By DAN STILLWELL
for the Daily Telegraph
SHADY SPRING — In an otherwise evenly matched game Friday night, PikeView had one advantage over host Shady Spring.
An extra game this week.
The Panthers, who faded late in a 68-58 loss at Greater Beckley Christian Wednesday, started fast and finished strong against the Tigers for a hard-fought 59-56 victory.
“With all the snow, we were happy to get games, and we were lucky we had two great opponents to play with very different styles,” PikeView coach Colton Thompson said. “They brought us a lot of challenges in a short period of time. I can’t think of anything better to get ready for the sectionals.”
PikeView (13-9) opened with a 7-0 run, but then had to fight for its life against Shady (8-8), which had not played a game in over three weeks. The Tigers were strong from the outside, hitting nine 3-point shots.
But they had just one down the stretch, however. Josh Snyder hit one with 4.5 seconds to play, but following a missed PikeView foul shot, a final try by Keith Sexton (who had three on the night) banged off the rim just before the buzzer.
PikeView, on the other hand, wasn’t a lot better, sinking 5 of 11 free throws.
The game featured both tough, physical inside play from the centers and good, but streaky, 3-point shooting from each side.
Tyler Ruble took game scoring honors for PikeView with 16 points. He was also a force on the boards, particularly in the second half, when he grabbed nine rebounds.
PikeView had to overcome the loss of smooth-shooting multi-sport start Jason Weitzel, who also fouled out at the 4:20 mark of the fourth quarter after scoring six points.
Seth Wood finished with 14 points, while Seth Meadows netted 13 and Takota Bailey had 10.
Steven Chhabra topped the Tigers with 13 points.
PikeView will play Mount View on Tuesday at Princeton in the Class AA Region 3, Section 2 tournament at Princeton.

PIKEVIEW (13-9)
Austin Hazelwood 2 0-0 6, Takota Bailey 3 1-5 10, Seth Wood 6 2-5 14, Seth Meadows 4 2-4 13, Tyler Ruble 7 2-4 16, Jason Weitzel 3 0-1 6, Wayne Brookman 0 0-0 0. Totals: 23 7-19 59.
SHADY SPRING (8-8)
Keith Sexton 3 0-0 9, Joe Keller 3 0-0 9, Steve Chhabra 6 1-2 13, Michael Holt 2 0-0 6, Josh Snyder 1 1-2 4, Tyler Bonds 4 1-2 9, Nate Williams 2 0-2 4, Jon Sawyer 1 0-0 2. Totals: 22 3-9 56.
PikeView.......................................14 9 15 21 — 59
Shady Spring...........................12 15 13 16 — 56
3-point goals: PV: 6 (Bailey 3, Meadows 3); SS: 9 (Sexton 3, Keller 3, Holt 2, Snyder). Fouled out: PV (Weitzel), SS (Bond).