Coming off winter break both teams struggled to break the ice on the rims combining for 50 missed field goals with the Yellow Jackets chipping away for a 17-14 halftime lead, but Pendleton County warmed up the hoop with late third quarter shooting as Moorefield became frigid during the Wildcats 55-41 victory last Wednesday in the Hive.
“We got into some foul trouble and they started pushing the pace. They played faster and more physical in the second half and we couldn’t keep up. We just need to make some shots and quit turning the ball over,” Moorefield coach Scott Stutler noted.
Pendleton County missed the game’s first shot attempt and Moorefield’s Thomas Williams hauled in the rebound, but stepped out of bounds in the process.
Brent Moran stole the ball back for the Yellow Jackets, then Matthew Jenkins cut into the paint and dished outside to Grant Keller, who hit the rim on a perimeter attempt with Moran snatching the board and his shot bounced off the rim out of play.
Keller grabbed a defensive rebound and passed to Moran, who made a spinning jumper in the paint for a 2-nil edge at the 6:30 mark for the Yellow Jackets.
Pendleton County answered with a layup by Bailey Thompson at the 5:55 mark.
Moorefield missed its next three shot attempts with rebounds going to Jenkins, then Pendleton County’s Marcus Sites with a foul on the Wildcats and Timothy Thorne with a foul on Moorefield.
Pendleton County missed a basket and the ball ricocheted out of bounds, then Laird Sweet stole the ball.
The Wildcats and the Yellow Jackets both walked, then Sites drew a foul and netted the pair of free throws for a 4-2 edge at 3:49.
Both teams missed opportunities to score, before Williams drew a foul and made both shots from the charity stripe to knot the game at 4-all at 2:04.
On the ensuing possession, Sweet scored on a jumper for Pendleton County to regain the lead.
Sweet snatched a defensive rebound, then Moorefield’s Jaydon See stole it away and passed to Moran for a bucket to tie it up at 1:15, 6-all.
“We made some adjustments at halftime. Our shot selection and our patience at times was almost too picky. We weren’t getting out in transition and we really wanted to pick up the tempo and that was the key to the second half. Before the transition, it was solid D forcing low percentage shots. We did a better job getting into our transition spots and collapsing in the paint instead of having to run an offensive set over and over again. From an energy standpoint and I think both ways, a 17-14 first half it was clear the kids weren’t in school today. They weren’t in their routine, but in a rivalry like this the kids need to bring their own energy from the get-go,” Pendleton County coach Ryan Lambert remarked.
Ten seconds elapsed before the Wildcats scored on a shot from Thompson and Pendleton County carried the 8-6 lead into the second period as the Yellow Jackets missed thrice in the closing minute and the Wildcats missed one.
During that stretch, Keller and Moran made rebounds for Moorefield and Thompson blocked a shot for the Wildcats.
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Commencing the second period, Moorefield’s Jaydon See was called for an offensive foul before denying Sites a path to the basket and deflected a pass out of bounds.
Williams grabbed a defensive rebound and was fouled by the Wildcats.
Sweet collected a rebound, then Pendleton County missed a shot and See snatched the board leading to a 3-pointer by Grant Keller as the Yellow Jackets took a 9-8 lead at the 5:28 mark.
The Wildcats missed two attempts and there were fouls on both teams over the next minute before Williams shook off a steal and went inside for a layup to put Moorefield up 11-8 at 4:21.
Jenkins grabbed a defensive board for the Yellow Jackets, then Sites went for a steal attempt against Williams, who went diving to the floor and Williams was called for a foul on the sequence.
Sites made both free throws at the 3:42 mark to pull the Wildcats within one point, 11-10.
Pendleton County’s Joshua Wagoner stole the ball, then Thompson was whistled for a charge.
Keller was fouled on a 3-pointer attempt and made two of the three foul shots.
The Wildcats missed two field goals and the latter ricochet went into the hands of Keller, who was hacked and made both free throws for a 15-10 advantage with 2:11 left in the first half.
Pendleton County answered with a layup by Sites, but Moorefield found an opening for a jumper by Williams in response as the Yellow Jackets went up 17-12 with 1:38 to go.
Moorefield’s Lane Ours stole the ball and stalled on offense before a missed shot and Colt Smith got the rebound for the Wildcats with a foul leading to an errant free throw, then Jaydon See grabbed the board for the Yellow Jackets.
Sites stole the ball, then Thompson was fouled and made both free throws to make it 17-14.
Moran spun with the ball and was called for a walk, then a last second attempt by the Wildcats ricocheted off the ceiling as the buzzer sounded.
Pendleton County opened the second half with a game-tying 3-pointer by Sites at 7:39, 17-all.
Moorefield missed its first of 15 shot attempts for the second half and Sites collected the board.
The Wildcats hit the rim twice with rebounds by Thorne and Sweet, then Thorne hit a jumper at 6:20 for the lead, 19-17.
Williams drew a foul and made both free throws to tie the game for the Yellow Jackets just ten seconds later.
Over the next minute, there were stars by Keller and Thompson, then the Wildcats missed twice and lost the ball out of play.
Moran nailed a running jumper in the paint for a 21-19 Moorefield edge at 4:57, but the Wildcats answered on the next series with a layup by Thompson locking the game.
Sweet grabbed a defensive rebound which led to a score by Wagoner giving Pendleton County the lead at 3:55, 23-21.
Moorefield missed a shot attempt, then Sweet collected the board and Wagoner scored again.
Isaiah Gardiner made a defensive rebound, but was called for a charge as Moorefield’s Ben O’Neill stood his ground.
Keller passed inside to Jenkins, who was fouled and missed both free throws with Gardiner grabbing the rebound.
Thompson did a spin to avoid a steal by Jenkins, but contact was made for a foul.
A pass just over the defense to Thorne created a basket as Pendleton County went up 27-21 at 2:34.
Moorefield missed a shot and the ball was lost out of play off of Moran, then Moran stole the ball and an offensive penalty was called on the ensuing attempt.
Thorne added two free throws for Pendleton County, then Thompson blocked a shot.
Sites picked up his fourth foul, then Moran bumped into Wagoner on a drive with Wagoner being assessed a blocking foul which was his third.
Gardiner collected a carom, then a trap by the Yellow Jackets forced a turnover.
Moorefield didn’t take advantage of it, then Thompson scored an old-fashioned three-point play to extend the Wildcats lead to 32-21 with 31 seconds left in the third period.
Townsend blocked a shot and took the ball to the hoop, but had to try a second time to score and drew the harm for another free throw making it 35-21 with nine seconds to go.
Moran hopped into the paint and collided with Pendleton County’s Taylor Wimer for a defensive foul, but Moran was injured on the play requiring a substitution for the free throw shooting with Addison Barb coming in as the replacement missing the attempt.
In the first minute of the fourth period, Moorefield missed three field goals and the Wildcats netted two baskets in the paint by Townsend and Sweet for a 39-21 advantage.
The Yellow Jackets finally got a shot to fall as Williams hit a jumper at 6:38.
After a timeout, Pendleton County struck again and Thompson collected a defensive board leading to a basket by Thorne to make it 43-23 with 6:01 remaining.
Jenkins snatched a defensive rebound and Ours kept the offensive possession alive with another board before Williams hit a 3-pointer for Moorefield cutting the deficit to 43-28 at 5:16.
Sites scored on a layup for the Wildcats, then swiped the ball and dished to Gardiner for a basket to make it 47-28.
A steal by Gardiner led to a basket by Wagoner at the 3:36 mark.
Williams drove inside colliding with Sites, who fouled out and Williams made both free throws for the Yellow Jackets.
Gardiner stole the ball, but Ours snatched it back and drilled a 3-pointer as Moorefield made it a 49-33 game with 2:48 to go.
Pendleton County’s Colt Smith added two free throws on the next series, then Sweet grabbed a defensive rebound and was fouled.
After the missed shot, See collected the board for the Yellow Jackets which led to a layup by Williams.
The Wildcats added two field goals and Moorefield missed twice over the next minute of play.
The Yellow Jackets garnered a pair of 3-pointers in the closing minute as Williams made one to commence it and Addison Barb added another perimeter shot with three seconds left to slice the deficit to 55-41 for the final score.
Williams led Moorefield with 18 points, followed by Keller nine points and Moran added eight markers.
Pendleton County was guided by Thompson with 18 points, followed by Sites with 11 points and Sweet and Thorne pitched in ten markers apiece during the win.
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