A refusal to lose on senior night was motivation enough for the Yellow Jackets to rally for a 42-36 victory as Moorefield Girls Basketball evicted the Campers from the Hive on Thursday.
“These seniors have worked hard for four years, every one of them. Everybody on the team comes to practice and have put their time into this program. I am very proud of them. When we got down a little bit, they fought back even after having played such a physical game last night at Tucker County. To come back and play this way in back-to-back games like this is something you have to do at this point in the season, especially in the postseason in order to advance and it’s good to prepare for that,” Moorefield coach Paul Keplinger remarked.
“We put the ball in Lindsey’s hands and she took it to the hole making foul shots for us in the end. We put a diamond-and-one on them and it caught them off-guard.”
Moorefield senior Gianna Fair started the game with a blocked shot, then fellow senior Isabelle Nesbit collected an offensive rebound before the ball was stolen by Allegany’s Katie Sterne.
Lindsey Rinker, a senior, made a steal for the Yellow Jackets and the ensuing shot hit the rim and Kelsey O’Neall grabbed the board for the Campers.
A trap was set and Moorefield senior Anna Riggleman created a steal and assisted fellow senior Madison McGregor on a basket at 6:02 for the initial lead.
Nesbit snatched a defensive rebound and passed to Rinker, who found McGregor for a jumper at 5:33, 4-0.
Allegany scored the next six points over three minutes and change for the lead.
The Campers scored their first field goal on the following possession at 5:17 as Sterne connected in the paint.
The Yellow Jackets lost the ball out of bounds, then Allegany’s Kelsey O’Neal drew a foul and made two free throws to tie the game at the 4:38 mark.
Both teams combined to miss eight field goals over a two minute span, then a steal and score by O’Neal put the Campers ahead 6-4 with 2:04 remaining in the first period.
Moorefield responded with an old-fashioned three-point play by Rinker to regain the lead 7-6 at 1:41.
Cherish Moore blocked a shot for the Yellow Jackets, but Allegany’s Sterne recovered the ball and drew a foul leading to a pair of foul shots to swap the lead at 1:26.
O’Neal stole the ball and the ensuing shot hit the rim, but Faith Stevenson hauled in the carom for the Campers before O’Neal knocked down a 3-pointer for an 11-7 edge.
O’Neal swiped the ball to commence the second period and dished to Sterne for a Campers bucket at 7:42.
Allegany’s Rachel Bush created a turnover and Rinker tied up O’Neal for a jump ball back to the Campers.
Moorefield’s Lexi Gilhuys made a [private]steal and the next shot hit the rim with Sarah Kesner grabbing the board for the Campers.
O’Neal connected for one of her four trifectas at the 6:23 mark for a 16-7 Allegany advantage en route to a game-high 22 points.
Glihuys netted a basket leaping in the paint on the following series.
Both teams missed opportunities before O’Neal went to the free throw line adding two points.
The Yellow Jackets answered with a 3-pointer by Rinker at the 4:16 mark to cut the deficit to 18-12.
There was a struggle to find the hoop over the next few minutes, then Rinker drilled the second of three treys on the night with 1:09 remaining in the first half, 19-15.
In the final minute, layups were made by Gilhuys and O’Neal as the Campers carried a 21-17 advantage into halftime.
Riggleman swiped the ball to begin the third period and setup McGregor for a 3-pointer at the 7:41 mark as the Yellow Jackets sliced the deficit to 21-20.
Allegany missed two field goals with the latter rebound collected by Moorefield’s Cherish Moore.
After a jump ball, Rinker nailed a jumper at the 6:14 mark giving Moorefield a 22-21 lead.
Riggleman and Moore joined together to force a turnover, but it was snatched back by Sterne before stepping out of bounds.
O’Neal and Moore collected defensive rebounds with the latter resulting in a jump ball, then Hinkle stole the ball and scored for the Yellow Jackets at 5:19.
Hinkle and Sterne traded steals with Sterne creating an assist to O’Neal at 4:42 to pull within one point, 24-23 before a timeout.
A defensive rebound by O’Neal came moments before connecting on a 3-pointer as the Campers took a 26-24 edge with 3:26 left in the third frame.
There were a combined six missed field goals over the following three minutes prior to RIggleman scoring on a putback for Moorefield.
O’Neal garnered another 3-pointer on the ensuing drive which put Allegany ahead 29-26 entering the final stanza.
In just under a minute into the fourth period, Moorefield regained the lead by a score of 31-29 at the 7:04 mark as Rinker hit a jumper before swiping the ball and draining a 3-pointer.
The rim was noisy with missed shots in both directions twice before a defensive rebound by McGregor led to a layup from Gilhuys as the Yellow Jackets went up 33-29 at 4:39.
Rinker collected a defensive rebound and dished to Riggleman for a basket at 3:53.
Allegany failed to score on three attempts over the next minute of action and the Yellow Jackets hit the rim at the free throw line.
The Campers committed five consecutive fouls before Rinker went to the line for a one-and-one opportunity making the first shot and O’Neal snatched the ensuing rebound.
Allegany’s Jordan Chaney hauled in an offensive rebound and drew a foul leading to two markers made for a 36-31 score with 1:30 to go.
Allegany applied pressure and Rinker escaped with a behind the back dribble as the crowd shouted “wow” and was fouled moments later leading to one more free throw point added.
Chaney notched a 3-pointer for the Campers with 1:14 remaining as the deficit was down to 37-34.
The Yellow Jackets added to the lead as Rinker hit both free throws on this trip at 1:12.
Gilhuys made a defensive rebound and passed to Rinker, who was sent to the charity stripe again and made both free throws for a 41-34 advantage with 55 seconds on the clock.
Gilhuys collected another defensive rebound, then Sterne stole the ball back and was fouled as the Campers notched two more points with 38 seconds left.
Rinker was sent to the free throw line with 32 seconds remaining and added one more foul shot to give the Yellow Jackets a 42-36 edge.
O’Neal grabbed the rebound and was fouled with 18 seconds to go, then the Campers had a field goal attempt go awry and Gilhuys corralled the ricochet to seal the 42-36 victory.
O’Neal scored a game-high 22 points and Sterne added eight points for the Campers.
Moorefield was led by Rinker with 21 points and McGregor contributed seven points.
The Yellow Jackets honored their seniors prior to the game with a festive ceremony: Gianna Fair, Madison McGregor, Isabelle Nesbit, Anna Riggleman and Lindsey Rinker.
Fair plans to attend Potomac State College of West Virginia University and major in Occupational Therapy.
There were many organizations for these Yellow Jackets to have involvement in at school and Fair is a member of the FBLA, DECA FCCLA and Pep Club combined with playing basketball and volleyball (two-time state appearance).
McGregor plans to attend West Virginia University.
McGregor is a member of the Student Council, National Honor Society and the Senior Class secretary in addition to playing volleyball (four-time state appearance), basketball and softball (two-time state appearance, runner-up).
Nesbit will attend WVU Honors College to major in Finance.
Nesbit is the Student Council vice president, National Honor Society vice president, a member of the FFA and a member of the state champion Envirothon team in addition to playing volleyball (four-time state appearance), basketball and track.
Riggleman will attend WVU and major in Speech-Language Pathology.
Riggleman is a member of the National Honor Society, Student Council, FFA and DECA in addition to playing volleyball (four-time state appearance), basketball and softball (two-time state appearance, runner-up).
Rinker is enlisting in the United States Air Force after high school.
Rinker is a member of the Student Council, National Honor Society, FFA and Pep Club in addition to playing volleyball (four-time state appearance), basketball and softball.
The Yellow Jackets were able to revive on senior night coming off an intense battle against Tucker County the previous night losing by a score of 46-44 and paced by seniors Lindsey Rinker with 20 points and Madison McGregor with 12 points.[/private]
