By Carl Holcomb
Moorefield Examiner
The Vikings couldn’t sustain an early lead as the Cougars roamed to greener pastures with senior Evan Hamilton farming 1,000 career points in the 68-56 comeback.
Petersburg forced four turnovers in the opening two minutes and grabbed a 4-0 lead, despite two blocks by East Hardy’s Gideon Good during that time.
A steal by Mason Hamilton led to a bucket by Good at 5:17.
Hamilton notched another takeaway, but failed to connect.
Petersburg went on a 7-0 run as Peyton Metheny netted two free throws, stole the ball and made a layup before the Cougars hit the rim twice and Kaleb Kuhn nailed a 3-pointer to cap it off, 11-2.
Good stopped the run with a jumper, then the Vikings responded with back-to-back trifectas by Kuhn and Carter Hardy to develop a 17-4 advantage.
East Hardy had a momentum shift scoring 7 straight points in a one minute stretch on free throws by Good, Aubrey McCullough drilled a perimeter shot and Joseph Price scored off a steal, 17-11.
Kuhn and Metheny dealt two more 3-pointers ushering the Vikings to a 23-12 lead entering the second stanza.
“I just told them to weather the storm. Petersburg came out real emotional and were making shots. They weren’t making easy shots, some really deep threes. They were on fire. The key in that situation is to not panic and just weather the storm and keep attacking the middle and things will settle. It did and we started getting more into our offense in the second period and really flipped it in the second half. Not having turnovers and being able to execute with a good offense helped us in the second half and we did a really good job with our inside-out game plan. They are going to play state caliber style ball and having Petersburg at the end of the season was by design,” East Hardy coach Chris Hahn stated.
“I’m not a good coach when it comes to statistics. The only thing we preach in our locker room is to get the win. I don’t care if one person scores all of the points or none of the points or all of the assists and the kids don’t care either. This is a bunch of unselfish kids and it’s a testament to him and his consistency and has been a leader for us for four years. It is a great moment to hit that threshold and only a few have done it. I am really proud of him.”
The Cougars commenced the second period with an old-fashioned three-point play by Good.
Ours and McCullough traded 3-pointers in the ensuing minute.
It was back and forth as Metheny and Good scored in the paint.
Evan Hamilton and Ours swapped perimeter stories for a 30-23 score, 5:00.
McCullough added a layup for the Cougars next play.
Good stuffed the next attempt, then both teams hit the rim before a jumper from Ours put the Vikings up 32-25.
Mason Hamilton swiped the ball, but Metheny blocked the layup attempt.
Good scored off the inbounds play, but the Vikings answered with a long ball from Ours, 35-27.
Price garnered a jumper, then Good collected a defensive rebound leading to Mason Hamilton completing an old-fashioned three-point play to cut the deficit to 35-32 at 1:26.
Good gathered another defensive board and fed Mason Hamilton for a game-tying 3-pointer with one minute and change left in the half.
The game remained deadlocked at 35-all entering halftime.
East Hardy started sinking the Vikings ship with a 13-nil run in the third period starting with a steal by Evan Hamilton, dishing to Price for the layup.
Both teams missed a few shots prior to a free throw by East Hardy’s Trevor Roof.
Good crashed into the paint for a bucket, then recorded a blocked shot on defense.
Evan Hamilton fired in two shots from beyond-the-arc in a span of 26 seconds to build a 46-35 edge.
The Vikings hit the rim thrice before coughing up the ball as Evan Hamilton made a layup extending the lead to 48-35 at 2:22.
Petersburg finished the third period on a 7-0 run paced by Ours and Metheny to cut the deficit to 48-43.
The Cougars commenced the final stanza with back-to-back trifectas by Evan Hamilton with the former catapulting to the 1,000 point career milestone.
Hamilton wasn’t aware of the accomplishment as his family and coaching staff kept the secret and revealed the good news at the end of the game for a huge celebration as extended family and friends took time to congratulate Evan on the amazing achievement.
“It’s pretty cool. Honestly, it was cooler since I didn’t know it was happening as I went into the locker room. I pray before every game, so without Him I wouldn’t make it through. Just weather the storm. They were shooting 60-70 percent from threes. If we weather the storm and play our game, it will be okay,” East Hardy senior Evan Hamilton.
Petersburg whittled the gap down slightly with four points over a two minute stretch sandwiching a jumper by Good.
East Hardy went back up 60-48 with under three minutes left as Price scored on a putback and McCullough garnered a breakaway layup off a steal.
There was a steady mix of free throws down the stretch as the Cougars completed the season sweep, 68-56.
“We came out and shot the ball well. We went up and had a good run. Basketball is a game of runs. I knew at some point they would come out and are a run, but they didn’t come out shooting well and we did. We rode that as long as we could. They made some adjustments. When you are as talented as East Hardy is with their depth, those two guards and Gideon at center, it isn’t going to stay at 18-2 very long. They are going to make a run. We just couldn’t sustain the lead against East Hardy. This loss doesn’t change anything, because all of our goals are still right in front of our face,” Petersburg coach Stacey Berg said.
The Cougars were paced by Gideon Good and Evan Hamilton with 17 points apiece, followed by Mason Hamilton with 11 points.
Petersburg’s Caden Ours scored a game-high 23 points.
In JV action, Petersburg beat the Cougars 57-43.
East Hardy JV was led by Gage Dove with 12 points.
Brandon McDonald scored a game-high 20 points for the JV Vikings.
East Hardy finished the regular season on a 13-game winning streak to lock up the top seed in the playoffs.
The Cougars open the Class A Region II Tournament playoffs at home this Thursday against Harman.
The winner of that game will face the winner of the Union and Tygarts Valley game on March 11 for a state qualifying game.
East Hardy is looking for a fourth straight trip to the state tournament.
Petersburg is the top seed in the Class AA Region II Tournament and will host Philip Barbour on Friday.
