By BRIAN WOODSON
Bluefield Daily Telegraph
GARDNER — Sometimes the most deserving team doesn’t always win.
Just ask Summers County girls basketball coach Wayne Ryan, who wasn’t pleased even after the Bobcats pulled out a thrilling 56-55 decision at PikeView on Friday night.
‘It is always better to win than lose, but in a whole lot of ways PikeView outplayed us and maybe deserved to win more than we did,” Ryan said.
“I thought our intensity and lack of togetherness on defense and no desire on the boards, I was very disappointed in how we played.
“It is better to win than lose, but you have got to give PikeView credit, I am not very happy with how we performed,”
PikeView (8-9) rallied from a 55-50 deficit with 4:05 to play to tie the score at 55 before Whittney Justice made one of two free throws with 22.9 seconds left on the clock.
“I wasn’t (nervous) that time,” said Justice, who joined twin sister, Brittany, with 17 points and seven rebounds apiece. “I should have made my second one.”
PikeView worked the ball downcourt, taking a timeout with 8.5 seconds on the clock. With Madison May — who entered the game averaging 29.4 points a game, but was held to 11 in this one — securely covered by Brittany Justice, freshman Ashley Scott attempted a shot from the right elbow, but was unable to connect.
Both Scott and PikeView coach Karen Miller were screaming for a foul, but the call never came.
“They actually had to fight for everything, we asked our girls to play four hard quarters and they did,” Miller said. “Right there at the end we should have been on the foul line...”
While May, who had scored 106 points in three games earlier in the week, was held to her lowest output the season, the Panthers benefitted from inspired play by Scott, who had 18 points, including a trio of 3s, at the break and 22 in the game, along with Brittany Moore, who also scored 22 points, including 14 after halftime.
Moore also had seven rebounds for PikeView, while May had 10 rebounds, four assists and two blocked shots. Kaleigh Peyton and Hanna Smith each had six boards and Hannah Justice added five, but only three Panthers scored in the game.
“They played (May) really tough, she had a couple that just rolled in and came out,” Miller said. “If you look at it she has put up a lot of points in four games. Actually I don’t know even know how in the world she played tonight because having to play so hard.
“To have Ashley and Brittney step up, that was good. If we had a couple of May’s) to roll in it would kind of been a different story.”
Summers County (16-1), which entered the week ranked fourth in the Class AA poll, overcame an 18-12 deficit after one quarter to take a 34-32 lead at halftime, led by talented sophomore Hannah Taylor, who finished with 15 points — including 11 in the first half — along with 12 rebounds.
“She was honorable mention all-state last year,” Ryan said. “She gets stats every night in all four categories, points, rebounds, assists and steals across the board. She is a really good player.”
Moore came out strong for PikeView after the break, scoring nine points in a third quarter that included five lead changes and three ties, with the score tied at 48 going to the final period.
“PikeView is extremely hard to beat in this building,” Ryan said. “They have got some talented kids, I am not surprised it was a battle, but it shouldn’t have been a one-point game.”
While PikeView struggled from the field and missed five free throws in a row — and finished 2 for 9 on the night — the Bobcats got an offensive putback from Taylor and a drive to the basket by Whittney Justice to pull Summers County up 55-50.
“We were proud of the girls, they fought from the beginning to the end,” said Miller, whose Panthers’ biggest second half lead was 41-36 early in the third period. “It was an awesome game, I wish we would have came on top, we had some opportunities and we could have expanded on our lead.
“That would have helped, but I was proud of them, they played hard.”
PikeView tied the score on a basket by May and a 3 from Moore with 2:28 left in the game. Summers County held the ball until Justice was fouled with just under 23 seconds to go.
“We didn’t rebound and we didn’t play defense, it shouldn’t have been a close game,” said Whittney Justice, whose Bobcats understood the frustration of Ryan at their play. “He expects more of us. We couldn’t get shots to fall, but we should have drove to the basket more and at least got fouled.
“We have a lot of room for improvement. I know it is the end of the season, but we still have to get better.”
There is no rest for the weary. The Bobcats will play Clay County this morning at West Virginia State at 11 a.m.
“We looked tired tonight and we are sure not going to be anymore refreshed by the time we get up early, drive to Charleston and play at 11 o’clock against a good Clay County team so it will be a test of character,” Ryan said.
PikeView, which finished 2-2 this week, playing four games in five nights, will be back on the court Monday for what is “Pink Night” against Bluefield, which entered this week ranked eighth in the Class AA poll.
“We play Monday night here with Bluefield with another tough game,” Miller said. “They are playing real good basketball now.”

at PikeView High School
SUMMERS COUNTY (16-1)
Hannah Taylor 6 3-7 15, Morgan Miller 0 2-2 2, Tiffani Cline 2 0-0 5, Brittney Justice 7 3-5 17, Whittney Justice 6 3-4 17, Erica Merrill 0 0-0 0, Jordan Sigmon 0 0-0 0. Totals 21 11-18 56.
PIKEVIEW (8-9)
Brittany Moore 10 0-0 22, Madison May 5 1-4 11, Ashley Scott 9 1-1 22, Hannah Justice 0 0-2 0, Kaleigh Peyton 0 0-2 0, Sparrow Void 0 0-0 0, Hanna Smith 0 0-0 0. Totals 24 2-9 55.
Summers County............12 22 14 8 — 56
PikeView..........................18 14 16 7 — 55
3-point goals: SC 3 (W.Justice 2, Cline 1); PV 5 (Scott 3, Moore 2). Total fouls: SC 9; PV 14. Fouled out: none. Techicals: none. JV—none.