Frankfort routs Mountain Ridge, 61-41, in teams' opener

Dec. 7—FROSTBURG — What a difference a year makes.

In Frankfort's home opener a year ago, Mountain Ridge cruised to a 76-46 rout in Short Gap, West Virginia. Nearly 12 months later, the Falcons returned the favor.

Behind a balanced attack that featured five scorers notch nine or more points, and benefitting from a Mountain Ridge team that had practiced just once before Tuesday, Frankfort dominated the Miners, 61-41, to open the season.

"I thought we shot the ball well," Frankfort head coach Scott Slider said. "Ball was definitely going in the hole for us. It didn't start off that way, but it picked up as the game progressed."

Mountain Ridge's entire starting five was made up of football players. Because the Miners advanced to the state title game Saturday in Annapolis, first-year Miners head coach Tim Nightengale had just one practice with his full squad before the team's opener.

There were flashes from Mountain Ridge, particularly on the part of Peyton Miller and Uma Pua'auli, who are two of the area's better players, but conditioning proved to be a problem.

Mountain Ridge started the game on a 7-0 run and the second half on an 8-0 burst, but following both blitzes, Frankfort regained control.

"The boys started out well, made some plays," Nightengale said. "We're coming into this thing with basically one practice with a lot of football players. ... They practiced for an hour-and-a-half last night. Basically, we threw the ball up and told them to play.

"7-0 run, 8-0 run, you have a quick burst, and then they got tired. You have heavy legs. Football conditioning is different than basketball, so that's something that's going to take time. Once they get it, I think they'll be okay."

Following the first run, the Falcons responded with a 13-2 flurry, as they lived and died by their perimeter shooting in the period. Frankfort was alive and well, making five treys in the period to lead 23-15 after one.

Cam Layton was a big reason why, drilling a trio of 3-pointers as part of his 13 points in the quarter. He finished with a game-high 15.

Tyson Spencer, Cam Lynch and Lane Lease took the torch in the second quarter, as each sunk a pair of field goals to race into the half with a 40-26 advantage.

Mountain Ridge opened the third period on an 8-0 run to claw within 40-34 after a steal and score by Pua'auli, but Frankfort attacked the glass, manufacturing put-back scores against the Miners' 1-3-1 zone.

With Frankfort's lead standing at 45-36 with a little more than two minutes remaining in the third, a Jake Layton three was off the mark, yet the Falcons got the rebound and kicked it out to Layton, who sunk the second try from deep.

Spencer scored consecutive put-backs on the following two possessions, and Frankfort ended the period on an 11-2 run to lead 54-36 entering the fourth.

Neither team accounted for much offense in the final period, and both teams' subs were in the game to play out the final 1:58 with Frankfort's lead insurmountable.

Spencer finished with 13 points on six field goals and made 1 of 2 free throws, Layton notched 10 points on two 3s and shot 4 for 4 from the line, and Lynch and Lease tallied nine points apiece.

With a collection of long-range threats — the Falcons made seven 3s — and a pair of talented post players, Frankfort has a solid mesh of weapons on offense.

"We have a fair amount of guards," Slider said. "Using Tyson as our big, he still gives us that dimension where if he comes out he can handle the basketball. He can go to the basket well. Lane, true post player. Big strong left-handed boy. He's young, he's gaining knowledge every day."

Miller led Mountain Ridge with 11 points on five field goals, making a 3-pointer, and Pua'auli scored 10 points on three field goals and a 4 for 8 effort at the line.

The Miners made just 5 of 15 free throws for the game and missed a plethora of open looks, both likely a product of the team's lack of floor time.

"Tonight it just didn't go in the basket for us," Nightengale said. "Missed a lot of free throws. Took a lot of 3-pointers, didn't make many of those. You have to put the ball in the hole to win, and you also have to play defense."

In the junior varsity game, Mountain Ridge won 47-39. The Miners were led by Owen McGeady (17) and Ian Duncan (11), and the Falcons by Josh Small (18).

Frankfort took the freshman affair 36-17. The Falcons' first-years were paced by Jeremy Phillips with 12 points. Cobe Pannick scored nine for Mountain Ridge.

Frankfort (1-0) returns to action at home against Pendleton County on Thursday at 7:30 p.m.

The Miners have done a lot of winning over the past two seasons, and not just on the hardwood. On the gridiron, the Mountain Ridge seniors have gone 23-3 over that span. In basketball, they were 18-4 in 2021-22.

Mountain Ridge (0-1) will have a chance to get back in the win column when it hosts Hampshire on Thursday at 7 p.m.

"They were disappointed tonight," Nightengale said. "You could see it in their faces. They were coming off a football season where they went undefeated through the regular season and the playoffs. They're winners. They've won throughout their football careers and in basketball."

Alex Rychwalski is a sports reporter at the Cumberland Times-News. Follow him on Twitter @arychwal.