The Lady Yellow Jackets inundated the Den in Baker with a 27-5 halftime advantage before swarming to a 56-16 victory over East Hardy during the second edition of the Hardy County Girls Hardwood Classic.
“Coming off a game like we did, I thought we would come out a little flat. It took a little while to get going. We started to get more aggressive towards the end of the first half. We were consistent scoring across the board, but our first half shooting was only 35 percent. We picked it up a little 39-35 in the second half. We don’t want to develop bad habits going into the playoffs,” Moorefield coach Paul Keplinger noted.
Moorefield went on a 13-0 run in the first four and half minutes of the game, then the Lady Cougars got on the board netting four points in the final three minutes of the frame.
East Hardy’s Erin Riggle grabbed a defensive rebound to begin the game, then Moorefield’s Lexi Gilhuys stole the ball and the ensuing shot was off the mark again.
Moorefield’s Remi Hinkle was there for a rebound and scored in the paint for the initial 2-nil lead at 6:55.
The Lady Cougars lost the ball, then Riggle snatched it back before Moorefield’s Lindsey Rinker deflected two passes out of play.
Gianna Fair blocked a shot for the Lady Yellow Jackets, then made two offensive rebounds before sinking a putback at the 5:21 mark.
A minute later after missed shots both ways, Fair scored on an old-fashioned three-point play to extend Moorefield’s lead to 7-0.
Gilhuys collected a defensive rebound, then hit a 3-pointer after a collision by a teammate.
Fair hauled in a rebound and passed to Remi Hinkle, who found Rinker for a 3-pointer which gave the Lady Yellow Jackets the 13-0 advantage at the 3:33 mark.
Moorefield’s Gracie O’Neill stole the ball, but the ensuing shot went awry and East Hardy’s Jaden Fleshman made the rebound before being tied up for a jump ball.
The ball went off the rim for the Lady Cougars, then ricocheted off Moorefield out of play.
After a block by Hinkle, East Hardy’s Chelsea Keller netted a jumper at the 2:30 mark trailing Moorefield 13-2.
Riggle collected a rebound, but the ball was stolen by Rinker and O’Neill leading to a missed shot.
East Hardy’s Rebecca Whetzel snatched the defensive rebound, but the Lady Cougars lost the ball out of bounds on a hurried pass.
East Hardy’s Katie Short grabbed a rebound after a Moorefield miss, then Gilhuys committed a foul.
Gilhuys stole the ball and passed to O’Neill, who lost control of the ball entering the paint and Short collected the turnover leading to a basket by Mackenzie Blair with 15 seconds left in the first period for a 13-4 score.
“I’m happy with our defensive effort tonight, holding them to under 60 points. For us, that’s a good thing. Our shots didn’t fall and they usually don’t fall, so we’re happy with the defensive effort,” East Hardy coach Bridget Billmeyer remarked.
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The Lady Yellow Jackets outscored East Hardy 14-1 in the second period and maintained the momentum the rest of the game.
Moorefield opened the second period with a 3-pointer by Madison McGregor, then Rinker stole the ball during a press and Gilhuys drew a foul.
Gilhuys missed the free throws, but Fair was there for the rebound and passed back out to Gilhuys for a 3-pointer to make it 19-4 at the 7:03 mark.
Hinkle grabbed a defensive rebound and was tied up by East Hardy’s Perry Whetzel and Jaden Fleshman for a jump ball.
Fair was called for a foul on a block attempt, then East Hardy’s Rebecca Whetzel missed her free throw attempts.
On minute later, Rinker made a defensive rebound and assisted Hinkle on a layup at the 5:54 mark.
A deep pass play by the Lady Cougars went out of bounds as the receiver hadn’t turned around in time to make a move to catch it.
Rebecca Whetzel blocked a shot for the Lady Cougars, then Jones forced a jump ball.
McGregor swiped the ball, but the ensuing pass went out of bounds with Fleshman playing defense.
Neither team made baskets over the next couple of minutes as the sound of the rim reverberated through the gym.
A steal by Jones came up empty as McGregor deflected the pass and Gilhuys went in for a steal leading to a layup at 1:57 to break the ice after six missed field goals. 23-4.
A free throw by East Hardy’s Rebecca Whetzel was the only point for her squad coming at the 1:21 mark of the second period.
Jones stepped out of bounds after getting the rebound, then McGregor assisted Fair on a jumper as the Lady Yellow Jackets kept buzzing.
After a steal by Gilhuys and a couple missed shots with rebounds by Moorefield’s Charity Moore, a pass made to Gilhuys turned into a jumper, 27-5.
Moore blocked a shot, then the Lady Cougars missed twice before the buzzer sounded for halftime with a rebound by Keller.
A minute into the third period was filled by Moorefield’s Remi Hinkle and East Hardy’s Jaden Fleshman making steals plus a couple of jump balls and one missed shot by the Lady Yellow Jackets.
Keller drew a foul and made one free throw at the 6:55 mark for the Lady Cougars, 27-6.
Moorefield went on another 13-0 run starting with a 3-pointer by Gilhuys at the 6:20 mark, then Rinker grabbed a defensive rebound and made a layup on the other end.
Gilhuys, Hinkle and O’Neill added field goals over the next couple of minutes for a 40-6 lead.
At the 3:01 mark, East Hardy notched a field goal as Fleshman hit a jumper after a defensive rebound by Rebecca Whetzel.
Moorefield missed twice and rebounds by Jones turned into jump balls.
After a foul, Whetzel made an inbounds pass assist to Keller for a jumper making it 40-10 with 2:30 remaining in the third period.
Moore netted a 3-pointer with under a minute left in the frame for the Lady Yellow Jackets and Blair netted a mid-range jumper for East Hardy.
A steal by Perry Whetzel didn’t create anything as her pass was deflected out of bounds by Rinker as time expired, 43-12.
McGregor knocked down a 3-pointer for Moorefield in the fourth period, plus Moore and Isabelle Nesbit contributed points as well.
East Hardy had baskets made by Rebecca Whetzel and Jaden Fleshman in the fourth period.
The Lady Yellow Jackets scored four points in the final seven seconds as Gilhuys netted a jumper before stealing the ball and hitting the net before the buzzer for a 56-16 final score.
Gilhuys scored a game-high 21 points for Moorefield, followed by Rinker with eight points.
East Hardy was led by Chelsea Keller with five points, then Fleshman and Blair added four markers apiece.
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