Bruce McKean
Contributing Writer
PCHS V, 45
Moorefield V, 46
The two Class AA Moorefield girls basketball teams headed to Dunmore January 4 for their second encounters this season with Pocahontas County High School. The Yellow Jackets varsity won the first and second quarters by scores of 17-14 and 16-14 to take the first half 33-28. Two sophomores, PCHS 5’5” Olivia Vandevender and MHS 5’8” McKenna Crites, tied for the first half scoring honors with 13 points each, and each hit their only trey of the game in the second quarter. MHS made six of 18 (33 percent) foul shots in the first half to four of 12 (33 percent) for PCHS, and that was just the beginning of shooting many foul shots by the Yellow Jackets.
PCHS took the low-scoring third period 10-9 to cut the visitor’s lead by one point to 42-38 going into the final frame. Vandevender and teammate, junior 5’8” Haley Spencer tied for game-scoring honors in the third with four points each. Four MHS players scored no higher than two points in the third.
The fourth frame was marked by the lowest scoring output of the game, a 7-4 PCHS effort that fell short by one point of what PCHS needed to tie the game that ended 45-46. Their first game at MHS ended almost the same, a 42-43 PCHS loss. Moorefield missed lots of foul shots Tuesday when the Lady Warriors had to foul to stop the clock. Vandevender hit a two at the 5:02 mark to cut the lead from seven to five (45-40), and senior Macaden Taylor hit a two to cut the lead to three (45-42). At the 2:46 mark, Vandevender hit a foul shot to cut the lead again to two, and then she hit a two at the 1:36 mark to cut it to one (46-45). Senior Allyson Alderman fouled out with 47.7 seconds to go in the game, and she hit the only other trey for PCHS in the second frame. MHS missed their last four foul shots – all at and after the 28.6 mark. PCHS was called for 21 fouls and made seven of 16 (44 percent) foul shots, while MHS got whistled for 18 fouls and hit 13 of 36 (36 percent) foul shots.
Vandevender was game-high scorer with a season and varsity high of 22 points, and she nailed 10 of 17 field goals (59 percent team-high) and had four team-high deflections. Macaden Taylor had team-highs with 10 rebounds, seven assists and four steals and was third in scoring with six points. Senior Makayla Ervine was second on two team stats with seven points and eight rebounds. Junior Kelsi Taylor was third for the team with seven rebounds.
MHS out-rebounded PCHS 48-36, and the two teams each had 32 turnovers. PCHS drops to 5-5 and 2-4 PVC. MHS improves to 3-5 and 3-0 PVC. High scorers for Moorefield were McKenna Crites – 18 points and the only MHS player to hit a trey and Kaleigh Hunt – nine points. Both MHS girls and Vandevender scored in all four quarters.
PCHS JV, 45
Moorefield JV, 41
The Lady Warriors JV squad won the first three quarters and lost the fourth in this second encounter of the season – 10-5, 13-10, 14-11 and 8-15 for their 45-41 win.
The high scorers for PCHS in each of the four quarters were: quarter one – sophomore Kynlee Wilfong – six points, quarter two – sophomore Mileya Bircher – six, quarter three – sophomore Hannah Burks – eight and quarter four – junior Mac-kenzie Taylor – four. Their first meeting was a 46-36 PCHS win on December 7, and PCHS won the last three quarters in that game.
Pocahontas hit 14 of 26 (54 percent) free throws, and MHS made 11 of 20 (55 percent) on Tuesday. The Yellow Jackets and the Warriors both committed 37 turn-overs. MHS out rebounded PCHS 32-31. PCHS made 15 of 50 (30 percent) of their field goals.
Burks was game-high scorer with 15 points, and she hit six of 13 (46 percent) free throws while sinking the only trey in the game. Freshman Abigail Thorn led Moorefield with 12 points and freshman Sydney Rumer was second with 10 points (both girls scored in all four quarters). Other PCHS highs were sophomore Adelyn Warner – nine rebounds and freshman Brooklyn Moyers – eight points. Nine girls scored for PCHS (now 6-1 and 5-1 PVC) and seven for MHS (now 3-3). Seventeen fouls were called on PCHS and 24 on visiting MHS. One Yellow Jacket fouled out, and three finished with four fouls.
The PCHS JV and V girls basketball teams will host Tucker County Friday, January 14 (JV – 5:45 p.m., V – 7 p.m.). The 6 p.m. PCHS V only game at Alleghany High School in Covington, Virginia, scheduled for Monday, January 17, in Covington, Virginia, will be re- scheduled by AHS.
The PCHS team will host Greenbrier West on Wednesday, January 19 (V – 7 p.m.). West did not have a JV team when the two teams met in early December, so Coach Mike Kane is checking to see if a JV game will be played.
