AM
Summers County at PikeView
Summers County (78) Vs. PikeView (52)
By JONATHAN GREENE
Bluefield Daily Telegraph
GARDNER — In their past few meetings, the PikeView Lady Panthers have nearly pulled off their goal of defeating their rival Summers County.
Last year in the sectional final, PikeView led in the second quarter before fading late and falling to the eventual state champion Lady Bobcats. In their only meeting this season, the Panthers had a chance late to upset Summers County in Hinton, but the Bobcats held on for 62-60 win.
PikeView (11-9) will have to wait a little while longer after Summers County (14-5) pulled away for a 78-52 win on Thursday night which snapped a three game losing skid for the Bobcats.
“We’re in an incredibly tough stretch,” Summers County head coach Wayne Ryan said. “I don’t think you’ll find a AA team playing the schedule we’re playing right now. It’s nice to get a win, because every game we play right now is state tournament caliber basketball. It’s a good win for us.”
The Panthers kept it close for the majority of the first half, but fouls hurt them with several of their keys players sitting on the bench. The teams combined for a 57 fouls and 76 free throws.
“From the beginning of the game, we didn’t get into a rhythm,” PikeView head coach Karen Miller said. “We stayed with them for a while then they started to pull away. They had more people contributing and we just didn’t play our game.”
PikeView tried several different defenses, hoping to stop West Virginia player of the year candidate Candance Brown, but the senior found her groove in the second and third quarters. After scoring four points in the first quarter, Brown was able to drop in 37 for the game before being pulled with 1:41 left in the fourth. She also grabbed 13 rebounds, had eight steals, five blocks and five assists.
“Candace is an exceptional player,” Miller said. “She does some many different things. She does a lot of thing off the ball to get open and when she has the ball, she’s a threat. She’s tough to stop.”
Summers County scored the game’s first points on an old fashion three-point play by Brandy Morrison. PikeView’s Hope Nester hit a jumper to bring them within one, yet that would be as close as the Panthers would get for the rest of the game. They trimmed it the Bobcat’s lead to one-point on two more occasions in the first, but Summers County led 16-11 after the first.
“You have to give our kids credit there,” Ryan said. “They were pretty determined. I think they were tired of losing too.
“They just wanted to come out here and play a little better than we’ve been playing. See what it feels like to win a game.”
PikeView was determined to stay in the game as a Nester fastbreak layup made it 20-18. After two free throws by Avery Pivont, the Panthers’ Lauren White made three of four attempts from the line to make it 22-21 with 3:46 left in the half. However, Sam Wood would pick up her third foul moments later and Summers County closed the half on a 12-6 run.
The third quarter though would be the difference as the Bobcats defense limited PikeView to just six points as they built up a 17-point lead, 50-33. Both Wood and Laura Hill picked up their fourth fouls which forced PikeView to go deep into their bench.
“I thought we did a really good job defensively,” Ryan said. “The kids communicated well, moved well. We had good rotations. The kids deserve credit for that.”
Summers County continued to build their lead in the fourth. The Bobcats led by as many as 31 points as the teams went to their benches for the final minutes.
Danielle Compton led PikeView with 12 points and 13 rebounds. White added 13 points and seven boards while Nester finished with 10 points, five boards and two assists.
“It just didn’t bounce our way,” Miller said. “We just didn’t play like we did down there. We have to go from here. We have James Monroe tomorrow who we have to prepare.
“They gave all the effort they could. We got a lot of foul trouble. It just didn’t go our way. We have to get ready for James Monroe and come out with better effort tomorrow night.”
Brown was the lone player in double figures for Summers County. Morrison and Hayley Shrewsbury each had nine points. Morrison nearly finished with a double-double as she had nine rebounds.
Neither team gets much time to rest as PikeView hosts James Monroe tonight and Summers County welcomes Scott to Hinton on Saturday.
“It’ll take tremendous effort on both ends of the floor,” Ryan said to defeat Scott. “Really a lot of togetherness. A lot of focus. We can’t have mental breaks down or lack of concentration. If we can stay focused the whole time on both ends of the floor and not have any breakdowns, we have a shot.”
— Contact Jonathan Greene
at jgreene@bdtonline.com

at PikeView High School
SUMMERS COUNTY (14-5)
H. Shrewsbury 9, Pivont 8, Wynes 4, Brown 37, L. Bonds 2, Morrison 11, B. Bonds 4, Smith 1, Taylor 2. Totals 23 26-38 78.
PIKEVIEW (11-9)
Hill 1, Nester 10, Wood 4, Sabin 2, Compton 12, Taylor 4, Brown 1, Lyn. Hatfield 5, L. White 13. Totals 13 23-38 52
Summers County...............16 18 16 28 — 72
PikeView.............................11 16 6 19 — 52
3 pt field goals: SC 2 (Shrewsbury, Brown); PV 1 (Nester). Fouled out: SC, L. Bonds, B. Bonds; PV, Hill, Nester.
Game Scoreboard
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 OT SCORE
Summers County 16 18 16 28 0 78
PikeView 11 16 6 19 0 52
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