Frankfort pulls away late in 65-54 win over Moorefield

Jan. 13—SHORT GAP, W.Va. — Frankfort pulled away in the final minutes to seal a 65-54 victory over Moorefield on Thursday night.

"This is a sectional opponent, so this game is huge," Frankfort head coach Scott Slider said. "Our seedings in our sectional game is how we position ourselves when it comes to the playoffs. Winning this game was big."

The Falcons (3-6, 2-2 Potomac Valley) scored 12 points in the final three minutes. The Yellow Jackets (1-8, 1-7 Potomac Valley) were within five points with two minutes left, but were unable to complete the comeback.

"I can't wait to play them again," Moorefield head coach Scott Stutler said. "We had some unfortunate injuries in the first half. Our kids battled through some adversity. Frankfort hit some big shots toward the end of the game. I can't wait to play them again, I'm excited for that opportunity."

Cameron Lynch scored Frankfort's first seven points. He finished with nine in the first quarter as he helped the Falcons open on a 7-2 run.

"I think Cam's starting to understand where he can score from," Slider said. "Offensively, he's starting to let the game come to him some. He's been able to figure out where his shots are gonna come from."

Moorefield responded with a 5-4 run over the next three minutes to cut its deficit to 11-7. Frankfort held on to lead 14-8 after one quarter.

The Falcons emphasized taking care of the ball early on after committing eight turnovers in the first quarter of their previous game against Allegany. Against the Yellow Jackets, Frankfort committed three first quarter turnovers.

"That was one of our goals tonight, to cut down on the turnovers," Slider said. "Cutting them down is a big step in the right direction."

After a scoreless first quarter, Moorefield's Ronny Griest took over in the second. He scored 15 points including three shots from deep. He had all 15 of the Yellow Jackets points in the quarter.

"Ronny got going, he made shots," Stutler said. "He's tough to guard when he gets hot. I think they made him mad a little bit."

Moorefield outscored Frankfort 8-7 in the final three minutes of the first half with the Falcons leading 33-23 at halftime. Griest's 15 led all scorers.

The Yellow Jackets opened the second half with seven unanswered points, led by James Williams with four points and a steal in the first two minutes. Williams helped cut Moorefield's deficit to 33-30.

The Falcons were outscored 8-3 to open the quarter. They also committed six turnovers, four coming off steals.

"We let them back in the game in the third quarter, we can't do that," Slider said. "Our intensity level dropped coming out of halftime. We didn't pick it up until the end of the third quarter."

The Yellow Jackets tied the game at 36, and a few minutes later took their first lead at 38-36 with 2:35 left in the third quarter. It came off a steal by Griest who hit a 3-pointer in transition.

"It's big to fight back," Stutler said. "We had kids in foul trouble, we had kids hurt. To fight back and take the lead after being down 10 at halftime, that's huge. It's huge for our kid's character, show that they battled. We got some deficiencies, but they battled hard. We're always gonna play until the end."

Lynch hit a jumper to retake the lead for Frankfort at 41-39 to end the quarter.

The fourth quarter featured a lot of back-and-forth by both teams. Moorefield kept it within three possessions for the first five minutes. Griest had another big quarter with 13 points and went 4 for 5 at the free throw line.

"We had to pressure and we didn't do a good job of pressuring," Stutler said. "They got some layups and they hit a big three at the end. We had to pressure and that's not really our game. Got us out of our comfort zone a little bit."

Leading 58-53 with 1:12 left, the Falcons made several clutch plays to pull away. After Tyson Spencer hit a layup, Frankfort forced a turnover. Josh Small hit a 3-pointer to extend the lead to 63-53.

The Yellow Jackets began to foul with about 30 seconds left, and the Falcons hit a few more free throws to end the game.

Frankfort outscored Moorefield 24-13 in the fourth quarter.

"We settled in and we hit some big shots," Slider said. "Our offense is going to open up shots for us, we finally got a few. Right guys had the ball at the right times for the right shots."

Lynch led the Falcons with 16 points while Layton scored 15. Spencer scored 13 and Small finished with 12.

"Tyson jumps well, gets inside and does things inside," Slider said. "He can step back outside and knock down the 3. He's a multi-faceted player, he can do a little of everything."

Griest led all scorers with 34 points. He made five 3-pointers and shot 7 for 9 at the line.

"Ronny's a good basketball player," Stutler said. "He plays hard, he's one that never quits. He's one that plays hard the whole time."

Both teams will play road games on Monday. Moorefield travels to face Pocahontas County at 5:30 p.m. Frankfort visits Clay County at noon.

The win broke a five-game losing streak for the Falcons after dropping their last game 63-35 to Allegany.

"Allegany's really good, competition level is nothing like what we see at our level," Slider said. "Competing against them for a while is a step in the right direction for us. That helps us be more aggressive, helps us play better as a team."

Jordan Kendall is a Sports Writer for the Cumberland Times-News. Follow him on Twitter @JKendallCTN.