By Carl Holcomb
Moorefield Examiner
The Yellow Jackets were busy creating a honeycomb to entrap the Cougars just before the new year commenced and came out tasting a 61-14 sweet victory in the Hardy Girls Hardwood Classic leaving the Hive overflowing with good vibes in Moorefield to begin celebrating a new chapter of the season.
“The girls were excited to be playing over the holidays. We purposely put a game on the schedule here, because normally we always play in the holiday tournament before being off for two and a half weeks. We’ve been trying to get a game between Christmas and New Year’s for the past couple of years and we now have East Hardy back on the schedule twice and asked if they were willing to do it and they were. It worked out good for both of us,” Moorefield coach Jared Wratchford commented.
“I would like to see more shots go in early in the game. We made that first basket to start the game, then didn’t make another for like four minutes. Our press has been good to us, if we can capitalize on it. We know East Hardy has struggled with pressure this year and I talked to Coach Evans before the game and he said it about the pressure. You know it and he said they just have to get better at it. [Holiday fun] They know each other and are on social media together. It is fun and always good to play your rival. There are good people on both sides of the mountain and I respect them. I am glad the girls had fun here over the holidays.”
Having an intricate designed honeycomb ensured that Moorefield’s pressure would wreak havoc on East Hardy and the formula worked to perfection in forcing 42 turnovers overall.
Moorefield’s Brenna See nailed a long distance jumper just eight seconds into the game to spark a game-high 12 points coming off an assist by Kerigan Bergdall.
All players except for two for the Yellow Jackets netted points in the win over East Hardy starting with See’s 12 points, followed by CiCi Kump and Raleigh Kuykendall with nine points apiece, Elizabeth Williams contributed 8 points, Bergdall added 7 points, Parvatee Snyder notched 6 points, Brylee Reel and Anniston Kite garnered four points each and Kiersten Rinker rounded out the scoring with two markers.
East Hardy was led in scoring by Adyson Crider with 6 points, followed by Chloe Gue with four points and the duo of Baylee Taylor and Charlee Hahn corralled two points apiece.
After the quick initial points for Moorefield, the game remained scoreless for about two and a half minutes.
Despite the Yellow Jackets creating seven turnovers in that dry spell, the team hit the rim six times and coughed up the ball twice.
Moorefield would find the net after a Cougars walk with a layup made by Raleigh Kuykendall at 5:17 for a 4-0 lead which was part of a 10-0 run and 14-2 first frame scoring attack.
Bergdall snatched a defensive rebound and dished to Kump for a basket in the paint, then swiped the ball and hit a layup within six seconds for an 8-0 advantage at 4:27.
Despite rebounding efforts by Jocie Wagner and Kuykendall keeping play alive, the Yellow Jackets missed six buckets over the next couple of minutes prior to a pair of free throws by Bergdall at 2:43 for the aforementioned 10-0 lead.
Covering most of the first period, East Hardy had seen the rim six times and only got the sound of the iron clanging and two missed free throws before the Cougars first point from the line by Chloe Gue with 1:19 left.
East Hardy’s Adyson Crider stole the ball, but lost the ball crashing in the paint.
Kite made a jumper for the Yellow Jackets on the ensuing possession.
Kite and Gue traded steals leading to a foul on Moorefield with Gue making one bucket from the charity stripe for 2-of-6 made in the frame to create a 12-2 score with 18 seconds remaining in the opening stanza.
Eight seconds later, Moorefield’s Elizabeth Williams knocked down a field goal inside the paint for a 14-2 lead.
The basket by Williams would ignite a 19-0 run for the Yellow Jackets stretching over five minutes into the second period.
After four missed shots, Bergdall got the party started in the second period off a steal by See leading to her layup a minute into that frame.
Kuykendall intercepted a pass and found See for a score, then Bergdall stole the ball and dished to See, who drew a foul and added two markers on the stripe, 20-2.
Crider stole the ball and was going for a layup when Kuykendall stuffed the attempt.
Kump created a putback on the next series, then the Cougars lost the ball out of play and Kuykendall found the net for a 24-2 lead at 5:18.
Kump was hacked after a steal and added one free throw.
See swiped the ball and the Yellow Jackets were back in business, but two shots went awry and kept alive by Snyder and See with caroms.
Kump drew three Cougars defenders in a trap and found an opening to launch pass to Kuykendall for an unabated basket.
The Cougars coughed the ball up out of bounds, then Rinker hauled in a rebound and was tied up for a jump ball back to Moorefield with Rinker finishing the scoring opportunity, 29-2.
Williams blocked a shot, then snatched defensive rebounds along with Kump before Williams crashed inside for a field goal despite hitting the hardwood for the 31-2 advantage at 2:42.
Hope wasn’t gone for East Hardy as Crider drained a 3-pointer just a little over a minute later, 31-5.
Kite and Rinker sandwiched jumpers around two missed free throws by the Cougars as Moorefield went up 35-5 with 23 seconds remaining before intermission.
Crider drilled a perimeter bucket a couple seconds before the halftime buzzer as East Hardy shaved a few points off the deficit to 35-8 at the break.
The Yellow Jackets scored two field goals by Kump and See in the opening minute and change of the second half, in addition to a blocked shot by Kump to prevent a breakaway steal layup by Crider.
Gue sank the lone Cougars basket of the third period at 6:17 for a 39-10 score.
Moorefield regained momentum with a 13-nil run to close out the third stanza for a 52-10 advantage.
The scoring onslaught was balanced, but highlighted by bench scorers as Brylee Reel netted two field goals and Snyder added another to finish out the frame taking a 52-10 lead.
East Hardy’s Charlee Hahn and Baylee Aylor notched the two jumpers in the final quarter, while the Yellow Jackets added nine more points led by Snyder’s four points to create a 61-14 win.
One highlight for the Cougars in the final frame was a blocked shot by Jenna Mongold to deny a steal and score by Kump.
“[Holiday week game] They were excited to be playing. We have had some good practices and fun over the holidays. I believe we are getting better everyday in practice and the girls just have to get more confidence in themselves as we move forward. I believe we are getting better at understanding where to be on the floor, but we just need to work on our reaction and being a bit faster. I saw some good things tonight and things we need to work on. I really like how our girls continued to play through all four quarters and never gave up. That’s what I like to see when they play. I keep telling our ladies not to look at the scoreboard, because the scoreboard doesn’t dictate how much we have improved over the weeks. We are going to continue to get better every day, every game and every week,” East Hardy Coach Donny Evans stated.
The Yellow Jackets improved to 3-3 on the season and returned to action yesterday against Tucker County in Hambleton and remain on the road in Petersburg on Friday and another trip to Berkeley Springs next Tuesday before finally coming back to the Hive on Thursday to greet Pendleton County.
The Cougars fell to 0-5 leaving the Hive and added to that loss column falling to Tucker County a couple days later 72-9 for a 0-6 setback in Coach Donny Evans first year at the helm.
East Hardy keeps the spirit and hope flowing in the Baker Den facing off against Union tonight, then welcomes Tygarts Valley on Friday before hitting the road to Pocahontas County next Wednesday.
The victory nectar remains in the Hive for the Yellow Jackets to savor after kicking out the Cougars in the Hardy Girls Hardwood Classic.
