By Carl Holcomb
Moorefield Examiner
The Yellow Jackets looked poised for another win battling to a 17-all deadlocked halftime score with Petersburg, then the Vikings surged ahead with a 23-nil third period run en route to a 56-33 victory in the Hive to crash senior night.
Moorefield dominated in Petersburg with strong defensive play to collect a 45-36 win and had a solid start in the first half during senior night before the wheels came off.
Moorefield Boys Basketball honored the seniors prior to the varsity game: Dawson Arbaugh, Paige Ault (statistician), Ivy Fultz (statistician), Guyan Kahangirwe, Kyle Molen and Diego Taylor.
Petersburg’s Caden Ours scored a game-high 15 points to lead three in double figures, followed by Kaleb Kuhn with 14 points and Peyton Metheny added 11 points..
Moorefield was paced by Guyan Kahangirwe, Cyrus Kump and Shawn Reed netted eight points apiece.
Moorefield’s seniors were in the starting lineup for the varsity game, but it was junior Shawn Reed forcing a turnover leading to a layup for the initial lead at 7:36.
“The seniors have been great leaders all season. They do everything we ask at practice and more. We played a good first half, then couldn’t do much right in the second half. They played aggressive and we didn’t handle it very well,” Moorefield coach Scott Stutler remarked.
Both teams missed a pair of field goals ver the next two minutes and change before a steal by Reed created a score by Kyle Molen at 4:55, 4-nil.
Moorefield’s Diego Taylor notched a steal prior to a walk.
Petersburg’s Kaleb Kuhn knocked down a 3-pointer for a 4-3 score at 4:04.
There were a combined six missed shots over the next two minutes, plus three Moorefield turnovers and one Petersburg turnover with just one point added at the line by Peyton Tingler at 2:21 tying the game.
A steal by Petersburg’s Jackson Boddy led to his own breakaway layup at 1:31 for a 6-4 edge.
The Yellow Jackets tied the contest on the ensuing possession with a jumper by Reed at 1:01.
The Vikings lost the ball with a pass to the bench, then Moorefield took the lead 8-6 on a layup from Jackson Helmick with 43 seconds left in the first frame.
Moorefield’s Cyrus Kump blocked a shot, then both teams came up empty to finish out the period.
Both teams had bricks twice in the opening minute of the second period, then the Vikings steppe out of bounds.
Kump sank a mid-range jumper for the Yellow Jackets to take a 10-6 lead at 6:15.
Molen blocked a shot and Moorefield passed the ball around before an attempt went awry.
Petersburg’s Carter Hardy collected a rebound and dished to Caden Ours for a basket at 4:47.
A steal by Hardy led to a foul shot made by Ours to close the gap to 10-9 at 4:26.
Trace Rohrbaugh made a steal and layup to put the Vikings up 11-10 at 4:12.
Taylor and Rohrbaugh traded steals before a foul by Moorefield, then Ours made one free throw for the Vikings.
The Yellow Jackets regained the lead on a perimeter bucket by Helmick with 3:26 left in the first half, 13-12.
The Vikings crashed into the paint and missed the attempt, then Reed hauled in the carom for Moorefield and scored a layup on the following series making it 15-12 at 2:52.
Both teams lost the ball, then Petersburg corralled a defensive board and Peyton Metheny netted a layup at 1:36.
Rohrbaugh forced a turnover with Tingler collecting the ricochet and drawing a foul to add a game-tying free throw with 1:11 remaining, 15-all.
Kuhn swiped the ball and nailed a jumper giving the Vikings a 17-15 edge with 41 seconds to go.
Kump drilled a game-tying jumper with 23 seconds left in the first half and the game remained tied at 17-all entering the locker rooms as the Vikings missed one final attempt.
The third period started with steals by Rohrbaugh and Taylor prior to a foul by the Vikings.
Kump hit the lone field goal for the Yellow Jackets at 7:26, then Petersburg rattled off a 23-0 run to build a 40-19 lead entering the final stanza.
The Yellow Jackets hit the rim 11 times in the third period and committed six turnovers, plus got into foul trouble as the tide rolled with the Vikings ship.
Kuhn drew three defenders and made a jumper at the 5:00 mark to give the Vikings a 22-19 lead.
Petersburg got a defensive rebound and Kuhn nailed a 3-pointer on the next series.
Tingler stole the ball and found Kuhn for a layup extending the Vikings lead to 27-19 at 4:14.
Metheny made a steal and layup for the Vikings at 4:02.
Petersburg forced another turnover and Kuhn drilled a perimeter bucket for a 32-19 lead at 3:47.
The Yellow Jackets hit the rim three times and committed a turnover over the following minute.
Ours hit a jumper and a 3-pointer within 40 seconds to put Petersburg up 37-19.
Metheny notched a jumper for the Vikings in the final minute of the third frame for a 40-19 advantage.
“When we came in here, we knew Coach Scott does a wonderful job defensively and has his kids prepared and ready to go. We knew we had to play a different game with a different approach than last time. Scott basically controlled everything in Petersburg. Moorefield did what they wanted to do, when they wanted to do it and how they wanted to do it and we didn’t have an answer for it. We are stagnant in our offense there. Come tonight, we had a completely different plan. The biggest difference was when we scored, we would make this an up and down game. We tried to speed Moorefield up, because they want to slow us down. It was going to be a battle of the two. Scott got us in Petersburg and slowed us down and it wasn’t in our favor. Tonight we were able tog et some shots and press. Our pressure in full court was the difference. For us to come out and have a good defensive game was vital for us this time of year. It is a great rivalry game awith a tremendous atmosphere. It is a great crowd for both communities. Rowdy crowd and rowdy game, it was a good clean game and that’s the atmosphere for a Friday night what more do you want,” Petersburg coach Stacey Berg noted.
Petersburg would score the first six points of the fourth period before Moorefield ended the drought with a jumper by Reed at 6:27.
Reed swiped the ball and was fouled, then Kahangirwe dropped a 3-pointer for the Yellow Jackets at 5:50 to slice the deficit to 46-24.
The Vikings went on a 6-0 run, then Reed scored a bucket in the paint for Moorefield at 4:21.
Petersburg’s Lucas Riggleman sandwiched two field goals around a turnover to extend the lead to 56-26.
Kahangirwe drilled a 3-pointer for the Yellow Jackets with 2:15 remaining
Molen created a steal, then scored on a putback for Moorefield with 1:50 to go, trailing 56-31.
The Vikings missed four shots down the stretch, while the Yellow Jackets added one last jumper by Kahangirwe with a minute left for the final score of 56-33 as the Vikings evened the season series.
The Yellow Jackets visited Keyser yesterday and host Liberty for the season finale on March 1, then the playoffs begin.
The future plans for the Moorefield seniors are:
Dawson Arbaugh will attend WVU to become a teacher, Paige Ault will undertake general studies in college before studying abroad, Ivy Fultz plans to attend college to become a dental hygienist, Guyan Kahangirwe plans to assist his father with a new Turo business and earn a real estate license, Kyle Molen will play football at UNC Pembroke and major in education, and Diego Taylor will attend WVU to study physical therapy.
