Third time was the charm as the Yellow Jackets stung the Class A No. 7 ranked Tucker County Girls Basketball team in triple overtime by a score of 73-69 in the Hive last Saturday.
It was a battle early in the contest with a tied game entering the second period at 16-all, then Moorefield took a seven point lead into halftime 32-25.
There had been about a two-week hiatus for the Yellow Jackets, but that evidence didn’t show with the intensity throughout the contest.
The Yellow Jackets (8-10) built a ten point advantage in the fourth period, but the Mountain Lions (12-6) rallied to take the lead and Moorefield forced the first overtime and the thrilling fight spilled into three extra stanzas.
“We had to reach overtime, then keep bringing it back. We finally got down to where we were up, then we had to go to the foul line. We’re a good free throw shooting team, but we missed a few. Everybody missed and they started to come back,” Moorefield coach Paul Keplinger stated.
“We made some plays in the end. Remi Hinkle had a huge free throw to tie the game at the end of regulation. I am proud of them, they played hard for four quarters and three overtime periods. It was a team effort and Cherish Moore came out and played a really great game. She made a couple of buckets, rebounded and had a few blocks. She gave us a big three which gave us a lift and some energy. That’s what it takes and Isabelle Nesbit gave us good minutes. This is what it will take for us to keep marching on. We had a big layoff and finally had this game. We get to see Tucker County again on February 19.”
A steal by Moorefield’s Lindsey Rinker with a dish to Cherish Moore inside the paint provided a 46-36 lead over the Mountain Lions with 6:40 remaining in the fourth period.
Tucker County’s Terra Kuhn notched two free throws on the ensuing possession as part of her game-high 38 points.
Kuhn grabbed a defensive rebound, but Rinker stole the ball back and assisted Moore on another shot at 5:55.
The Mountain Lions answered with a jumper by Katie Colebank and Kuhn snatched another board and scored moments later for a 48-42 score with five minutes to go.
The Yellow Jackets hit the rim again and Tucker County’s Jessie Daniels collected the carom and Kuhn added a putback at the 4:28 mark.
Moorefield slowed the pace down before the Mountain Lions forced a jump ball, then Gracie Rapp drew a foul and made one foul shot at 3:31 with Moorefield’s Gianna Fair grabbing the board.
Rapp swiped the ball and setup Daniels for a game-tying 3-pointer at the 3:09 mark, 48-all.
After a timeout, Fair collected an offensive rebound and passed to Rinker, who completed an old-fashioned three-point play as the Yellow Jackets regained the lead at 2:30, 51-48.[private]
Colebank knocked down a jumper in the paint on the ensuing Tucker County possession.
Rinker dribbled around to eat time off the clock before being fouled and made both free throws for a 53-50 Moorefield edge with 1:31 left in the fourth period.
Rinker led the Yellow Jackets with 25 points in the triple overtime victory including ten markers in the extra frames.
“The energy we got from the student section set the tone for the whole game with them screaming the whole time and us making big plays after big plays. Tucker came down the court and made some shots, then we came back up four points and my teammates were excited. Having each other’s backs is what counts and made this win happen. It affects the whole game, no let up,” Moorefield senior Lindsey Rinker commented.
“The mentality we had when we were up ten in the huddle saying there were no easy layups and they were going to shoot, we had to stay strong. We never got down on ourselves and we decided this was our game and our court. Our fans were here and we were going to get through it tonight. My favorite thing is seeing my teammates happy, so anytime I can draw two defenders I am dishing it. If they can make the shot, then I am pleased. We haven’t played in two weeks, so this was a big win like two weeks worth of games in this one in a third overtime. It was an intense game, crazy.”
Eleven seconds later, Kuhn made a field goal for the Mountain Lions.
Colebank hauled in a rebound off a missed Yellow Jackets free throw, then Kuhn netted a jumper with 50 seconds on the clock with a foul attached missing the extra basket as Tucker County took a 54-53 lead.
Tucker County’s London Hood blocked Rinker, but the Yellow Jackets recovered the ball and hit the rim with Kuhn making the rebound.
Moorefield’s Madison McGregor stole the ball, but missed the breakaway layup and Remi Hinkle collected the rebound diving for the loose ball and was fouled with seven seconds remaining.
Hinkle made the first of two free throws to tie the game at 54-all for the Yellow Jackets forcing overtime as Hood’s rebound after the second shot led to an errant attempt at the buzzer.
Moorefield won the first overtime tip-off and worked the ball around the top of the key before Rinker found Hinkle for a jumper at 3:25 for a 56-54 edge and a fourth foul was committed by Rapp with the foul shot hitting the rim.
Colebank made the rebound, then the Mountain Lions missed a field goal and Hinkle snatched the board for the Yellow Jackets.
Rinker assisted Moore on a layup with 2:56 left in the first overtime putting Moorefield ahead 58-54.
Hinkle stole the ball and was blocked by Hood, then Rinker swiped the ball and the ensuing shot hit the rim and Colebank collected the carom.
Rinker was sent to the foul line with 1:46 left in overtime making one of two shots, 59-54.
Kuhn hit a jumper along the baseline on the next Tucker County series at the 1:30 mark.
Moorefield took about 35 seconds off the clock before the Mountain Lions elected to foul with Rinker returning to the charity stripe adding one more point and Kuhn snatched the board.
Kuhn lost control of the ball in the paint and went to her knees making a pass to Colebank for a basket with 45 seconds remaining in the initial overtime, 60-58.
Kuhn plowed her elbow into Rinker with no foul called and Rinker managed to pass off to Riggleman, who was immediately fouled and missed both free throws as Kuhn got the rebound.
Colebank collected an offensive rebound and drew a foul leading to two free throws made to tie the game at 60 apiece with 21 seconds on the clock.
The ball was deflected out of the hands of Rinker in the paint, but she was able to regain possession dribbling and put a shot up which didn’t count as a timeout was called with two seconds to go.
Rapp blocked the next attempt as the game went into double overtime.
The Mountain Lions got the opening tip-off of the double overtime before throwing the ball away out of bounds.
Both teams missed shots with defensive rebounds by Tucker County’s Neveah Nichols and Moorefield’s Gianna Fair as the latter turned into a turnover on a deep pass not being able to be corralled by Hinkle.
Kuhn scored the first field goal for the Mountain Lions of the second overtime at the 2:55 mark.
It took just 20 seconds for the Yellow Jackets to answer on an assist from Rinker to Fair on a layup.
Rinker deflected a pass and Riggleman collected the ricochet for the steal, then Riggleman launched a perimeter shot missing the hoop and managed to crash in for a rebound passing over to Rinker who was fouled.
Rinker netted both free throws at the 1:20 mark for a 64-62 lead.
After an errant attempt by the Mountain Lions, there was a scramble for the ball with Moore and Colebank battling for it and Fair jumped in causing a foul with Colebank hitting one free throw at 1:06.
Fair snatched the rebound and passed to Rinker, who was fouled within five seconds and made one more free throw.
Rinker dashed up a few yards pretending to press and backed up smiling.
Tucker County’s Terra Kuhn tied the game with 49 seconds on the clock, 65-all.
The Yellow Jackets stalled and called timeout with 15 seconds, then missed at the buzzer as the game went into a third overtime.
The Mountain Lions secured the tip-off and a high pass sailed out of bounds, but there was a pushing foul called on Riggleman which put Kuhn on the free throw line adding one free throw for a 66-65 lead at 3:37.
McGregor assisted Moore on a 3-pointer as the Yellow Jackets jumped ahead 68-66 at 3:18.
Fair stole the ball, but Moorefield’s next shot went awry and Rapp grabbed the board for Tucker County.
McGregor blocked a shot, then forced a jump ball with Colebank for the Yellow Jackets possession.
After a Moorefield walk, Kuhn drew foul on a block attempt by Lexi Gilhuys and added one free throw with Fair snatching the board with 1:44 remaining.
Rinker stalled with a little dribbling razzle-dazzle crossover before driving inside being knocked hard to the floor laying there for a moment as the ball fell through the hoop and completed the old-fashioned three-point play putting the Yellow Jackets up 71-67 with 1:10 left in the third overtime as Colebank fouled out.
There was a charge called on Hood with the use of her elbow and the Mountain Lions bench and fans went ballistic with one fan running down on the court next to the coach shouting at the referee with a technical foul called and the fan was ejected with 47 seconds on the clock.
McGregor missed both technical free throws, then Rinker was fouled a dozen seconds later and hit the rim twice as Nichols grabbed the rebound for the Mountain Lions to keep hope alive with 35 seconds to go trailing 71-67.
Kuhn crashed into Moore and went to the charity stripe garnering both free throws as the Mountain Lions cut the deficit to 71-69 with 24 seconds remaining.
Rinker dodged a diving foul attempt by Hood before being wrapped up by Kuhn with 16 seconds left and connected on both free throws giving the Yellow Jackets a 74-69 advantage.
Rinker blocked the final shot attempt by the Mountain Lions to seal Moorefield’s triple overtime upset against seventh-ranked Tucker County, 73-69.
The Mountain Lions committed 23 turnovers in the game compared to Moorefield’s 14.
The Yellow Jackets missed 38 field goal attempts, while Tucker County had 26 shots go awry.
The Hive has been a sticky place for the Mountain Lions having lost here last year too as Rinker had reached the 1,000-point milestone.
Rinker is 98 points away from setting the all-time career scoring record for the Yellow Jackets (Jessie Fisher 1,406).
Rinker guided the Yellow Jackets with 25 points, then McGregor contributed 15 points and Moore notched 14 in the victory.
Moorefield visits Petersburg tonight, hosts East Hardy tomorrow and has a rematch against the Mountain Lions in Hambleton on Feb. 19.[/private]
