By Steve Keenan
GARDNER — Class AA No. 2 Oak Hill started its weekend on a high note Friday night, narrowly defeating its nemesis, No. 1 Wyoming East.
In a Saturday matinee, another high-ranked foe, No. 5 PikeView, proved to be a tougher riddle to solve.
Spurred by a physical defensive effort, the Panthers overcame a nine-point deficit early in the third period and converted seven of 11 free throws in the final quarter to upset the Red Devils 66-63, avenging a 76-70 loss at Oak Hill earlier in the campaign.
Admitting the triumph felt “pretty good,” PikeView coach William Anderson stressed, “Winning a game like this at this time of the season gives you a lot of confidence.”
The contest was knotted twice in the final frame, 51-51 and 53-53. PikeView got four straight points from Corey Clark — the second bucket preceded by one of Oak Hill’s 24 turnovers on the afternoon — to go up 57-53.
Later, PikeView’s Tommy Symns canned both ends of a one-and-one to counter a two-point goal by Oak Hill’s Jack Flournoy, leaving the Panthers on top, 61-58, with 3:39 to play. Oak Hill pulled back to within 61-60 when DeAndre Leonard stole the ball and converted on the other end, but the hosts prevented any further Red Devil damage until Leonard buried a three-pointer with 2.9 seconds to play to account for the final score.
In the final minute, PikeView got two charity tosses from Jordan Weitzel (a game-high 24 points), one freebie from Josh Neal and another one from Tanner Ratcliff. The final successful free throw was from Weitzel, a shot that left Oak Hill trailing 66-60 with just 12.4 seconds left.
“This was a game of attrition,” Anderson said. “We had to not slack, since they have so many weapons.
“We had to improve our rebounding in the second half, and it was an outstanding defensive effort. Our backs were to the wall.”
Oak Hill coach Fred Ferri felt the Panthers were often too physical on the prevent end.
“It wasn’t a ball game,” Ferri said. “The difference was that the officials let them beat us to death.
“You don’t allow that type of contact in high school basketball.”
Showing no obvious signs of a letdown following the emotional win over Wyoming East less than 24 hours before, Oak Hill led twice by seven points in the opening stanza. Thomas Booth fed Leonard for a trey and a 12-5 lead at the 3:14 mark, then Flournoy buried a trifecta from the left corner for a 17-10 cushion with 1:45 to play.
The Devils remained in charge, 35-29, at halftime.
Trailing 45-42 after a Leonard steal and lay-in, PikeView went on a 7-2 spurt to close out the third quarter and set itself up for the final eight minutes.
While displeased with the officiating, Ferri also said his team didn’t do itself any favors.
“We did some silly things,” he said. “We had too many turnovers, we let them penetrate too much in the second half, and we did not protect the middle of our zone. We did a lot of bad things defensively.
“And they’re a good team. If the game is going to be physical, you have to play physical right back. We backed down, and you can’t back down.”
Leonard had a team-high 20 points for Oak Hill while Flournoy finished with 17. Kalif Wright netted 13, with 10 of that coming in the first half.
In addition to Weitzel’s output, Ben Nester scored 13 and Ratcliff 11 for the Panthers.
Oak Hill (14-3) hopes to rebound against Bluefield at home Monday.
PikeView (12-4) visits James Monroe the same night.
— E-mail: skeenan@
register-herald.com
No. 5 PikeView 66, No. 2 Oak Hill 63
OAK HILL (14-3)
DeAndre Leonard 8 0-0 20, Kalif Wright 6 1-2 13, Jack Flournoy 7 2-3 17, Thomas Booth 1 0-1 3, Kyle Colon 0 0-0 0, Steven Garris 1 3-4 5, Noah Smith 1 2-2 5. Totals 24 8-12 63.
PIKEVIEW (12-4)
Jordan Weitzel 8 6-8 24, Joel Calfee 1 0-0 3, Ben Nester 5 2-5 13, Josh Neal 0 1-2 1, Tanner Ratcliff 4 1-3 11, Tommy Symns 2 2-2 6, Corey Clark 4 0-0 8. Totals 12-20 66.
OH 17 18 12 16 — 63
PV 12 17 20 17 — 66
Three-point goals — OH 7 (Leonard 4, Flournoy 1, Booth 1, Smith 1); PV (Weitzel 2, Calfee 1, Nester 1, Ratcliff 2). Total fouls— OH 19, PV 16. Fouled out— Smith. Technical fouls — none.
