By Carl Holcomb
Moorefield Examiner
The Grinch and Pendleton County dampened the Christmas spirit for the Yellow Jackets in the annual Petersburg Girls Basketball Tip-off Tournament opening round 45-41, but Santa and the elves brightened everything with yuletide cheer putting Moorefield on the nice list with a 71-11 victory over the Tigers in the consolation contest.
Pendleton County’s Susan Vincell netted a game-high 15 points in the first round win over the Yellow Jackets, followed by Tia Heavner with 12 points and Jameigh Miller with 11 points.
Moorefield was paced by Brenna See with 10 points, followed by Kiersten Rinker with 9 points and CiCi Kump with 8 markers.
The Wildcats locked up with Moorefield in the first period of the opening round at six markers apiece and claimed a slight halftime edge at 18-16.
It was balanced scoring in the first frame for the Yellow Jackets with two points each by Brenna See, Kerigan Bergdall and Elizabeth Williams.
Kiersten Rinker guided Moorefield in the second period with six points, followed by Anniston Kite and Williams with two markers apiece.
Pendleton County’s Susan Vincell and Jameigh Miller netted seven points apiece in the first half helping to give the Wildcats the edge at intermission.
The Yellow Jackets equalized the game at 28-all entering the final stanza, then Pendleton County dished out the final pieces of coal for a 45-41 win.
See notched six of eight second half points in the fourth period for the Yellow Jacket, while Kump pitched in another eight points to keep the game flow buzzing.
Heavner garnered 10 second half points for the Wildcats snd Vincell added eight points to elevate the Wildcats to the win.
Pendleton County was a dismal 7-of-20 from the charity stripe, while the Yellow Jackets fared slightly better at 9-of-18 on the line.
Krampus and the minions kept the Moorefield scorekeeper hostage, but Santa sent the Candy Cane stripers to save the day.
“We look forward to it [tournament every year and with me growing up here in Moorefield, I always came to watch as a kid, the boys and girls holiday tournaments. As a player, these games were the ones I looked forward to the most and even as a coach, I try to tell the players that this is a fun time and always a great crowd and people are in for the holidays. It is the longest running holiday tournament in the state of West Virginia which is historic to be a part of every year. It is fun and I enjoy it,” Moorefield coach Jared Wratchford commented.
“The girls didn’t enjoy it last night against Pendleton County. We struggled and came up short. I didn’t think they would consider that much fun, but we turned it around today and got a win under our belt. They enjoy this tournament and we have a countdown for it ever since the first day of practice, because everybody is excited about the holiday tournament. It hurt so much losing last night, but you will have those kinds of nights.”
Moorefield opened the consolation first period with a 25-5 advantage over Union and kept the Tigers from scoring in the final frame during a sleigh ride for a 71-11 snowball rolling win.
Kerigan Bergdall created a game-high 18 points including the 67th point on a layup causing the Yellow Jackets bench to go wild due to the trend for the number’s significance.
Moorefield’s next few scoring leaders were CiCi Kump recording 11 points, Kiersten Rinker made 10 points and Raleight Kuykendall added 9 points.
The Union Tigers scoring was paced by Bailey Casteel with six points, followed by Chanda Gaither 2, Alanna Hanlin 2 and Addie Pugh 1.
Union took the initial lead just two minutes into the game on an old-fashioned three-point play by Bailey Casteel.
The Yellow Jackets responded with a jumper by Elizabeth Williams on the ensuing possession.
Moorefield would tie the game midway through the first period on a layup by Brenna See and took the lead for good on a steal by CiCi Kump with a dish for a 3-pointer finish by Bergdall at 3:41, 7-4.
The Yellow Jackets netted an 18-point run to collect a 20-4 advantage in the opening frame which included a pair of perimeter shots by Kump.
Moorefield forced 55 turnovers in the consolation game victory as the sleigh bells rang over the rooftops.
The Yellow Jackets built a 34-5 lead midway through the second period after a steal and breakaway layup by Parvatee Snyder.
Moorefield’s Brylee Reel made a brilliant baseline leaping save over her head after a missed shot to keep the play alive.
The Yellow Jackets kept the defensive pressure going and caused many headaches for Union en route to the lopsided win.
Moorefield enters the Christmas vacation singing Joy to the World with the win spreading good tidings to all.
Petersburg defeated Pendleton County 80-33 to win the championship and have plenty of presents to open.
