Saturday, February 7, 2009

Hartman powers Keyser to 88-55 victory over Petersburg

PETERSBURG, W.Va. — Preston Hartman poured in 29 points, with his final bucket giving him 1,000 in his high school career, as fifth-ranked Keyser powered past Petersburg, 88-55, Saturday night at Petersburg.

Hartman hit 13 field goals and a free throw for his game-high total. He went over the 1,000 mark with a field goal with 1:52 remaining, and now has 1,001 career points.

Hartman was also busy on the glass, hauling in a game-high 19 rebounds for the Golden Tornado (10-6), which has won three of its last four.

Jeremy Green and Matt Wilmer also had big nights, Green with 22 points and Wilmer with 16 points, four three-point goals and five assists. Wes Washington added eight points.

Ryan Wratchford hit seven three-point goals and finished with 23 points for Petersburg. Ben Halterman had 10 points and David Taylor nine.

Keyser led by just 41-34 at halftime, and the Vikings were still within striking distance after three periods, down 63-52. But the Tornado dominated the final eight minutes, outscoring Petersburg 25-3.

Keyser’s jayvees improved to 12-1 with a 70-61 victory. Ethan LaRue had 17 points and R.C. Pratt 16 points and seven rebounds. Petersburg’s jayvees hit 14 three-point goals. Chase Feaster had 24 points and seven threes, and Matt Mongold 14 points and four threes.

Keyser plays at Northern and Petersburg hosts Moorefield on Tuesday.

For Taige Redman, it’s a wonderful life!!!

Mike Burke
Cumberland Times-News

Attending the annual Dapper Dan Awards Banquet always provides me with a great sense of hope. Not because its arrival means we’re only two weeks from pitchers and catchers reporting, although that certainly doesn’t hurt, but because I come away each year more and more impressed with the young people who live, go to school and play here in our area.

Sure, we thrill in their skills and their composure in the arena, but you don’t really see what a kid’s made of until he or she is put in the position of accepting an award in front of a large gathering and expressing his appreciation, as well as some insight as to what makes him tick on the field, in the classroom and in the life that is just in store for him.

If you’ve seen Taige Redman play sports for the Keyser High School Golden Tornado, you see a marvelously skilled, determined and hard-working athlete. When you see him in a public-speaking forum, you see the present and the future, and you feel both a sense of confidence and excitement for both.

For beginners, young Mr. Redman looks like a movie star. He’s obviously physically fit, he carries himself with a calm confidence, and I usually don’t say something like this in the newspaper about a young man, as not to embarrass him or myself, but he’s ... Well, he’s a damn good looking kid.

He’s a handsome young man because he’s comfortable in his own skin and he projects that to one and all in the room with his gentle, impeccable manners and his genuine care for those around him.

Upon being recognized as the co-defensive player of the year last week, the decorated Keyser linebacker, who played a big hand in the Golden Tornado’s undefeated regular season and Times-News Area championship, looked to be the most comfortable person in the room. What he told the estimated crowd of 300 made every one of us comfortable to be in the room with him, and proud that a young person such as he has built the foundation to what will be a successful life right here in our neck of the woods.

“This is an honor,” he said in accepting his award. “It validates all of the time and effort. But to represent the Dapper Dan, who gives so much to help crippled children ... As an athlete, it’s a privilege, but to represent an organization that helps crippled children is an honor.”

And with that, young Mr. Redman offered his thanks, excused himself and returned to his seat to enjoy the rest of the show.

Taige Redman is the type of person you hope has good things happen for him, and on Wednesday morning something beyond good did.

Just after 9:30 a.m. on national signing day, the linebacker was about to put his Taige Redman on an NCAA National Letter of Intent to continue his education and football career at Ohio University, along with his Keyser teammate Jeremy Green. And that was a very good thing, indeed.

However, before Redman could sign the letter, Golden Tornado assistant coach Scott Furey burst into the room with an energy befitting his last name and said, “Don’t sign that.”

The West Virginia University Mountaineers, whom Taige Redman grew up wanting to play for, were offering him a full scholarship.

We said he looked like a movie star? Well, this was beginning to become a pretty good movie.

Seems WVU had interest in Redman from the beginning, but was straight-up honest with him in telling him the only way he would become a Mountaineer is if somebody else the team was recruiting opted not to become one; and that is precisely what happened.

Thus, Redman, who was also honest with Ohio U. about the circumstance, figured he’d been waiting all his life to become a Mountaineer, a few minutes more wouldn’t hurt until the WVU staff could fax him its letter of intent.

In the letter came, signed it was, and back to Morgantown it went, and now Taige Redman is a Mountaineer.

Redman told the Dominion Post in Morgantown he was never asked to walk on at WVU, which was a good thing since his family wouldn’t be able to afford it. Taige, you see, is one of Penny Redman’s 10 living children, and is the oldest of five who still live with her, as she also has two sets of twins, ages 9 and 10.

Mrs. Redman cried when she heard her son, who she calls a “gentle giant,” was about to realize his dream.

“You couldn’t find a nicer young man to talk to,” Mrs. Redman told the Dominion Post. “He’s very good with people ...

“We’ve had it hard and he just wants to help people in situations,” she said. “I think he looks out there and sees the world as it is, and he just wants to give back to the community.”

WVU head coach Bill Stewart knows exactly what the Mountaineers are getting, saying Wednesday afternoon, “Taige Redman is a classic example of if you do your homework, there are enough good guys out there that you can find that can fit into this system. When I think of Taige Redman, I think of Ben Collins, Bobby Hathaway, and I think of Marc Magro. That’s the kind of guys I think about. It’s all about character.”

“He’s a good role model,” Mrs. Redman said of her son, “a very good big brother. I’m a single mom and he’s the man of the house.

“I’m glad he’s going to college, but I’m going to miss him like crazy because it was just me and him for a long, long time.”

Well, Mrs. Redman, we thank you for sharing your son with us the past four years, and you can be assured that soon enough you will be receiving a similar note of thanks, postmarked Morgantown, W.Va.

Keyser Upsets BW, 74-70














Mike Mathews
Cumberland Times-News

CUMBERLAND — The Keyser High roller-coaster hit another high point Friday night, knocking off top-ranked Bishop Walsh in aggressive fashion with a relentless inside attack in a 74-70 victory on Haystack Mountain.

Fifth-ranked Keyser, which never trailed, snapped Bishop Walsh’s 10-game winning streak and improved to 9-6. Bishop Walsh fell to 12-4.

Preston Hartman scored 12 first-quarter points and finished with 23 points and 18 rebounds to lead the way. Jeremy Green had 17 points and 10 rebounds, Maverick Nelson 15 points and 15 rebounds, and Matt Wilmer 12 points and eight rebounds. Wes Washington added five points and seven assists.

Coach Gary Liston called it his team’s most complete game of the season. It came during the most challenging of weeks, which has seen the Tornado play the top three teams in the area in a four-day span.

Keyser beat No. 2 Mountain Ridge 65-57 on Tuesday, but lost at No. 3 Allegany on Thursday, allowing a season-high 97 points in a 23-point loss.

“Defensive effort. That was the difference,’’ said Liston between the games played in a 24-hour span. “We had a good defensive effort earlier in the week against Mountain Ridge, and a good offensive night against Allegany. We just had to put the two together.

“It’s been a roller-coaster ride, no question about it,’’ he added. “I think we played the way we are capable of playing. This is the best game we’ve put together so far, but not the very best that we can play.”

Kamran Khataian scored 30 points and had seven assists and four steals for Bishop Walsh, which trailed by as many as 11 in the third quarter. Spencer Wine had 12 points and nine rebounds and Myles Clifford and Kym Pierce 11 points.

But the Spartans, who were within three, 64-61 with two minutes to go, couldn’t overcome Keyser’s 61-35 dominance on the boards.

“They outplayed us. Tonight, they were better than us,’’ said first-year BW coach Jeff Rhodes. “We were not good enough on defense or rebounding to win the game.

“We were only getting one shot a lot of the time. Rebounding is one of our weak points, and they exploited it. Keyser’s very athletic, and they played very well.”

Hartman’s 12 first-quarter points got Keyser off and running. Green had 15 of his 17 points in the middle two periods, and Nelson came off the bench to provide a major boost, on both ends of the floor.

Still, the Spartans trailed by just 37-32 at halftime. The largest leads came at 50-39 and 52-41, midway through the third quarter, which ended with Keyser up 60-53.

BW made a final push, getting to within 63-61 after a Clifford bucket with three minutes to play.

With Washington, Keyser’s point guard, fouling out with 4:02 to play, Wilmer nicely picked up the slack in ball-handling, and Hartman, Nelson and Green stayed strong inside to seal the win.

Keyser was just 12-for-21 from the foul line in the fourth quarter, but 9-for-12 when it mattered most, in the final 1:21. Nelson and Wilmer shot those final 12 free throws, Nelson going 5-for-6 and Wilmer 4-for-6.

“Maverick Nelson is our leading offensive rebounder and was a big, big help on the boards,’’ said Liston. “I don’t think they had an answer for Jeremy Green and Preston Hartman inside.

“We’re not a perimeter shooting team. Our bread-and-butter is inside, and we know that. We played three decent quarters. For the most part, we got it to Green and Hartman and made our shots.”

Keyser also won the jayvee game, 63-51, with R.C. Pratt scoring 27 points and Kurt Amtower pulling in nine rebounds.

Both teams play again tonight. Keyser is at Petersburg and BW hosts Southern Fulton. The BW-Southern Fulton jayvees play at 5 o’clock and the varsity at 6:30.