By Stephen Smoot
Moorefield’s basketball team paid a visit to Franklin last Wednesday night, prevailing at the end of a tightly contested game.
Meanwhile Pendleton County faced the absence of three players, one injured in a prior game, two others injured and ill. The shortened roster had to battle both Moorefield and fatigue in the game.
The Yellow Jackets took the opening tip, then scored quickly on a double tap play that ended in a layup.
Both teams showed significant skills in swiftly moving the ball around and finishing difficult plays all game long.
Chase Owens answered at the 5:13 mark with a layup, scoring starting slowly as the teams felt each other out. Zykijah Wright fired up a corner three that hit the front rim. He aggressively followed his shot, tracked down the rebound, and laid the ball in the basket all in one motion, tying the game at four.
Moorefield pulled ahead 6-4, but then Owens nailed a three-point shot. The Yellow Jackets immediately seized the lead back, but Owens hit another three to put his squad up 10-8.
With the Yellow Jackets getting high percentage opportunities, Jeremy Bodkin, head coach, shouted for defense. Chase Owens almost immediately answered with a steal.
Moorefield tied the game at 12 with 51 seconds, but then Josiah Kimble swiped a steal, fired a long pass to Wright, who tipped it over to Caleb Armentrout for a layup with 10 seconds left to push the lead to 14-12.
The next stanza saw Moorefield start with a nine to two run to grab a 21-16 lead by the 5:45 mark, but a Kimble pullup shot, a Travis Owens jumper, and Owens contorting his body between two defenders for a layup led to the score tied at 22.
The Yellow Jackets edged ahead as the half closed for a 25-24 advantage.
Pendleton County gave up two points to lead off the third, but fought hard to get and keep the lead. At the 6:12 mark, a Cashton Kisamore block at one end led to a Travis Owens layup at the other end.
It should be noted that Travis Owens, a freshman, handled most of the point guard duties on the night. He demonstrated tremendous vision and discipline, resembling an upperclassman running the team rather than a ninth grader.
At the 4:23 mark, Moorefield hit a three to take the lead 32-30, followed 30 seconds later by Chase Owens kicking the ball to Travis Owens for a three to take it right back.
When Moorefield hit a two to get the lead back, Travis Owens took a steal, but was off balance, falling out of bounds. He fired a laser beam cross court pass to Kimble on the dead run. Kimble took the ball in stride and gracefully laid the ball in for a 35-34 lead.
Moorefield scored again, but then Kisamore blocked a shot, which was gathered by Travis Owens, who again found Kimble in the right place at the right time to regain the advantage.
With 1:49 left in the third, Kimble hit a three-point shot in a possession kept alive by five offensive rebounds. With the lead then 40-39, a Wright pass to Chase Owens led to a three.
Wright then stole an inbounds pass to end the quarter.
By the end of the first minute of the fourth, Pendleton County extended the lead to 47-39 and appeared to be ready to seize control of the game.
Then the disadvantage of a shortened bench kicked in.
Both teams played a disciplined game at the highest energy level. Both teams fought and scrapped physically, emotionally, and intellectually the entire game. Both teams scored a high number of baskets off of assists, always a mark of excellent play.
It was, honestly a game as beautiful as the players were hard-nosed. Curly Neal and Meadowlark Lemon might have been impressed with the nifty ball movement.
Bodkin went to a defense used against Notre Dame effectively, the one-one-three. This rarely seen configuration was first used by Bobby Huggins when he coached at the University of Akron. It did confuse Moorefield for a time.
But then the Wildcats energy level dipped. In two minutes time, Moorefield pulled within one. With 3:04 remaining they pulled ahead. The Wildcats did not play any less hard, but fell just a bit behind the pace of the visiting team. Moorefield was able to escape Franklin with a 58-53 win.
