Suffering a 16-point loss on the road in Strasburg forced the Yellow Jackets to change strategy in the Hive during a rematch which caused a roller-coaster ride with the Rams rumbling for a rally sealed with free throws for a 52-48 victory over Moorefield last Saturday afternoon.
“We played a lot of zone tonight and the kids did a good job playing zone for the most part and we rebounded well out of it 95 percent of the game. We just had a couple mental lapses that kind of killed us. They hit some big shots and they’re good shooters. For the most part we ran at them and ran them off the 3-point line, but they are good shooters and made some big shots when it counted. Jaydon See stepped up and did a really good job for us underneath. Some mental lapses and turnovers hurt us, some missed rebounds killed us,” Moorefield Boys Basketball coach Scott Stutler commented.
Strasburg’s Derek Fox scored a game-high 25 points in the win including a crucial free throw and steal in the last three seconds.
Moorefield held the lead from midway in the second period, until 5:21 remaining in the final stanza as the Rams crept back to the top of the mountain.
A 3-pointer by Moorefield’s Chase Vance at the 7:18 mark of the fourth period created a 40-37 lead.
A goal-tending violation credited Strasburg’s Trevor Sager with a basket on the ensuing possession.
The Yellow Jackets missed a field goal, then Strasburg’s Ron Fox was whistled for a charge.
Kamyrn Pangle stole the ball and made a breakaway layup putting the Rams ahead 41-40 with 5:21 left.
Ron Fox collected a defensive rebound and the Rams slowed down the pace of the game before a foul sent Pangle to the line adding one free throw with 3:53 to go.
Moorefield’s Lane Ours snatched an offensive rebound and was fouled leading to one free throw made.
Strasburg collected the ricochet and passed the ball around for over a minute before Derek Fox knocked own a 3-pointer at the 2:05 mark.
Strasburg’s Trey Stinnette collected a defensive carom, but the Rams lost the ball out of play during a collision.
After a timeout, Moorefield’s Jaydon See assisted Chase Vance on a jumper slicing the Rams lead down to 45-43 with 1:18 on the clock.
A foul with one minute to go sent Pangle to the free throw line adding two more points for Strasburg.
Pangle forced a turnover knocking the ball to teammate Trevor Sager, who was fouled with 42 seconds remaining and added one foul shot.
Moorefield’s Trevor Shoemaker collected the rebound, but the Yellow Jackets lost the ball out of play within two seconds.
Strasburg called a timeout just before a five-second violation call, then Pangle was whistled for a pushing foul trying to gain separation on the inbound pass.[private]
Ours was sent to the charity stripe and connected on both free throws for Moorefield for a 48-45 score.
Strasburg fought through the press and made a couple of passes before a foul was recognized with Derek Fox stepping to the line making one free throw.
Moorefield’s Chase Vance drove inside the paint, then passed out to Coleman Mongold missing the perimeter shot and the ball was rebounded by Fox.
Moorefield fouled Pangle with 15 seconds left and both free throws were made for a 51-45 Rams edge.
Mongold drilled a 3-pointer for the Yellow Jackets with only six seconds remaining.
A quick foul with three seconds to go, sent Derek Fox to the free throw line making the second of two free throw attempts for a 52-48 advantage before making a steal in the waning seconds to seal the win for Strasburg.
The Yellow Jackets were without senior perimeter sharp shooter Thomas Williams due to illness, but battled with a tremendous tenacity.
The Rams netted three 3-pointers in the opening five minutes aiding a 13-5 lead.
Strasburg’s Ron Fox started the contest with a trey at the 7:22 mark and the Yellow Jackets answered with a jumper by Chase Vance at 7:07.
Derek Fox knocked down a perimeter shot on the ensuing Rams possession at 6:45 before grabbing a defensive rebound and Pangle collided with a Yellow Jackets defender for a trip to the free throw line adding two more points for an 8-2 lead.
Moorefield’s Jaydon See drilled a 3-pointer at the 5:47 mark, but Strasburg responded with the same by Derek Fox 27 seconds later.
Pangle stole the ball and scored to create the 13-5 lead at the 5:05 mark of the first period.
A put-back was made on the next Yellow Jackets series by Trevor Shoemaker.
Ours collected a defensive rebound, then Moorefield’s Jaydon See hit a jumper at the 4:03 mark to slice the deficit to 13-9.
Strasburg hit the rim and Vance hauled in the board, then Derek Fox snatched the ball back and was fouled leading to two free throws made.
Derek Fox grabbed a defensive carom and was assisted by Ron Fox on the next Rams field goal at 2:45 for a 17-9 lead.
See notched one free throw on the following series and Pangle hauled in the board, then Ron Fox was fouled adding two more points at the line, 19-10 with 1:56 left in the frame.
One minute later, Moorefield’s Lane Ours drove inside the paint and dished the ball outside to Brent Moran for a perimeter basket making it 19-13.
Starting the second period, the Yellow Jackets lost the ball out of play before See collected a defensive rebound leading to a 3-pointer by Ryan McGregor at the 7:11 mark.
Strasburg’s Trey Stinnette fumbled the ball out of bounds, then Chase Vance lifted the ball up underneath the hoop for a Moorefield basket at 6:04.
Both teams missed shots, then Derek Fox made a jumper for the Rams at 4:55.
The Yellow Jackets tied the game at 21-all on a 3-pointer by Coleman Mongold.
Strasburg missed two field goals and lost the ball out of bounds prior to Moorefield gaining the lead with a free throw by Mongold at 3:09.
Moran snatched a defensive rebound and the Yellow Jackets went up 24-21 at the 2:33 mark as Shoemaker made a put-back.
Mongold collected a defensive rebound and scored another 3-pointer for Moorefield at 1:57.
A steal was made by Mongold, who passed to Vance drawing a foul to add one free throw as the Yellow Jackets carried a 28-21 lead into halftime.
Beginning the third period, Strasburg’s Kamryn Pangle drained a 3-pointer at the 7:45 mark.
Moorefield’s Jaydon See responded with one free throw on the next possession.
Strasburg missed a field goal and the ball bounced out of bounds, but Pangle stole the ball back with an alley-pop attempt going awry as the Rams committed a foul.
See netted a jumper at the 5:35 mark giving the Yellow Jackets a 31-24 edge.
The Rams went back to the perimeter answering on a shot by Derek Fox, one of his five 3-pointers.
Sager blocked a shot, then Fox fell down on a 3-pointer attempt for a trip to the charity stripe making two of the baskets to cut the deficit to 31-29 at the 4:52 mark.
Moorefield lost the ball, but the Rams failed to score and Shoemaker grabbed the board.
The Yellow Jackets missed and Pangle collected the rebound.
After an errant Rams attempt, there was a jump ball going to Moorefield and See scored at the 3:35 mark.
Derek Fox connected on a trey on the ensuing Strasburg series to make it 33-32 with 3:11 left in the third stanza.
After a free throw by See, Vance deflected a pass and Moran hauled in the ricochet for the turnover before Strasburg’s Jenkins blocked a shot.
Moorefield missed two field goals with rebounds by Mongold and Pangle.
Mongold stole the ball for the Yellow Jackets, but Moran was whistled for a charge moments later.
Mongold tried to corral a rebound, but fumbled the ball out of play.
The Rams kept the possession alive with rebounds by Stinnette and Sager, then Sager completed an old-fashioned three-point play with 18 seconds left giving Strasburg a 35-34 lead.
Moorefield answered with a 3-pointer by Vance to regain the lead 37-35 entering the fourth period, then the Rams rallied for the win.
Strasburg was guided by Derek Fox with 25 points and Pangle contributed 14 points.
Moorefield was paced by Vance with 13 points, followed by See with 12 and Mongold added 10.
In JV action, Moorefield won 57-45 over the Rams.
The Yellow Jackets were led by Dean Keplinger scoring a game-high 20 points, followed by Coleman Mongold and Karson Reed with 11 markers apiece. [/private]
Moorefield (5-6) hosts Pocahontas County tonight and visits Pendleton County on Friday.
