The Vikings marched to a 9-nil lead to commence the game and Moorefield rallied to take a lead in the second period before Petersburg countered for a 30-27 halftime edge and built a double-digit advantage entering the fourth period culminating in a 67-57 victory halting a five-game losing skid on Wednesday night in Petersburg.
“Moorefield is a great team and they bring a lot of pressure. You really have to be ready at all times, because they aren’t going to stop. I know we came out on a 9-0 run, but I told the guys we could run them. They played their butts off. We were lucky to have few shots go down and they missed a few shots. We did a few good things and knocked down some foul shots in the end. I am proud of the boys stepping up and knocking down foul shots to close it out. The defense is really what won it for us, we played solid defense tonight and did a lot of things right,” Petersburg Boys Basketball coach Todd Heare commented.
It was a rocky start for the Yellow Jackets (5-5), but determination to fight never diminished.
Petersburg (3-10) took the opening tip-off with a save by Slade Saville, then missed the initial field goal attempt with a deflection collected by Moorefield’s Trevor Shoemaker prior to a turnover with an over-and-back mid-court violation.
Dalton Lough drove into the paint and dished to Saville for the Vikings basket underneath the rim at the 7:07 mark.
Petersburg’s Charlie Moomau snatched two defensive rebounds sandwiching a walk by the Vikings.
Moomau assisted Saville on a jumper at the 6:01 mark giving the Vikings a 4-0 edge.
The Yellow Jackets fumbled the ball out of bounds, then Lough knocked down a 3-pointer on the ensuing possession for Petersburg.
Moorefield hit the rim again and Saville hauled in the board, then Petersburg’s Kahner Turner netted a put-back for the 9-nil advantage at the 4:45 mark and a timeout was called.
Moorefield’s Brent Moran dished to Chase Vance, who connected on a jumper simultaneously drawing a foul adding the additional marker to complete an old-fashioned three-point play at 4:34, 9-3.
Petersburg’s Lane Huffman drew a foul and made two free throws, then the Yellow Jackets lost the ball out of play.
After a rebound by Saville turned into a jump ball, the Yellow Jackets were given possession and Vance drilled a shot at 3:44, 11-5.
Lane Ours grabbed a defensive rebound for Moorefield, but Saville swiped the ball back and scored for the Vikings at 2:58.
Shoemaker cut across the top of the key and found Vance for a Yellow Jackets field goal at 2:31.
Huffman kept a Vikings possession alive with a rebound and Saville assisted Lough on a jumper.
Petersburg’s Kahner Turner made a steal, but was whistled for a charge moments later.
Huffman stole the ball and netted a layup for the Vikings at 1:49 to extend the lead 17-7.
Moorefield’s Thomas Williams sank a pair of charity stripe buckets at the 1:27 mark and the score remained at 17-9 entering the second period as both teams missed opportunities in the final minute.
“We were terrible. They hit some great shots and we didn’t make them when we shot them. We were 12-of-29 from the paint. They hit some big shots and we didn’t play very well,” Moorefield Boys Basketball coach Scott Stutler remarked.
Petersburg drew iron on ten field goal attempts in the second stanza as the Yellow Jackets buzzed back into the game.
Vance grabbed a defensive carom and was fouled on the ensuing Moorefield possession resulting in one free throw made.
Petersburg’s Cody Nuzum collected the board off the foul line shot, then the next Vikings shot hit the rim and bounced out of play.
Moorefield’s Brent Moran scored on a layup cutting the deficit to 17-12 at the 7:32 mark.
After a foul and a missed basket, there was a jump ball given to the Yellow Jackets and Williams drilled a jumper.
Jaydon See snatched a defensive rebound for the Yellow Jackets and Moran kept a series alive with an offensive rebound feeding See for a bucket at 6:23 slicing the score down to 17-16.
Both teams missed a couple of field goals over the next minute and change before a rebound by See led to a lead-changing layup by Moran giving Moorefield an 18-17 edge at the 4:44 mark.
Moorefield’s only lead of the game last for 22 seconds as Saville collected an offensive board and found Lough for a 3-pointer as the Vikings regained the lead 20-18.
In a span of 45 seconds, there were 3-pointers scored thrice times as Lough and Turner netted perimeter shots for Petersburg surrounding a trey by Moorefield’s Coleman Mongold with the Vikings going up 26-21 at 3:03.
Saville made a defensive rebound, then a loose ball off a missed shot went off the Yellow Jackets out of bounds.
Petersburg extended the lead to 28-21 on a score by Huffman at the 2:26 mark.
Vance netted a put-back for Moorefield, then Lane Ours made a leaping save for a rebound.
Moran cleaned the boards several times before netting a basket as the Yellow Jackets made it a one possession contest with 1:21 remaining in the first half, 28-25.
Petersburg added two more points in the last minute on a layup by Huffman and Moorefield notched two free throws by Vance for a 30-27 score at the break.
The Vikings missed a few shots to begin the [private]third period with rebounds by Saville, Charlie Moomau and Lough with the latter resulting in a basket by Moomau at 7:17.
Turner blocked a shot, but the Moorefield’s Brent Moran recovered the ball before two errant shots with rebounds by Vance and Ours kept the series alive until a lane violation.
Huffman knocked down a 3-pointer at the 6:01 mark to give Petersburg a 35-27 lead.
Moran made a drive to the basket and dished outside to See for a Moorefield jumper at the 5:36 mark.
Over the next minute and change, Petersburg missed a field goal and lost the ball out of play as the Yellow Jackets hit the rim three times prior to the drought ending at 4:12 on a 3-pointer from Petersburg’s Matt VanMeter, 38-29.
See hauled in an offensive carom and passed to Moran for a jumper at the 3:42 mark.
Moorefield missed its next two shot attempts as the Vikings scored twice to create a 42-31 lead with 2:31 remaining in the third period.
Ours scored in the paint for the Yellow Jackets on the ensuing possession, but Petersburg answered with a questionable 3-pointer by Huffman as the ball bounced off the rim and rolled off the top of the backboard back into the net.
Moorefield went to the perimeter as Williams drilled a 3-pointer in response for a 45-36 score at 1:22.
After a put-back from Saville, Moran drew a foul and netted one free throw.
Shoemaker made a block and took the ball away from the Vikings leading to a jumper by Moran cutting the deficit to 47-39 with 25 seconds left in the frame.
Turner collected an offensive rebound and was blocked by Moorefield’s Coleman Mongold, but Petersburg found a way to score as Lough hit a jumper with one second remaining, 49-39.
Quentin Oates made a basket for the Vikings 11 seconds into the final stanza and drew a foul with the extra shot hitting the rim.
Moorefield’s Trevor Shoemaker collected the board and passed to Coleman Mongold, who was hacked and connected on both charity stripe baskets at 7:43.
VanMeter made a layup on the next Petersburg possession.
Lough grabbed a defensive rebound and passed to Saville, who was fouled and made both extra buckets, 55-41 at the 7:18 mark.
Moorefield’s Yosef Malaki made a steal and dished to Moran, who drew a foul and added one free throw.
Mongold blocked a shot, then stole the ball prior to two more fouls by the Vikings.
Malaki netted a layup for the Yellow Jackets with 5:55 remaining to make it 55-44.
Vance hauled in a defensive rebound and passed to Ours for a layup on the next series.
Both teams missed field goals before Turner knocked down a jumper for the Vikings at the 3:54 mark.
The rim wasn’t friendly over the next minute, then Williams scored on a pair of free throws for Moorefield with 2:39 to go, 57-48.
Saville added one free throw just 11 seconds later and Ours collected the board, but Turner stole the ball and the Vikings missed a shot.
Ours blocked an attempt and the Vikings kicked the ball out of play, then Saville blocked a shot and Huffman scored moments later for Petersburg for a 60-48 lead at 1:52.
Petersburg made a defensive rebound and it took the Yellow Jackets four fouls to finally put the Vikings in the bonus sending Lough to the line with 1:31 left and his shot hit the rim.
Moorefield’s Jaydon See hauled in the rebound and Moran split through two defenders in the paint drawing a foul leading to a pair of fouls shots made at the 1:24 mark, 60-50.
Down the stretch, the Vikings notched seven free throws (Turner 4, Saville 2, Huffman 1) to seal the win countering a 3-pointer by Moorefield’s Coleman Mongold and jumpers from Vance and Moran for a final score of 67-57.
Petersburg was led in scoring by Huffman with 15 points, followed by Lough with 13, Saville and Turner with 11 apiece.
Moorefield was guided by Moran with 16 points, followed by Vance with 14 and Williams with nine.
In JV action, the Yellow Jackets defeated Petersburg 63-50.
Moorefield JV Boys Basketball was led by Coleman Mongold with 20 points, followed by Dean Keplinger with 19 markers and Ryan McGregor contributed 14.[/private]
