By GARY DOVE
Bluefield Daily Telegraph

BRUSHFORK — The PikeView Panthers trailed Mount View 5-4 midway through the opening quarter Saturday night in the Bluefield Invitational before exploding to outgun the Golden Knights 19-2 over the final 3:57 to take a commanding 23-7 lead after that inaugural frame.

That burst was used as a springboard by the Panthers to capture their initial win of the season by a 59-26 count over the Knights.

Remarked second year Panther head coach Lindsey Jones, “We played pretty good defense. The press forced several turnovers that we translated into easy baskets.”

Mount View fell victim to seven first quarter turnovers and eight more in the second period, as the Panthers advantage stood at 38-15 at intermission.

PikeView junior Seth Wood scored six points in that 19-2 string, as did fellow junior Jason Weitzel. Wood added 11 of the 15 Panthers’ second chapter points for 17 of his game-high 19 by the break.

The two Class AA Views felt one another out in the initial four minutes of the game, with the Panthers’ Bradley Flinchum giving his team a short-lived 2-0 lead before Paco Bonds knotted the score a dozen seconds later.

Weitzel had a putback for PikeView before the Knights pulled to within one on a Marlin Marrs free throw, and then took a 5-4 advantage on a Bonds stickback.

Flinchum answered with a pair of deuces, and Wood wedged a bucket in between the two.

After Timothy Nowlin drove for two, Wood and Weitzel keyed a 13 consecutive point run.

Weitzel followed Wood with 11 points for the now 1-2 Panthers.

Bonds scored nine points and hauled down seven rebounds for the 0-4 Knights.

Analyzed Mount View head coach Gary Brown, “Our problems were not just our inability to get the ball up the floor (against the press), but our defense.

“After we went to the 2-3 (zone), that helped. And in the late second quarter and the second half, I thought the freshmen we put in did a better job.”

Both schools will play in another holiday tournament apiece next Friday and Saturday.

The Knights will square off against host Chapmanville on Friday in that tourney, while the Panthers will face Webster County Friday at the Alpha Natural Resources Christmas Tournament in Princeton.



at Brushfork Armory

PIKEVIEW (1-2)

Austin Hazelwood 2 0-0 5, Seth Wood 9 1-1 19, Seth Meadows 3 0-0 8, Bradley Flinchum 3 0-4 6, Jason Weitzel 4 1-2 11, Keion Lee 2 0-2 6, Zach Meadows 2 0-0 4. Totals 25-56 2-9 59.

MOUNT VIEW (0-4)

Rashawn Brooks 3 0-0 6, Joe Hayes 1 0-0 2, Jaedon Burress 2 0-0 4, Timothy Nowlin 1 0-2 2, Ellis Bryson 1 0-0 2, Paco Bonds 4 1-4 9, Marlin Marrs 0 1-2 1. Totals 12-44 2-8 26.

PikeView...........................23 15 9 12 — 59

Mount View.......................7 6 10 3 — 26

3-point goals: PV 7-24 (Meadows 2, Weitzel 2, Lee 2, Hazelwood 1), MV 0-0. Reb: PV 35 (Wood 9); MV 31 (Bonds 7). TO: PV 11; MV 21.