Western Pike 84 Piketon 83 Dbl OT a final

[pfloyd]

Western Pike 84
Piketon 83 final 2OTs

Not sure you can have a more exciting game to open the 2023-24 regular season Wow!!! ... a game that started out ALL Red Streaks from the "git go" opening up a 19 point lead into the 2:59 mark of the 3rd qtr. at 46-27 ... BUT if you have followed SEO hoops in recent years you would KNOW that ANY team under the guidance of Coach Williams & staff NEVER rolls over - they never quit - I'm willing to bet TEAM Indians doesn't even have "quit" in their vocabulary ... tonight's opening night, 1st game of the regular season, only goes to prove what Western Pike basketball is all about ... Western Pike 84 Piketon 83 in 2OTS a final ...

... The opening period was owned by Piketon, after a trey from Brent McGuire to take the lid off of the Red Streak bucket -the PHS scoring was led by the duo of Declan Davis (6 pts) and 6-6 Bo Henry with 8 pts including a 3 ball from behind the arc ... Western looked "tight" and it showed in the Indians shooting - after a Drew Haggy drive for 2pts the WHS offense was stuck on 2pts through 3:25 on the clock trailing 2-12 ... the Indians turned the ball over 7 times in the opening qtr on top of going 1 for 7 from behind the arc with the lone triple coming from Cutter Clay (3pts) ... Haggy finished the period with 4pts/ Kam Janes added a 2 point bucket to go with the Clay trey ... Piketon 19 Western 9 after 1 ... in the 2nd Western found the bottom of the net more often, scoring 13 points as Logan Lightle dropped a three pointer plus a deuce (5pts) ... Haggy and Janes added transition buckets in the qtr. to go with a Foster Davis trey ... Western finished the half going 3/17 from beyond the arc ... 12 turnovers ... Piketon looked like a solid ballclub - as Coach Miller got scoring from all 5 starters in the half - Declan Davis (11pts)/Bo Henry (10pts)/Brent McGuire (7pts)/Garrett Legg (5pts) and Mason Thacker 3pts ... the Streaks finished the half 4/9 from 3 pt land ... turned the ball over 12 times ... Piketon 36 Western 22 a intermission ... Piketon continued to give Western every opportunity to "call it a night" as PHS opened the 3rd period with a 10-5 run led by Brent McGuires 13 point qtr on his own ball (20 pts thru 3) ... the smooth swing forward knocked down a pair of threes in the period to push the score to 46-27 with 2:59 on the play clock in the 3rd ... for the Indians Lightle kept PHS within reach as he drained 2 more treys (3 for the game) ... Tyler Kerns added 2pts/ Haggy 4 points giving the jr shooting guard 10 pts thru 3 periods... Haggy's running mate Kam Janes went 3/4 from the line (8 pts thru 3 periods) ... Piketon 58 Western 39 after 3 ... trailing throughout the game, the Indians were playing with "intensity" , pressure defensively full court trying to make up ground ... Western is not deep off the bench BUT as fouls on both sides took a toll - bench players started to play a major part in outcome of this one ... and Western has the great equalizer - quickness/intensity : DEFENSE ... Coach Williams Indians over the course of his tenure have always hung their hat on tenacious , up in you, man to man D ... defense travels ... when quit isn't in your vocabulary - defense gets you back in games ... on this night the Indians D, key fouls on the Streaks Declan Davis along with PG Thacker for PHS fighting through an ankle injury the entire night along with "HIM" - Drew Haggy - going off offensively in the 4th period was THE spark ... the junior had struggled offensively in getting 10 points through 3 qtrs.... in the 4th - Haggy dropped 20 points on the Streaks ( 3 treys with the final triple tying the score as the clock ran out to end regulation) ... for 3 periods the Indians offense was inconsistent at best ... players were trying "not to miss" - the whole TEAM looked tight until Kam Janes drained a open 3 ball from the top of the key - from the cheap seats it looked like Haggy relaxed and just was himself/like he knew after Janes hit the 3 that he didn't HAVE TO make everything , as it turned out - Haggy DID make about everything he put up in the 4th ... the turnovers (16) thru 3 periods dropped to 1 in the 4th ... the pressure that was relentless for the first 3 qtr. got home in the 4th - forcing 6 PHS turnovers 3 of which went for transition buckets ... Piketon was held to 1 fg in the 4th period , 7/12 shooting from the FT line ... 10 points ... Western trailed 54-64 with 5:51 on the clock when Declan Davis picked up his 5th personal ... WHS finished the qtr on a 14-4 run capped off by Drew Haggy's 3 pointer to send the game into OT as the buzzer sounded ... Piketon 68 Western 68 end of regulation ...
... before the game started I wished Coach Williams good luck, mentioned I had watched the foundation game with Portsmouth Notre Dame, told Coach that the Indians looked good right up to when the shot selection went south - Coach said "we got tired" ... ironically on THIS night his Indians played anything BUT tired ... if anything they looked to be the best conditioned TEAM I've seen - the 94 ft pressure D, the scrambling to "get back in the game" trapping all over the court for 4 qtrs plus 2 OTs ... conditioning played a BIG part in this one ... Piketon got tired ... Western got after it ... the first OT the Indians were led by Haggy/Janes scoring 4 and 3 pts respectively ... Piketon was led by Brent McGuire's 5pts and a deuce from Bo Henry ... Piketon 75 Western 75 after OT1 ... in the 2nd OT Piketon showed a 1-3-1 zone forcing the ball out of Haggy and Janes hands forcing the ball down in the corner to a pair of subs - Alex Siliven and Eli McQuay ... Piketon's trapping 1-3-1 had it's price - McGuire fouled out ... Leighton Kelley for PHS answered the call with a bucket and one ... the 6-6 Henry got the ball in the paint for a 2 pointer ... Garrett Legg added 2/4 from the line... for Western two of the biggest buckets of the night came from off the bench after Haggy fouled out with :50 to play - Alex Siliven with clutch bucket on the baseline, and a putback by Eli McQuay made the score 82-83 PHS with :22.9 to play ... with :13 second on the game clock PHS missed both FTs on their end of the floor (4/9 from the line in the 2nd OT)... Kam Janes then worked his magic ... getting to the rim for his first attempt - miss ... rebounded his own shot putting it back up for what proved the winning bucket after Piketon inbounded , put up a 3/4 court shot that missed the mark ... Western Pike 84 Piketon 83 a final in 2 OTs ...


Pfloyd's Official "UN-official" Napkin Stats - Piketon

Scoring ...Mason Thacker 26, Bo Henry 22, Declan Davis 16, Garrett Legg 11, Leighten Kelley 5, Mason Thacker 3
3 Pointers ... 7/16 ... Brent McGuire 3, Declan Davis 2, Garrett Legg 1, Bo Henry 1
FTs ... 24/39 ... 4/9 in the 2nd OT
TOs ... 29 ... 6 in the 4th period/6 in OT1 ... 0 in the 2nd OT
Pbk... 2fgs/4 points in the paint
Tbk ... 3 fgs/ 6 points in transition

... Coach Miller has a solid starting rotation ... 4 of the 5 starters were in double figures ... good size with 6-6 Bo Henry down in the paint ... they can all score on the perimeter with 4/5 starters knocking down treys ... look for the Red Streaks to be in every game this season ...

Pfloyd's Official "UN-official" Napkin Stats - Western Pike

Scoring ... Drew Haggy 36, Kam Janes 23, Logan Lightle13, Foster Davis 5,Cutter Clay 3, Tyler Kerns 2, Eli McQuay 2, Alex Siliven 2
3 Pointers ... 9/38 ... Drew Haggy 3, Logan Lightle 3, Kam Janes 1, Cutter Clay 1, Foster Davis 1
FTs ... 15/22
TOs ... 20 ... only 1 in the 4th period/ 3 in OT1 / 0 in OT2
Pbk ... 3 fgs/ 6 point on putback buckets
Tbk ... 8 fgs/16 points in transition

... heart, tenacity, the will to win ... you can use every cliche' in the book to describe the Western performance last night ... every coach goes through a game, looks at the film/video to come up with "teachable moments" to be able to relate what was happening on the court to preparation for games ... I was sitting in the cheap seats last night , as I watched the game I jotted down "fire tower" "conditioning" - preseason I watched on the Western Pike website a video taken of the Indian TEAM running from the school to the fire tower and BACK (might even be up hill both ways) on their last day of conditioning ... during the video, I heard Coach Opperman telling the players as they ran - "we don't walk on the last day of conditioning!" "push yourself! what you do today is going to win games!!!" fast forward to last night - trailed the entire game, 94 feet of in your face/trapping D for 4 qtrs and 2 OTs ... conditioning, being willing to push yourself passed wanting to quit ... heart and talent won this one last night for the Indians ... if you weren't an Indians fan going into last nights game , you were when you left as THAT is how you want YOUR TEAM to play the game of basketball ... the starting rotation is set for WHS, the bench ??? learned that there are a couple more bodies who can give you quality minutes - Alex Siliven and Eli McQuay as BOTH battled the size advantage of PHS in the paint , BOTH got 2 BIG TIME buckets in the 2nd OT - BOTH won positions off the bench last night ...

[mikepike]

pfloyd, very accurate rundown from last night. Going in, I didn't know what to expect from either team, as both lost some parts from last year, either due to graduation or guys not playing/transferring this year. It was a bitter pill for this Red Streaks fan, but I was happy to see my nephew play very meaningful minutes for the Indians (Foster Davis.) Western could have very easily called it a night when down 20, but as you said, defense travels, and for the most part, I thought Piketon handled the pressure as well as could be expected. I did think Piketon would have played a little more zone defense, especially when Davis and McGuire got into foul trouble. Neither team is particularly deep, but both got good bench effort.

[The Ghost of Swanker]

Absolutely incredible come back last night for the Indians.

[HeavyWd40]

It’ll be hard to top that game as a fan this season! We have grown up playing with and against these boys since 3rd grade in all sports. Before the game a Piketon parent and I talked and we said we wanted both teams to play well and wished they could both win. Thats about as close to a double win as you will get . Unbelievable game !

[pfloyd]

It’ll be hard to top that game as a fan this season! We have grown up playing with and against these boys since 3rd grade in all sports. Before the game a Piketon parent and I talked and we said we wanted both teams to play well and wished they could both win. Thats about as close to a double win as you will get . Unbelievable game !

... it was a great game HeavyWd40 ... couldn't have asked for a better tip-off game to see imo, glad I made the trip down the Appalachian Hwy to see it ... always good to run into fans of both teams that I know and meet up with new fans of the game as well ... got an opportunity to introduce myself to Coach Leist prior to the Eagles taking the floor to take on Huntington last - always fun to talk a little basketball! exchange thoughts on the opener between Western and Piketon ... I never want to disrupt the coach's routine ... they have more important things to do than talk to pfloyd LOL ... and I treat as that - it just good to meet the coaches that I respect as far as what they do for high school hoops in the SE district ... we had some of the best young coaches courtside last night ! - Coach Williams & his staff are second to none, Coach Leist has proven that he "does it right", Coach Miller of Piketon has established himself as a one of the good ones out there and Coach Uhrig - a proven winner Uhrig is the winningest coach in Huntington boys basketball history, is a two-time district coach of the year and twice named SVC coach of the year. Uhrig also led the Huntsmen to one SVC title, a sectional championship, and two district runner-up squads. All 4 of these schools are in great hands ... I wish them all the best this season...