The Potomac Highlands Dispatch - the online newspaper

Forced shots sink Vikings' ship
as Keyser rolls to region title game
* Washington, Thorne score 17 points apiece

By Nathan Hayes
The Potomac Highlands Dispatch
NEW CREEK, W.Va., March 3 -- The Keyser Golden Tornado won their fourth consecutive Region II Section I championship with a 53-42 victory over the Petersburg Vikings Thursday night in Tornado Alley.

Keyser advances to the regional final, to be played at
Keyser on Wednesday against the loser of the Section II championship game.

The Tornado were led by Wes Washington and Damon Thorne with 17 points apiece. Thorne scored 13 of his 17 in the second half and also pulled down seven rebounds while Washington dished out four assists.

Senior center Peyton Hartman had another strong overall performance with a team high nine rebounds and seven blocks as well as eight points.

Petersburg was led by Josh Evans with 12 points, nine of which came in the first half.

The turning point in the game came in the final 90 seconds of the first half. Petersburg led 21-17 and had possession of the ball and rather than being patient, as they had most of the half, they forced some shots and Keyser scored the final six points of the half to take a 23-21 lead into the locker room, a lead they would never relinquish.

Keyser kept the momentum going scoring 12 of the first 16 points in the second half to make it an 18-4 run to push the lead to double figures, 35-25.

Keyser would hold Petersburg to just five third quarter points after switching from a man-to-man defense to a 2-3 zone.

“(Petersburg) was doing a good job getting into the lane and getting good looks in the first half, so we thought we would give the zone a try and never got out of it.” Keyser coach Gary Liston said following the game. “The zone definitely changed the flow of the game.”

For Keyser it was a matter of wearing their opponent down. After seeing little to no transition points in the first half Keyser continued to push the tempo and eventually began to get easy baskets with. “That's what we do. We push the tempo because frankly we struggle in a half-court game.” Liston said.
The biggest beneficiary of the second half transition was Thorne. “He has made amazing improvements throughout the year and it's all because of hard work.” Liston said of his senior power forward.

Petersburg made one last push early in the fourth quarter and cut the lead to seven, but Keyser answered with a 6-0 run highlighted by two fast break hoops from Washington to push the lead to 13 and end any Vikings threat.

“It wasn't a pretty win, but this time of year they're all good wins.” Liston stated.

The win marks the third win for Keyser over the Vikings after 60-50 and 66-45 wins during the regular season. Keyser (19-4) is now 8-0 against regional opponents and has yet to lose a game within West Virginia's class AA.

The regional final game Wednesday at Keyser will tip at 7 p.m.