Worthy Opponent: Mountain Ridge tops Keyser 61-47
KEYSER - The Mountain Ridge Miners rolled into Keyser High School on Tuesday night as the area’s top-ranked team. Those same Miners rolled out of Keyser High School on Tuesday night with a 61-47 victory over the Golden Tornado, showing to everyone in attendance that they are worthy of that top spot.
Keyser fought hard, and in fact, played right with Mountain Ridge for three of the game’s four quarters. The Miners edged Keyser 16-13 in the opening frame. In the second half of the game, however, combining the third and fourth quarter scores, Keyser actually edged Mountain Ridge in points by a tally of 34-33.
The problem for Keyser, however, came in the second quarter where they failed to score a single point, all the while giving up 12 to Mountain Ridge. That was the difference maker.
In that first quarter, Keyser played neck and neck with the Miners, despite the fact that the Miners’ Peyton Miller delivered three straight three-pointers to open the game for Mountain Ridge.
“We had a great gameplan on them, and we knew that Peyton Miller could shoot. We set in the zone and told them to concentrate on him. Then, the first three possessions, he comes out and lights us up for three three-pointers,” Keyser coach Johnny Haines stated.
“Offensively, we didn’t start out too bad. But, defensively, we had mental breakdowns. When we figure it out mentally, I think we will be able to get it going offensively,” Haines explained.
There was no offense to be had in the second quarter from Keyser.
According to Haines, “In the second quarter, obviously when you don’t score a point in a high school basketball game, you’re not going to win many games. They were very aggressive on defense, had a good gameplan to take our guards away, so somebody else had to step up. We’ve got to get more creative as a coaching staff and be more mentally prepared for situations like that.”
With Mountain Ridge holding a 28-13 advantage at intermission, Keyser improved their play in the second half, they just couldn’t overcome the deficit they dug themselves into earlier.
“I thought in the third quarter we came out and held our own against them. I was more impressed with the fourth quarter. Unfortunately, I have a lot of respect for Coach Hobel, but we had a disagreement. All I was trying to do, I had five sophomores out on the court and I was trying to get them to play together. They’re a good trapping team, and he got upset that I’m trying to full-court press his subs,” Haines explained.
According to Haines, “But again, I had one starter in there, and five sophomores. I was just trying to fight to the end and show our seniors that others are willing to put forth effort out there.”
“Besides all that, I thought the energy was great in the second half. It showed these older guys that these younger guys can come in and give us some energy. That’s what it takes here and there, maybe not all the time,” Haines detailed.
According to Haines, “It was a good battle, they are well-coached. Hopefully we learn from it and get a win down at Berkeley Springs.”
Peyton Miller led the way for Mountain Ridge with 18 points, followed in double figures by Amare Kennedy with 15 points, and Nathaniel Washington with 11 points. In addition, Bryce Snyder tallied eight points, Uma Pua’auli six points, Camren Kifer two points, and Collin Lowry one point.
In the loss, Noah Broadwater led the way for Keyser with 15 points, followed by Patrick Liller with eight points, Seth Earnest with six points, and Mike Schell with five points. In addition, Jacob Weinrich and Josh Shoemaker contributed three points each, and Lonnie Pridemore and Drew Matlick two points each.
Keyser was victorious in the junior varsity contest by a score of 48-38. Patrick Liller led the charge for the junior Tornado with 15 points. Shaun Heeter was the leading scorer for Mountain Ridge with 14 points.
At the varsity level, Keyser (5-7) next travels to Berkeley Springs for a key sectional matchup on Friday, Jan. 28.
This article originally appeared on Mineral Daily News-Tribune: Worthy Opponent: Mountain Ridge tops Keyser 61-47
