Is there a reason to be feeling blue during the winter season?
Not if one is a Lady Yellow Jackets fan as Moorefield Girls Basketball returns all players from last year’s Class A Region II championship game and are ready to throw snowballs into the season with three holiday tournaments to spread the cheer in bringing another potentially strong postseason yuletide run making fans feel good wearing blue and not feeling blue.
Although, the gold uniforms will [private]brighten the ambience and atmosphere of the Hive.
Moorefield head coach Paul Keplinger enters his ninth season at the helm and will be joined by assistant coach Patrick McGregor.
“Glad to be coaching these girls. This group of seniors has had good success playing during their careers. We are looking for good things to happen and move even further into tournament play. They have improved each year and the goal to get to Charleston is what we all want. In order to do that we must ”win the day” and improve every time we are on the court,” Moorefield coach Paul Keplinger stated.
Moorefield finished last season in the regional championship game with a record of 13-12.
The Lady Yellow Jackets have been to the regional title contest the past two seasons and this year should be the charm as the third time with five seniors guiding the Hive movement: Gianna Fair, Madison McGregor, Isabelle Nesbit, Anna Riggleman and Lindsey Rinker.
Moorefield has an elite group of talent returning including the Potomac Valley Conference player of the year senior Lindsey Rinker, All-PVC senior Madison McGregor, All-PVC sophomore Lexi Gilhuys and all-time shot blocker senior Gianna Fair.
Rinker, a guard, netted her 1,000th career point last season as a junior and needs just 316 more points to become the all-time leading scorer in Moorefield program history.
McGregor, a guard, is closing in on the 1,000 point milestone with only 415 points remaining for the milestone and if the scrimmage against Hampshire is any indication with the plethora of perimeter shots made, this mark should be attainable.
Rinker and McGregor provide the Lady Yellow Jackets with a tremendous amount of offense, but defensively have created headaches for opponents along with the quickness of teammates finding ways to make the steals.
Moorefield senior forward Anna Riggleman returns to the squad after an injury in just the fifth game of her junior year and showed no signs of rust with aggressive defense fighting for loose balls in the recent scrimmage loss to Hampshire (69-54) and has an all-round shooting range to boost the Lady Yellow Jackets quest to the state tournament.
Opponents will have to make adjustments with the tallest member of the Hive squad lurking in the paint as senior center Gianna Fair has the height and power to leave a sting swatting the ball and collecting rebounds.
Moorefield senior forward Isabelle Nesbit covers opponents well on defense and knows how to create steals, then keeps the offense running smoothly with picks and movement around the floor with a nice jumper when needed.
Moorefield junior forward Remi Hinkle has been a great rebounder and has a solid jump shot to compliment a strong defensive play.
Gilhuys, a guard has excelled with ball handling and cuts to the basket entering her sophomore season and has been a spark plug on defense.
Cherish Moore, a sophomore guard, has shown tenacity on defense and has been developing shooting skills which will be on display for varsity and junior varsity.
Two freshmen have been chosen early in the season to spend time on the junior varsity and varsity rosters as Sterling Kump and Kaleigh Hunt have proven worthy with their hustle.
Joining Moore, Kump and Hunt on the junior varsity roster will be sophomore Amber Riggleman plus freshmen Brieanna Green, Marissa Ward, Sarah Weatherholt, Teia Ray and Deleny Crites.
The Lady Yellow Jackets start the season at the Hampshire Tip-off Tournament for the first time this weekend (Dec. 6-7) before visiting cross-county rival East Hardy on Tuesday.
“Moorefield played extremely good defense. They switch on screens which poses a problem for opponents. They communicate very well. [Madison McGregor] No. 12 was on fire hitting 3’s after 3’s and we didn’t shut her down. Their point guard [Lexi Gilhuys] handles the ball well. Lindsey Rinker, we always respect her. I see good things in Moorefield’s future. We play better at home. We didn’t have the energy, but that’s just conditioning at this point. We’re happy we got the win, but we are capable of better things,” Hampshire coach Julieanne Buckley commented after the scrimmage.
Moorefield will be returning to the Petersburg Holiday Tip-off Tournament on December 13-14.
After trips to Pendleton County and Southern Garrett, Moorefield will participate in the Strasburg Rams Hardwood Classic on December 27 and 30 to close out the year.
Moorefield’s home opener is on January 2 against Southern Garrett.
The Lady Yellow Jackets have a pair of Class AA opponents on the schedule with Petersburg (single A next year) and Keyser.
Moorefield added Williamstown and St. Marys to the schedule this season with both games on the road in late January.
The Lady Yellow Jackets close out the regular season at home against Allegany, Md.
Moorefield has the talent and experience to buzz to success.
“Made changes to the schedule this year. It is the hardest we have ever had. We have to play well each night to win but that’s part of getting them ready for the postseason,” Coach Keplinger noted.
Coach Keplinger took time to talk about each of his players and their attributes that will help this season:
Lindsey Rinker – Senior 4 year starter all PVC Guard floor leader sees floor well passed 1000 points as a junior needs 316 pts to become MHS all time leading scorer.
Madison McGregor – Sr 4 year starter all-PVC basketball smart. Good defender Great range as shooter. Needs 415 to reach 1000 for career pts.
Anna Riggleman – Sr. returning starter after injury in 5th game last year. Hustler. Hard working good rebounder and defender. Leads by her hustle and intensity.
Gianna Fair – Sr. returning starter Game changer with her size. Shot blocker.
Isabelle Nesbit – Sr. 4 year player. Role player who can rebound and play defense.
Remi Hinkle – Jr returning starter with great length. Physical Aggressive player rebounds well.
Lexi Gilhuys – So returning starter all -PVC good ball skills. quick. Can beat people of the bounce and get to basket.
Cherish Moore – So returning player very quick and aggressive defensively role player. Will split time with JV/V.
Sterling Kump – Fr hustler good length role player will split time with JV.
Kaleigh Hunt – Fr hustler aggressive guard role player who will split time with JV.[/private]
