By Carl Holcomb
Moorefield Examiner
Resilience: The capacity to withstand or to recover quickly from difficulties; toughness.
Frankfort had a double-digit in the opening stanza, but the Yellow Jackets refused to quit and kept battling to overcome the adversity and buzzed back to a 58-54 victory in the Hive during the home finale last Tuesday.
The atmosphere was electric as the student section brought their A-game in the cheering department.
It was noisy over in Short Gap earlier in the season, but Moorefield tuned that distraction out to gather the win and tonight got the brooms out for the sweep against a solid Potomac Valley Conference and Region II opponent.
The Yellow Jackets knew what was at stake and remained vigilant in the fight to secure good playoff seeding.
Frankfort’s Jeremy Phillips, the all-time Falcons scoring leader, didn’t disappoint the fans putting on a show with a game-high 24 points including five perimeter buckets.
The Falcons other scoring contributors were Kycin Waiters (12), KenYen Smith (10) and Braedan Laffey (8).
The Yellow Jackets had three in double figures led by Cyrus Kump with 20 points, followed by Shawn Reed with 11 points and Jackson Helmick with 10 markers.
Moorefield’s scoring effort continued with Kail Greenwalt and Matthew Iman notching seven points apiece and Edison Metheny pitched in three points.
Kump and Reed were clutch in the final 35 seconds to commandeer the win for the Yellow Jackets.
Kump provided the initial lead for Moorefield, opening the game with a jumper.
The Falcons swooped back scoring eight points over the next two minutes including a pair of 3-pointers by Phillips.
Kump swiped the ball and netted a breakaway layup to end that run and the Yellow Jacket defense kept buzzing as Jackson Helmick snatched the ball.
Kail Greenwalt added two free throws for Moorefield on the ensuing series.
The Falcons talons sliced back for another 8-point run as Smith hit two jumpers and Phillips garnered two free throws and a 3-pointer capping off the swing for a 16-6 advantage.
That would be the largest lead for Frankfort the rest of the game, as the Yellow Jackets revamped its strategy for a comeback.
Moorefield senior Brock Linville sliced down the baseline and his shot was altered by Frankfort’s Kycin Waites.
Linville came down awkwardly and departed the game with an injury.
Metheny tossed an inbound alley-oop to Reed sparking an 8-point run in response for the Yellow Jackets.
Reed stuffed a shot and the crowd went wild.
Moorefield missed a few attempts before Reed nailed a trey.
Reed stole the ball and dished to Kump, who executed an old-fashioned three-point play to cut the deficit to 16-14 with under 20 seconds left in the first period.
The Falcons’ Waites added two free throws in the final second.
Waites commenced the second period with a jumper.
Moorefield answered on a layup by Kump.
Frankfort came back with a perimeter bucket by Phillips for a 23-16 edge at 6:45.
Kump sank a basket in the paint, then grabbed a defensive board leading to a trey from Metheny to make it 23-21 at 5:50.
The Moorefield student section chanted ‘he’s a freshman’ to the chagrin of the Falcons.
Phillips located the net in the lane, then Helmick dished to Iman for a layup.
The fans went crazy again as Iman thwarted a shot.
The Falcons built a 30-24 lead.
Helmick made two free throws with a couple minutes to go in the half,
Both teams drew iron prior to a trifecta by Phillips.
The ball was like a pinball machine bouncing back and forth on four turnovers within a minute and the latter one by Metheny led to a layup by Iman with 28 seconds on the clock to close the gap, 32-31.
Helmick and Reed closed out the first half with two monster blocked shots as the Hive buzzed loudly with approval.
The Yellow Jackets fed off that energy starting the second half as Greenwalt scored twice in the paint in the first minute and change with the latter coming off a steal by Helmick to snatch a 35-32 lead.
Frankfort kept the game intriguing with the next six points regaining the lead, 38-35.
Waites added two jumpers sandwiching a shot from Kump to give the Falcons a 42-38 lead with 3:20 to go in the third frame.
“We had a great student section. It was an exciting game and it was back and forth. We made some big plays at the end to pull it out. Shawn didn’t start off good, but he focused up and played great in the end. Cyrus just stepped up and they both made big plays. We battled and made plays when we had to, so it was a great win,” Moorefield coach Scott Stutler remarked.
Moorefield burned time off the clock, then both teams hit the rim twice before Reed added one free throw at 1:19.
Iman notched a charity stripe bucket as Moorefield was within two points with 17 seconds left.
Moorefield’s defense forced a turnover, then Kump made a buzzer-beating putback to knot up the game at 42-all entering the final stanza.
The Yellow Jackets started the fourth period with a steal by Iman leading to an assisted score by Kump.
Frankfor hit the rim and the ball was corralled by Iman.
Iman collected another carom on the offensive side and found the net to create a 46-42 lead at 6:31.
The Falcons came out of a timeout with a 3-pointer from Phillips.
Kump drew a foul and added one marker on the line, then the Falcons were whistled for a shove on an offensive sequence.
Moorefield came down the floor and Helmick drilled a trifecta for a 50-44 edge with 5:50 left.
Phillips scored two field goals in the ensuing two minutes surrounding a layup by Reed for a 52-48 score at 3:56.
Laffey swiped the ball twice leading to a layup by Smith and his own basket to tie the game at 52-all with 2:51 left.
Reed crashed to the floor scoring a bucket to put Moorefield back on top on the ensuing possession, 2:15.
Both teams committed turnovers, then the Falcons tied the game again on a layup by Laffey, 1:55.
Phillips laughed after making a steal, but his pass was intercepted by Kump.
Reed was called for a charge, then Frankfort failed to connect and Iman hauled in a huge rebound with just under a minute remaining.
Kump was put on the line and calmly made both shots putting Moorefield back on top with 34 seconds to go.
Iman stepped up with another dynamic defensive carom.
Reed nailed a jumper with about 12 second left to seal the Moorefield win as the Falcons couldn’t roost on the last possession, 58-54.
The Yellow Jackets student section swarmed the court to celebrate the final home win.
“It means a lot to be a part of this team. It means everything to me. We need to remain focused and communicate and not get lost on defense and keep at it. [Fans rushing court] It was pretty cool. That hasn’t happened for awhile. We lost the momentum a little, but then got it back and finished strong,” Moorefield senior Shawn Reed commented.
In JV action, Moorefield defeated the Falcons 35-21.
Luke Stutler netted a game-high 18 points for the Yellow Jackets which included four perimeter shots.
Moorefield will travel to Lincoln for the Class AA Region II Tournament opener on Friday.
