Gallery by Heather Belcher
The final game Wednesday night in the New River CTC Tournament appeared to be a one-sided affair.
Class AA No. 9 Wyoming East (5-1) squared off against PikeView (3-5) who was missing a pair of key players and was coming off a game Tuesday against Independence.
The game was far from one-sided.
Playing with high energy all night, PikeView forced the Warriors into an overtime battle before falling just short, 53-50.
“We started in a huge hole, but we won the little battles along the way to get the lead. We just haven’t been in some close game situations this year, so it was just one of those things for us,” PikeView head coach Colton Thompson said. “It was a good experience and some growing pains for us, but the effort was definitely there tonight.”
Early on it looked like it would be an easy win for Wyoming East which scored the first 10 points of the game and led by nine after the first period.
However, quietly lost in the lead East built was the fact that Warrior standout Garrett Mitchell picked up his second foul midway through the opening quarter and did not return until the second half.
At first it didn’t seem to matter when the Warriors ran out to a 21-8 lead on a basket from Jacob Howard with 4:50 to play until halftime.
When Jackson Danielson picked up his second foul midway through the second quarter, things started to go stale for Wyoming East.
PikeView held the Warriors without a point for nearly 10 minutes. Over that span, the 13-point deficit for the Panthers turned into a six-point lead.
“It was sloppy, but a win is a win and we found a way to pull through. We didn’t score the ball well tonight,” Wyoming East head coach Derek Brooks said. “We got in foul trouble there with Garrett and then Jackson in the middle of the second quarter. Then we couldn’t score at all. It is tough to win ball games like that, but they fought through it and got the W.”
Mitchell snapped the scoreless drought with 3:02 left in the third quarter, but it was a dogfight the rest of the way.
A floater from Peyton Greer pushed the lead back to six points for the Panthers before East started to find success in the lane.
The Warriors ended the third quarter on a 7-0 run to lead 30-29.
“We did a good job holding them (scoreless) for that long, but we knew eventually the dam was going to break and we would have to survive it and be prepared to answer when it came,” Thompson said.
Four times the lead changed in the final quarter, but with 1:25 to play, East appeared in control. Penetration from Cole Lambert and a kick to Mitchell resulted in a 3-ball that gave the Warriors a 41-37 lead.
The Panthers kept coming and tied the game on back-to-back tough angle runners from Nathan Riffe and David Thomas to send the game to an extra stanza.
With the game tied 43-43 early in the overtime session, two straight scores from Howard and a pair of free-throws from Mitchell gave East a six-point lead which it kept the rest of the way.
Howard was big for East Wednesday scoring 15 points, grabbing seven rebounds along with three steals.
“We had have it from him tonight or we go home with a (loss),” Brooks said. “He finished well around the rim for us. That is great numbers for him and I am glad to see him have a good game.”
Mitchell ended with 17 points in just 23 minutes of action, while Danielson scored 11 and had eight rebounds.
The unsung hero of the night for the Warriors was Dacoda Cooper off the bench.
“I thought Dacoda Cooper played a big part in the overtime and especially in the fourth quarter and second half really,” Brooks said. “He handled the pressure well and he attacked it. He also made good passes.”
With PikeView harassing ball-handlers all over the floor, Cooper was a game-saver for East.
“We had to have that from him. We were a little stagnate in that zone press. We would get in the middle and kick it back out where they could pressure us again,” Brooks said. “We needed to turn and attack like we teach. If we get the ball in the middle of that zone, we should have a layup every time.”
Greer led the Panthers with 14 points, while Riffe and Zayden Neely added 10 points each. The Panthers had four players with four or more rebounds and three players with four assists on the night.
“We had a pretty good gap over Christmas before we played Indy and we played deep in practice,” Thompson explained. “Some of the guys that didn’t get in tonight are going to get in (Thursday) night. There is growth all over the program.”
Thursday night PikeView is back inside the Beckley-Raleigh County Convention Center where it will play its third game in as many nights. Waiting for the Panthers will be Class AAAA Beckley for an 8:30 p.m. clash.
Wyoming East will play again in the New River CTC Saturday when it battles Oak Hill at 3:15 p.m.
