Maryland opened the first five minutes with an eight-point lead,11-3, over West Virginia after a nine-point scoring run aided by six points from Northern’s Ed Herpel. West Virginia answered with a six-point run to pull within two ending at 13:01 after a basket from Keyser’s Jeremy Green.
With 7:01 remaining in the half, Maryland had a 14-point advantage, 32-18. West Virginia cut the deficit to eight points, 34-26, after a 7-2 run with five points from Keyser’s Matt Wilmer.
Maryland answered with a 10-point run ending with 2:03 left in the half to give it an 18-point advantage, 44-26. Bishop Walsh’s Spencer Wine and Chris DeRosa from Mountain Ridge each chipped in four points during the run.
At the eight second mark, Myles Clifford from Bishop Walsh netted a jumper to give Maryland a 19-point advantage at the break, 49-30.
In the second half, West Virginia slowly cut the deficit to within five points, 74-69, with 8:16 to play as West Virginia’s Green netted 14 points, including two three-pointers.
The teams swapped baskets until the 5:42 mark when Maryland scored four-consecutive points giving it a nine-point advantage, 82-73.
In the last five minutes, two three-pointers by Wilmer and Frankfort’s Skyler Minkey brought West Virginia to within six at 94-88. With 32 seconds remaining, Tucker County’s Darius Dillard hit a three-pointer for the 94-91 final.
The MVP for Maryland was Wine, who finished with 17 points and was 7-of-9 from within the paint. Green was West Virginia’s MVP after scoring a game-high 31 points and going 3-for-3 from behind the three-point line.
The event is held every year to honor the best high school senior basketball players in Western Maryland and Eastern West Virginia. It is sponsored by the Frostburg Lions Club and McDonald's Restaurants since 1999.
