By Carl Holcomb
Moorefield Examiner
The Vikings steered the ship to an early 11-2 lead and floated to a 29-19 halftime lead en route to ousting the Yellow Jackets 55-41 from the Class AA Region II Girls Basketball playoffs held in Petersburg last Friday.
This was the fourth meeting between the two teams and third consecutive win for Petersburg since Moorefield won the holiday tournament.
Kerigan Bergdall scored a game-high 14 points for the Yellow Jackets, followed by Korbin Keplinger with 11 points and Sydney Rumer with six points.
Petersburg was paced by Addison Kitzmiller with 12 points, followed by Miley Tingler with 11 points and Ayden Mayfield with nine points.
“We know that familiarity was there on both sides as we have played each otter four times this year. It seems like the last handful of years, we have played three or four times. We know a lot about what each other will do. I was really concerned going into the game how our youth was going to handle the nerves and pressure of the playoffs. We did a good job starting off strong and seemed to play relaxed and was able to get into a flow offensively early on. That was helpful for us to calm down and just play the game of basketball. One of the things we talked about at the beginning of the year was to be able to put ourselves in a position to go to Charleston. We talked about it one time and the rest of the time the focus has been on trying to get better everyday. Out team has really grown over the season which is special and now we are in that position,” Petersburg coach Jon Webster commented.
Petersburg started the playoff game with a steal by Addison Kitzmiller leading to a basket by Quenlynn Cole.
The Yellow Jackets responded with a layup by Sydney Rumer to even the score at 6:59.
The Vikings answered with a 9-0 run over the next minute and change.
Petersburg’s Shyanne Tawney knocked down a 3-pointer on the ensuing possession at 6:36 to regain the lead.
Kitzmiller stole the ball and nailed a perimeter bucket to Greta an 8-2 lead.
Tawney collected a defensive rebound and drilled a trey for an 11-2 advantage at 5:15.
A minute later, Moorefield’s Seanna Heavner made two free throws to end the run.
Heavner and Kerigan Bergdall made defensive rebounds, but the Yellow Jackets walked both times.
Bergdall stole the ball, but the ensuing shot went awry with Cole grabbing the carom.
The Vikings hit the rim twice with Rumer snatching the latter board prior to a walk.
Kitzmiller hammered a 3-pointer to put the Vikings up 14-4 with 2:28 left in the first stanza.
Kitzmiller corralled a defensive board, then found Cole for a jumper.
Petersburg’s Ayden Mayfield hauled in a defensive rebound, but the next shot was off the mark and Moorefield’s Raleigh Kuykendall snatched the carom.
Moorefield’s CiCi Kump drew a foul and made both free throws with 1:03 left.
After a Vikings miss, Bergdall netted a layup off an assist from Kuykendall to cut the deficit to 16-8 with 30 seconds remaining in the first frame.
The Vikings got a jumper by Kitzmiller on the ensuing series, then the Yellow Jackets hit the rim on the last play with a rebound by Heavner at the buzzer, 18-8.
Mayfield opened the second period with a jumper for the Vikings, then Kitzmiller swiped the ball and drew a foul before missing both free throws and Korbin Keplinger collected the rebound.
The Yellow Jackets hit the rim with Cole snatching the board leading to a shot by Mayfield at 7:06.
Moorefield’s Sadie Crites scored in the paint on the next series, then forced a Vikings walk.
Keplinger drew a foul and added both shots from the line to make it 22-12 at 6:21.
Kump stole the ball and dished to Keplinger for a jumper as the Yellow Jackets were in a groove, 22-14.
Moorefield forced a turnover, but missed the next attempt and Petersburg garnered a jumper from Cole at 4:45.
The Vikings made three straight steals, but failed to convert and the Yellow Jackets forced two turnovers and came up empty.
The rim continued to be chilly, before a melting putback by Petersburg’s Miley Tingler at 2:55.
Rumer completed an old-fashioned three-point play for the Yellow Jackets with 1:42 left in the first half to close the gap to 27-17.
The Yellow Jackets forced a turnover and Bergdall was fouled on a rebound leading to two free throws made at 1:02.The Vikings added two free throws in the final minute of the second period, while Moorefield missed a few shots with Petersburg holding a 29-19 halftime advantage.
“We talked all week about keeping them out of the paint. We will make them score on top of us and just tip our caps to them and they did that very early. They came out on fire, so kudos to them. They shot the lights out in the first quarter and never looked back. Our defense was great and I think we caused them a lot of problems with our pressure. The story of the game came down to what it has all year, we just have struggled to score the ball consistently. We will have spurts where we will score well, but not consistent enough when we needed it to be,” Moorefield coach Jared Wratchford stated.
Petersburg lost the ball out of bounds to start the second half, then Moorefield drew iron twice before fumbling the ball away.
Tingler netted a layup for the Vikings at 7:20.
Tawney collected a defensive rebound and passed to Tingler, who completed an old-fashioned three-point play for a 34-19 lead at 6:45.
Tingler and Keplinger traded blocks over the ensuing minute.
Both teams committed three turnovers apiece during the following two minutes, plus there were a combined six missed field goals.
An oasis was found in the scoring desert as Tingler hit a jumper at 3:48 for the Vikings.
Moorefield responded with an old-fashioned three-point play by Bergdall at 3:31, 36-22.
Bergdall made a steal, then Kump snatched an offensive rebound and passed to Keplinger who scored falling down to the floor at 2:56.
The Yellow Jackets forced five turnovers over the next couple minutes, but failed to convert.
Kitzmiller added to the Vikings lead with 24 seconds remaining for a 38-24 advantage.
After a carry by the Yellow Jackets during a trap, Heavner stole the ball and the ensuing attempt went awry at the buzzer.
In the first minute and change of the final stanza, the yellow Jackets hit the rim four times, despite steals by Rumer and Keplinger.
Mayfield nailed a 3-pointer for Petersburg at 6:25 for a 41-24 lead.
A minute later, Bergdall garnered a layup for the Yellow Jackets.
Kuykendall snatched a defensive rebound and passed to Rumer, who drew a foul and made one free throw at 4:58. 41-27.
Kump intercepted a pass and scored a basket within four seconds as Moorefield looked to battle out of the hole.
After a free throw by the Vikings and a missed shot on the other end, Rumer stole the ball and found Keplinger for a basket in the paint as the Yellow Jackets rally continued.
Moorefield forced a turnover and Bergdall made a layup to slice the deficit to 42-33 with 4:09 remaining.
Petersburg answered with a bucket by Abi Nettles, then Tingler swiped the ball and dished to Nettles for a 3-pointer to take a 47-33 lead at 3:22.
Bergdall created a steal and knocked down a 3-pointer for the Yellow Jackets with 2:48 to go, 47-36.
Kitzmiller added one free throw just five seconds later.
Mayfield and Tingler added jumpers for the Vikings, while Kitzmiller collected two defensive caroms securing a 52-36 advantage with 1:57 left.
The Vikings walked, then Keplinger drilled a 3-pointer for Moorefield at 1:24.
Kitzmiller notched one free throw on the ensuing series.
Crites hauled in the rebound and located Heavner for a jumper at 1:08, 53-41.
Petersburg stalled the game before Cole hit a jumper with 21 seconds remaining, then Tingler swiped the ball to end the game with the Vikings advancing in the playoffs 55-41.
Petersburg travels to top seeded Philip Barbour for the Class AA Region II Championship co-final tonight with a state tournament berth on the line.
