By Carl Holcomb
The Vikings survived a furious perimeter attack by Moorefield with a show stopping steal in the waning seconds, 53-51.
Moorefield’s Jackson Helmick scored a game-high 20 points with five of the team’s eight 3-pointers, followed by Shawn Reed pouring in 14 points with two treys.
That performance was overshadowed by the illumination of Petersburg’s Kaleb Kuhn netting his 1,000-point career milestone before a clutch steal to seal the win in the final seconds.
“It was special to get my 1,000 against my rival, but I was just trying to get the win. At the end of the day, I know I was playing bad and as long as the team gets the win, that’s all I care about. [Final steal] The steal felt a lot better, than getting my 1,000,” Petersburg’s Kaleb Kuhn remarked.
The Vikings were paced by Caden Ours and Peyton Metheny with 16 points apiece.
The Yellow Jackets knew what was at stake and quickly scored the first bucket on a jumper by Helmick.
Moorefield kept the fireworks going as Vincent Cyrus redirected a Vikings pass which was collected by Brock Linville.
However, the Yellow Jackets hit the rim twice with rebounding by Cyrus and Matthew Iman prior to a block by Kuhn.
Kump responded with a block of his own on the other end.
Moorefield’s Shawn Reed drained a 3-pointer for a 5-nil edge at 6:30.
Kump was in the swatting mood again, but Petersburg recovered and Metheny dropped a trey.
The Yellow Jackets answered with a jumper by Reed.
Ours scored in the paint on the ensuing Vikings series.
Kump crashed into the lane for a bucket to lift Moorefield up 9-5 at 4:30.
Petersburg went back to the perimeter with Metheny firing into the net, 9-8.
A putback was added by Reed on the following possession.
The Vikings came back to tie the game at 11-all with a trey from Lucas Riggleman.
Moorefield said hold my soda as Helmick gulped down a trifecta regaining the edge.
The Yellow Jackets went beyond-the-arch again with Matthew Iman increasing the lead to 17-11 at 2:12.
After a defensive carom by Kump, the Vikings were whistled for a foul as Brock Linville crashed to the floor.
A steal by Kuhn led to a jumper by Riggleman.
Riggleman hauled in a defensive board, then Petersburg missed three straight shots.
Moorefield hit the rim, but a quick recovery was made as Helmick stuffed the Vikings.
Kump snatched a defensive rebound and passed to Linville, who dished to Helmick for a buzzer beating trifecta going up 20-13.
WHSV-TV3 put that shot in the Top-3 for game action of the night.
“My blood pressure is always high. We showed a lot of heart tonight and a lot of fight. It was a great game both ways. A couple plays here and there and it could be a different outcome. That was the number one team in our region, so to play a game like that with them knowing we could beat them, we are happy with that. [Final play] We were trying to get it down low to the corner, but it didn’t work out. There were a lot of other plays earlier in the game which we could have done better,” Moorefield coach Scott Stutler noted.
Iman stole the ball commencing the second frame, but Moorefield came up empty.
The Vikings swung the momentum on a 6-0 run which included a steal by Ours leading to a crashing layup by Metheny cutting the deficit to 20-19 at 5:58.
Coming out of a timeout, Linville located Reed for a jumper.
The Vikings drew iron thrice despite a steal, then Linville snatched the last rebound and dribbled down near the bench before launching an assist to Helmick on a trey for a 25-19 lead at 3:47.
After a Vikings foul, Kump hit a jumper for Moorefield.
Petersburg sandwiched a pair of perimeter baskets by Ours around free throws from Kail Greenwalt to close the gap to 29-25 with a minute left in the half.
A steal by Ours and breakaway was thwarted on a block by Greenwalt.
Kump swiped the ball, but it was taken away by Riggleman leading to a pair of free throws from Ours as Petersburg pulled to within 29-27 going into halftime.
The third period started with a Petersburg steal by Metheny and ended with a game-tying layup by Ours.
Both teams hit the rim, then Kuhn took a defensive board and netted a jumper to put the Vikings ahead for the first time in the contest at 6:23, 31-29.
Linville kept the next series alive with a rebound and found Reed for a 3-pointer to regain the lead at 5:45.
Helmick corralled a defensive rebound and lit up the perimeter for a 35-31 edge at 4:54.
Reed collected another defensive carom and dished to Linville who faked a long range shot and opted for a layup as Moorefield boosted the run to 8-0.
Boddy netted a 3-pointer for the Vikings on the following possession.
Both teams hit the rim, then Riggleman swiped the ball and passed to Boddy for a bucket inside for a 37-36 score at 2:54.
Petersburg went on a 6-0 run in the final minute of the third frame starting with a steal by Ours with a dish to Boddy and Metheny added two more field goals around two errant Yellow Jackets shots for a 42-38 advantage.
Iman launched a last second shot near mid-court, but it was swatted by Boddy.
Metheny notched one free throw to start the last stanza for the Vikings within five seconds.
Both teams made a couple steals including a baseline save by Linville after a block by Reed.
The latter swipe by Helmick led to a breakaway layup for Moorefield at 6:59, 43-40.
The Yellow Jackets defense swarmed with more steals by Helmick and Iman, but failed to capitalize.
In a span of one minute, the Vikings made six free throws and Reed garnered a putback with Petersburg up 49-42 with 4:48 left.
Helmick snatched the ball and made a layup, then Kump collected a defensive board and Helmick drained a trifecta to slice the deficit to 49-47 with 2:29 to go.
Kump hauled in another board, but Kuhn stole the ball and broke the 1,000-point career milestone on a layup.
After recognition for that feat, Moorefield came back with a jumper by Kump for a 51-49 score with 1:23 remaining.
Kump grabbed another defensive carom, then Riggleman swiped the ball and was fouled leading to one free throw with just under a minute, 52-49.
Reed hauled in an offensive board before temporarily losing the ball and taking it back for a score inside with 37 seconds left as Moorefield now trailed 52-51.
Metheny was fouled and added one shot from the charity stripe for the Vikings with 25 seconds to spare.
Kump made the rebound on the latter shot, then Iman drew a foul crashing to the floor with eight seconds to go.
After two timeouts, Linville passed to the corner and Helmick made a leaping throw back to the top of the key, then Kuhn made the game sealing swipe and tossed the ball to the rafters at the buzzer as Petersburg escaped the Hive with a 53-51 victory.
“My blood pressure was exactly where I thought it was going to be playing that guy right there [MHS coach Scott Stutler]. A great game for the community and all of us, win or lose. It is what we expect when Petersburg and Moorefield play each other, it is going to be a battle. We were fortunate to have kids to make plays in the end and I a, blessed to have senior leadership and that matters when the game is on the line and we have kids that can help us finish games. It was a great atmosphere and we had our side filled. What more do you want on a Friday night with two local teams. We gave the fans everything we could going down to the final play with two seconds left. You can’t ask for anything else from us,” Petersburg coach Stacey Berg concluded.
