker.
“I just kept waiting for us to turn it on. Everybody was asking me why I wasn’t getting upset. I knew our kids were playing hard. There was no point in getting real excited, because we were playing hard,” East Hardy Coach Chris Hahn commented.
“We just weren’t attacking, for whatever reason we were real content for our offense to be super passive. I kept telling our kids to take them off the dribble and go to the rim, until we got put in a situation where we had to we really didn’t do that. We only had one or two attacking up until the final two minutes of the game, then we figured out hey there we are, we can play a little bit. It really takes a lot of pressure off when we all start attacking. I am just super proud of them, the last two games have been nail biters the whole way and the kids just found a way to win. We aren’t playing that great, but we are finding ways to get through it and to be successful. The biggest key is we don’t panic, we know it is going to be a game and we’re not going to go out here and blow anybody’s doors off so we aren’t panicked. When it comes down to crunch time, it’s nice to have that leadership to go to. I can’t say enough about Aden Funkhouser, the past two games he is the rock to this team. He comes in and has a solid game every single night. He doesn’t have monster numbers, but we know what we are getting out of him every time. I am proud of the effort these kids put in tonight. We can find ways to win.”
Moorefield (3-18) won the previous meeting and came in with intensity and desire battling through the contest seeking to snap a 15-game losing streak, but East Hardy (9-9) wouldn’t back down and kept pace with a final push of willpower in the end to deny that opportunity in this wild rivalry contest.
A pair of Yellow Jacket free throws by Garett Haggerty provided a 45-41 lead with 1:50 remaining in regulation.
After Moorefield’s Brent Moran stole the ball, he was met with a hug by East Hardy’s Brett Tharp to stop the clock.
On the ensuing inbound play, there was a scramble for the ball and East Hardy’s Aden Funkhouser alertly took a dive to corral it and made a pass to teammate Drew Kelican, who was fouled at 1:33.
Kelican sank both foul shots to pull the Cougars to within two points, 45-43.
East Hardy applied full-court pressure and Kelican deflected a pass out of bounds, then Haggerty slowed the pace down to chew a little time off the clock before passing to Chase Vance.
Vance was greeted by a Cougars trap set by Funkhouser and Kelican which created a turnover on a five-second violation.
The Cougars hit iron on their shot attempt and the ball ricocheted out of bounds with 1:06 to go.
A long pass by Moorefield’s Blake Watts to Haggerty for what looked like an easy layup went awry as Tharp caught up to make a foul preventing the basket.
Haggerty missed both free throws, then Tharp snatched the rebound.
East Hardy hit the rim again and Jesse Dove grabbed the rebound and the next attempt was off the mark in traffic.
Several players reached out to get the rebound and during the chaos the ball bounced off what was determined to be Tharp’s fingertips out of bounds much to the chagrin of the Cougar fans with 51 seconds left and a timeout was called with a short protest.
East Hardy’s press forced a timeout, then Tharp stole the ball and was falling back in front of the Sam Blizzard calling the radio play-by-play and coach Chris Hahn summoned for a timeout.
After the timeout, Kelican scored on a layup to tie the game at 45-all with 46 seconds remaining.
During the press, East Hardy’s Adam Larson swiped then all and scored to put the Cougars on top 47-45.
Haggerty hit a jumper in the paint with 15 seconds remaining to tie the game again and a timeout would be called by East Hardy with six seconds on the clock.
Kelican started to drive down the top of the key protecting the ball with his right arm as Moorefield’s Chase Vance stepped alongside and nudged him just enough to where the ball bounced down off Kelican’s foot and ricocheted out of bounds.
The players looked to the referees for a call as Moorefield thought it was a turnover, but a foul was assessed on Vance with just under two seconds on the clock as Haggerty put his hands on his heads while Tharp and Kelican clapped hands.
Kelican drilled both free throws as East Hardy took a 49-47 edge with the bench reacting to the lead including Chance Dove jumping up and leaning over Nick Miller as the rest cheered.
A timeout was called as Moorefield drew up a final play for those waning seconds (1.6).
Watts took the ball along the baseline and launched a deep pass with Tharp playing the safety leaping up along the free throw line deflecting the ball, but it ricocheted into the hands of Moran while Haggerty made a screen on Larson giving Moran free reign to jump up releasing the ball into the hoop for the buzzer-beater forcing overtime with the cheerleaders leaping up during the play.
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The Moorefield bench was in an uproar celebrating with Moran and the fans were on their feet cheering.
The game was now deadlocked at 49 points apiece and there was little time to take a breath and collect thoughts as the overtime period commenced.
East Hardy won the tip and Funkhouser nailed a jumper six seconds into the extra frame for the lead.
Moran did a pump fake and was called for a walk on the ensuing possession, then Funkhouser drove toward the basket and abruptly stopped to pull up for a shot and there was evidently contact as a charge was called.
Moorefield missed and Watts grabbed the rebound, but was blocked by Larson with Kelican recovering the ball for the Cougars.
Moran deflected the ball in the paint and Larson made a save along the baseline throwing it off Moran out of bounds.
Funkhouser drew a foul and added one free throw, then Haggerty snatched the board trailing by three at 2:47.
Tharp got a partial block on a shot by Moran and collected the ricochet, then Haggerty nearly stole the ball with Larson redirecting the ball.
Larson made two offensive rebounds before finally knocking down the putback at 1:59.
Tharp stole the ball and netted a layup for a 56-49 lead and timeout was called at 1:36.
Funkhouser snuck up on the inbound play and swiped the ball leading to a basket to push the advantage to 58-49 in a matter of six seconds.
Watts collected an offensive rebound and forced contact with Tharp fouling out with 1:18 remaining, but failed to connect at the line and Vance grabbed the board and missed with the ball deflected out by the Cougars.
Jesse Dove deflected a pass with Larson getting the ball for the turnover, then pulled up at the perimeter and Moran dashed over for the block.
The Yellow Jackets hit the rim and the ball went out, then Vance fouled Kelican with 41 seconds to go and the first of two free throws were made for a 59-49 score and Haggerty snatched the rebound.
Funkhouser collected a defensive rebound and was fouled with 28 seconds left, then added both foul shots to extend the East Hardy lead to 61-49.
Funkhouser batted the ball up for a steal, but it came down and went off his knee out of bounds.
Haggerty quickly hit a jumper for Moorefield with 21 seconds remaining, then Lane Ours fouled Jesse Dove.
Dove netted both shots at the charity stripe with 12 seconds on the clock for the final score of 63-51.
Moorefield attempted one more shot and it went off the iron into the hands of Dove running the clock down to zero for the win as the East Hardy fans stood up applauding and the East Hardy cheerleaders jumped up enthusiastically.
Haggerty scored a game-high 22 points in the loss for the Yellow Jackets, followed by Thomas Williams with 11 points who hit several 3-pointers in the first half.
Tharp led the Cougars with 18 points, followed by Kelican with 17 points and Funkhouser netted nine of his dozen points in overtime.
“It was a good game back and forth. They put some pressure on us and we struggled to handle it a little bit,” Moorefield Coach Scott Stutler remarked.
“They called a foul on us putting us down by two with one second left. We drew up a play and it didn’t go exactly as planned, but [Brent] Moran was in the right place at the right time to send it to overtime. We went into overtime and they beat us in overtime. We talked about putting four quarters together and we have been putting halves together, so tonight we talked about four quarters. We are going to be ready for the tournament. We are probably going to have to play East Hardy, Tucker County or Pendleton County and we will be ready to beat somebody.”
There were five lead changes in the first period alone and it was tied at 11-all entering the second stanza.
Kelican started the game with a steal and Tharp nailed the first bucket at 7:37 for East Hardy.
Moorefield answered with a 3-pointer by Thomas Williams to take a 3-2 lead at 7:20.
Tharp hit another jumper on the ensuing possession to regain the edge.
The Yellow Jackets turned to Williams again and like clockwork drilled another 3-pointer at 6:20 for a 6-4 advantage.
After a Moorefield foul, East Hardy’s Jesse Dove tied the contest with a putback at 5:50.
Over the next three minutes there were a combined nine missed field goals including a dunk attempt.
Some of the fans were laughing as Tharp did a fake shot putting his hand up without the ball and still managed to draw a foul.
East Hardy went up briefly on a shot by Tharp, but Watts responded with a 3-pointer for the Yellow Jackets going up 9-8 at 2:54.
Kelican knocked down a 3-pointer to put the Cougars ahead at the 2:15 mark.
Both teams missed several opportunities in the closing minutes of the first period, before Haggerty netted a putback with three seconds on the clock which tied the game at 11 points apiece.
Moorefield’s Ben O’Neill made a jumper at the beginning of the second period for the lead.
Haggerty made a rebound and East Hardy’s Cole Swanson deflected a pass for a steal landing in the hands of Tharp going down the floor for a basket to even it up at 7:00.
The Yellow Jackets broke the press and Moran assisted Haggerty on a bucket regaining the edge.
An errant pass was tracked down by Tharp, but the save went into the ceiling and the momentum carried him into the stands sitting down with the fans for a moment (no popcorn sharing).
Williams cut across the top of the lane and hit a jumper for Moorefield to go up 17-13 at 5:58.
A minute and change later, Haggerty blocked a shot and Williams drained a 3-pointer at 4:21, 20-13.
The 7-point lead would be the largest by either team in the contest.
It took two attempts sandwiching a turnover plus a rebound by Larson before East Hardy scored on a jumper by Funkhouser with 3:30 left in the second period.
Moorefield missed and Ours reached over Kelican to try for a rebound, but the ball went off his hand out of bounds.
Larson tapped the ball across the baseline and recovered it, but was called for a walk.
Larson made up for the mistake with a steal, then Moran fouled Jesse Dove, who added a free throw at 2:22.
Vance had the ball along the baseline near the hoop as the Cougars stepped over for a trap, but managed to release the ball over the defense for a field goal creating a 22-16 advantage at 2:02.
Kelican put up a circus shot under the basket to no avail as Haggerty snatched the rebound and was fouled.
Dove stole the ball and Ours reached in for it forcing a jump ball situation, then Larson scored on a putback at 1:07.
Tharp collected a defensive rebound and was off-balanced on the baseline falling back with a toss towards Funkhouser, who wasn’t looking and Haggerty saw the free ball and made the steal for a basket.
East Hardy missed and Ours made the board, then the Yellow Jackets committed a turnover.
Larson hit a 3-pointer with seven seconds left in the first half, but Moorefield was still in charge 24-21 going into the locker room as Vance stepped out on the final play.
The Yellow Jackets took a 26-21 lead at the 7:30 mark of the third period on a jumper by Haggerty.
Funkhouser grabbed an offensive rebound and was blocked by Haggerty with Kelican collecting the ricochet and missed the shot.
Funkhouser was fouled on the rebound and didn’t make the free throws, then Tharp got a rebound and Vance deflected a pass out of bounds.
Watts pulled down the next rebound and was tied up by Dove for a jump ball awarded back to the Cougars, then Ours fouled Funkhouser and one of two free throws were made.
Haggerty snatched two rebounds before making a putback to give Moorefield a 28-22 lead at 6:04.
Tharp knocked down a 3-pointer for the Cougars on the next possession.
East Hardy’s Casey Connelley made a defensive rebound, then Williams fouled Dove and both attempts went awry with Haggerty collecting the board.
Tharp snatched a defensive rebound and passed to Kelican, who drew a foul by Williams and sank both foul shots, 28-27 at 4:41.
Connelley stole the ball, but it was knocked out of bounds by Haggerty.
Watts played tight defense forcing Tharp to lose the ball out of bounds, then Funkhouser grabbed a defensive rebound and passed to Kelican, who threw down to Tharp with a pass back out to the perimeter where Kelican hit a 3-pointer at 3:36 to put East Hardy on top 30-28.
Connelley snatched a rebound, then Kelican assisted Tharp on a jumper in the paint to make it 32-28 at 2:50.
After a timeout by the Yellow Jackets, Moorefield went on a 7-0 run to regain the lead 35-32 at 1:34.
During that span, Moran turned a block into a jump ball, Vance drilled a 3-pointer, Watts hit a jumper off an assist by Moran, then Vance stole the ball and fed Moran for a field goal in the paint with a foul attempt.
Haggerty tipped the missed free throw back to Moran, then Williams was called for a walk.
Haggerty collected a defensive carom, then Larson swiped the ball from Moran and Haggerty blocked the ensuing shot.
After back-to-back turnovers, Tharp batted the ball into the hoop and grabbed the rim coming down as the crowd cheered with 35 seconds left in the third period.
Moorefield was whistled on a screen infraction with four seconds left, then Moran blocked Larson to end the period up 35-34.
It took five missed shots and one and a half minutes before a basket was made in the fourth period with Connelley recording a putback for the Cougars taking a 36-35 lead at 6:35.
Kelican made a steal, but couldn’t convert and there was a whistle on the rebound.
Tharp grabbed a defensive rebound and was fouled by Watts, then made one of the two free throws.
After a timeout, Watts assisted Haggerty on a 3-pointer as the Yellow Jackets swapped the lead 38-37 at 5:19.
Kelican was fouled by Haggerty on the drive and added two free throws to regain the edge at 5:01.
Haggerty netted an old-fashioned three-point play with the help of a lane violation to put Moorefield back up 41-39 at 4:43.
Both teams missed missed shots with rebounds defensively by Haggerty and Kelican.
Watts stuffed Tharp, who held on to the ball pushing back up for a basket to tie the game with 4:05 remaining.
Tharp collected a defensive board, then a shot by the Cougars went off the rim out of bounds.
Moran made a defensive rebound and passed to Watts for a jumper giving Moorefield a 43-41 lead with 3:03 left.
Haggerty swiped the ball, but the Yellow Jackets missed the basket and Tharp snatched the carom.
Kelican lost control of the ball under the hoop and Moran snatched it, then Tharp committed a foul.
After a timeout, Haggerty was sent to the free throw line and the battle continued down the stretch and into overtime with the Cougars finding a way to win.
East Hardy hosts Berkeley Springs on Wednesday and finishes the regular season on the road at Pendleton County on Friday.
Moorefield visits Frankfort for the season finale on Tuesday with the playoffs coming up next week.
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