Keyser roars back, beats BW, 75-62

KEYSER, W.Va. — Matt Wilmer poured in 27 points, Jeremy Green scored his 1,000th career point, and Wes Washington and Preston Hartman had double-doubles to power fourth-ranked Keyser to a 75-62 victory over top-ranked Bishop Walsh in high school boys basketball Thursday evening.

The win in the regular-season finale for both teams gave Keyser a series sweep. The Golden Tornado had won 74-70 at Bishop Walsh earlier in the year.

Thursday night, Keyser roared back from a 15-point halftime deficit with a 51-point second half and improved to 16-6 with its eighth straight win.

Bishop Walsh led 39-24 at halftime but suffered through a cold-shooting fourth quarter and fell to 17-6.

Wilmer hit nine field goals and 7-of-8 foul shots in leading all scorers. Green finished with 14 points and, with a bucket in the opening minutes, went over the 1,000-point mark in his career. He now has 1,013 points.

Washington had 12 points, 11 rebounds, three assists and two steals, and Hartman finished with 14 points, 10 rebounds and three assists for the Tornado.

Spencer Wine turned in a big game and led three Bishop Walsh double-figure scorers with 18 points. Kamran Khataian added 13 and Myles Clifford 11.

Tied 15-15 after one quarter, Wine scored six points and Clifford and Connor O’Rourke five each in the second to help the Spartans to the 39-24 halftime lead.

It was all but erased by the Tornado in the third quarter. Washington and Hartman hit three buckets in the period and Wilmer a big three-pointer at the end of the period to bring Keyser to within 50-49.

Keyser outscored BW 26-12 in the decisive fourth quarter. Wilmer had 13 points and went 5-for-6 from the foul line in the quarter. Hartman, on drives to the basket, dished out three assists to Wilmer for buckets inside.

Keyser also won the jayvee game, 70-51, with R.C. Pratt scoring 16 points. Dylan Dunn had 15 for BW.

Keyser will host Frankfort in a Class AA sectional semifinal on Tuesday, at 7 o’clock. The winner of that game will play the Petersburg-Berkeley Springs winner in the section final next Friday.

Keyser Wins Seventh in a row, beats Hampshire, 75-60

ROMNEY -- Keyser beat Hampshire 75-60 in Tuesday-night boys basketball action.
Jeremy Green was the high scorer for the Golden Tornado, posting 23 points and grabbing a team-high nine rebounds. He also had two steals.
Matt Wilmer had 18 points and five rebounds; Preston Hartman, 16 points and eight rebounds; Maverick Nelson, seven points and Wesley Stullenbarger six points. Wes Washington had two points and a team-high 10 assists, and a team-high five steals. Dan Zinn added two points for Keyser.
Will Hughes was the high scorer for Hampshire, with 20 points.
Keyser held the lead throughout the game, with the score 18-9 after the first quarter, 39-20 after the second and 54-42 after three.
The win leaves Keyser's record at 15-6 heading into tonight's final regular season game, 7:30 p.m. at home against Bishop Walsh. Senior basketball players, statisticians and cheerleaders will be honored during the game

Keyser Avenges Loss to Trojans, Wins 74-60

ROMNEY, W.Va. — Jeremy Green had a game-high 23 points and fourth-ranked Keyser extended its area- best win streak to seven games as the Golden Tornado defeated Hampshire in Appalachian Mountain Athletic Conference play.

Matt Wilmer added 18 points and Preston Hartman contributed 16 for Keyser.

Hampshire was led by Will Hughes with 21 points. J.P. Binotto had 14 and Robbie Miller 11.

Keyser led 18-9 after one quarter and then surged to a 21-11 second period run to take a 39-20 halftime lead. Hampshire would close in on the third period to cut the lead to 12 at 54-42, but could not complete the comeback.

Keyser also won the JV game.

Keyser (15-6, 9-5 AMAC) hosts No. 1 Bishop Walsh and Hampshire (8-11, 7-6) travels to Southern on Thursday.

Keyser Outlasts Sentinals, 83-79

KEYSER - In a game of ebbs and flows Keyser was lucky the tide turned Green late, as the Golden Tornado swingman scored 16 of the locals final 24 fourth-quarter points to pull out an 83-79 victory over visiting Fort Hill Monday night at Tornado Alley.
Senior guard Jeremy Green and fellow classmate Preston Hartman combined to score 55 points, the latter grabbing a team-high 14 rebounds and providing Keyser a lead early on.
The Golden Tornado were not able to hold onto that, or any lead, very long against the ever-surging Sentinels, as Fort Hill battled back time and time again and played Keyser dead-even through three periods of play.
Green went bezerk over the final eight minutes, leading the Golden Tornado on a 13-0 quarter-opening surge and scored 10 of Keyser’s first 15 points in the period.
That lead almost fell through however, as Fort Hill took advantage of a questionable coaching move with just over a minute to play and nearly pulled out an upset.
Keyser went up 11-0 off the tip on the Sentinels, taking advantage of Hartman’s hot shooting and boardwork to get second shots over the first 4:30.
Jordan Helmick got Fort Hill in the scoring column at the 3:30 mark, and Brandon Renson connected for three of his 12 points after he was fouled on a successful attempt to cut the margin to 14-5.
Hartman sank his second 3-pointer of the period, but Devin Lee nailed one of his four three-point field goals to answer on the ensuing possession.
Matt Wilmer and Wes Washington connected on back-to-back trips to push the Keyser lead to 10 points again, and that was the margin after eight minutes as the Golden Tornado took a 22-12 lead into the second stanza.
Hartman scored the first four points of the period to give Keyser its’ largest lead of the game, 14 points, but Fort Hill began to chip away at the Tornado advantage as Keyser’s perimeter defenders began to lax.
Devin Lee drilled a trey at the 6:00 mark to cut the lead to four points, 28-24, and the Sentinels were finally able to tie it up with 3:30 to play in the half after a Helmick follow at 32-32.
Fort Hill fell asleep and a mental mistake at the line allowed Keyser to rebound a one-shot opportunity and turn a three-point play into four with a Green follow, but L.T. White nailed a three and a pair from the line to give Fort Hill its’ first lead at 37-36.
Washington found Green and Keyser got it right back, and the Tornado went on to take a 41-37 lead into the locker room after ending the half on a 6-0 run.
Keyser was unable to shake the Sentinels throughout the third quarter, allowing Fort Hill continually to go inside-out and take advantage of Keyser’s slow-to-recover perimeter defense for open looks around the arc.
But Keyser’s redhead might have earned a new nickname - money - because it was all Green in the final frame.
Green went on a tear slicing up the Sentinels for 16 points over the first 5:50 of play, and gave Keyser a comfortable 12-point cushion with 1:10 on the clock.
Head Coach Gary Liston decided to substitute all five players at that point, but trailing 80-68 the Sentinels still thought they had a chance.
And they did.
Lee connected on back to back three’s to cut the margin in half, and hit his seventh and eighth points in 24 seconds to cut the Keyser lead to four at 80-76.
Fort Hill put Jarell Ross on the line and he converted one-of-two freebies with 22 tic’s on the clock, but Lee was fouled shooting a three with 11 seconds to go. Lee sank all three, and cut the Keyser lead to a bucket.
Washington was fouled immediately, and he sealed the win after knocking down a pair to make it a two-possession game with 10 seconds to play for the Golden Tornado - but not before every Keyser fan was left with a sore spot from all the collective scratching of heads in Tornado Alley after decision to exit all five starters so early.
Green added six rebounds to his 28-point night, Matt Wilmer scored 14 for Keyser, and Washington chipped in six rebounds, seven assists, and four steals.
Lee led all scorers for Fort Hill with 30 points. Helmick added 16.
Keyser won the jayvee game 51-36.
Ethan LaRue led the locals with 14 points, R.C. Pratt added 11, and Dustin Fertig finished with seven points, six boards and seven steals for Keyser, who led throughout.
The lil’ Tornado finished off their season with some revenge over the only team to hand them a loss, beating Fort Hill 61-40.
Wyatt Nelson led the way with 18 points for Keyser, and added eight rebounds and four steals.
Corey Armstong scored 14 points on the break, and Jamison Jones rounded out the scoring with nine points and added eight assists.
The Keyser frosh finish their season at 15-1and the coaching staff would like to thank the players and families for a successful year.
The KHS varsity will return to action tonight at Hampshire before hosting Bishop Walsh in the season finale on senior night Thursday at Tornado Alley.

Keyser Defeats Fort Hill, 83-79

KEYSER, W.Va. — Jeremy Green and Preston Hartman threatened the 30-point barrier and Keyser began the first and fourth quarters with 11-0 runs in the fourth-ranked Golden Tornado’s win over Fort Hill.

The run in the first quarter helped Keyser open a 22-12 lead, and the run in the fourth helped Keyser go from an 59-59 tie to 70-59 lead. Green was the charge behind the fourth quarter stretch by scoring 16 of his team-high 28 points in the final period. Hartman led the first run by scoring nine of his team’s first 11 points. He had 14 in the first quarter and 20 in the first half as he finished with 27.

Hartman added 14 rebounds for a double-double, and Green had six rebounds. Wes Washington had seven assists, six rebounds and four steals to go with four points. Matt Wilmer added 14 points.

Fort Hill got a big night from Devon Lee and his game-high 30 points. Jordan Helmick scored 16 and Brandon Remson had 12.

Ethan LaRue scored 14 points and R.C. Pratt had 11 in Keyser’s 51-36 junior varsity win. Will Harris and Michael Crabtree had eight each for the Sentinels.

The Tornado freshmen team (15-1) avenged it’s only loss of the season by winning their game 61-40. Wyatt Nelson scored 18 points and had eight rebounds, and Corey Armstrong added 14. Zack Godlove scored 13, and Ryan Briner added 11 for Fort Hill.

Keyser has won six straight to move to 14-6, and is 8-5 in the AMAC. It will play Hampshire tonight in Romney. Fort Hill (5-15, 4-9 AMAC) will host Northern this evening.

Tornado Blows Away Vikings, 84-47

KEYSER - Keyser led from wire to wire last night blowing away visiting Petersburg at Tornado Alley 84- 47 in local high school boys basketball action.
Petersburg was able to hang around for about eight minutes, holding the basketball and getting good looks at the rim. In fact, the Vikings missed many point-blank opportunities throughout the first quarter, and could have easily held a lead after a period of play if those attempts had fallen.
Preston Hartman gave Keyser the lead off the tip, and Jarell Ross hit a runner in the lane to make it 4-0 seconds later.
David Taylor scored the first two of his nine first-quarter points at the 6:14 mark, and followed a Matt Wilmer freebie with a baseline jumper to pull the Vikes within one, 5-4.
Taylor alternated shots with Jeremy Green again, but Keyser went on a 6-0 spurt behind a pair of buckets by Wilmer and a Green layin off a Wes Washington assist to take a 13-6 lead with three minutes to play in the period.
Taylor and Mike Wise answered with five straight for Petersburg, and the teams traded free throws to end the quarter with Petersburg trailing 14-12.
Green and Wilmer combined to score four straight out of the whistle before Ryan Wratchford could connect for the visitors, but Hartman and Washington hit on back-to-back trips to give Keyser an eight-point cushion.
Petersburg dialed long distance to cut the margin by three, but a Golden Tornado 11-0 run highlighted by a Washington rip and score ended all hopes of a Viking upset.
Wise hit pair from the charity stripe to end the hemorrhaging, but it was just a temporary bandage as Wes Stalenberger hit a trey, and Green connected on another fallaway jumper for two of his game-high 21 points in the lane as Keyser continued to pour it on.
A Wise 3-pointer that just beat the buzzer was the lone bright spot of the period for Petersburg, leaving the locals up 38-22 at the half.
It didn’t get any better in the second half for Petersburg, as Keyser continued to roll throughout to the eventual 37-point margin of victory puctuated with a Peyton Hartman dunk on a behind-the-back assist from Taige Redman.
Hartman turned in a double-double with 16 points and 14 rebounds, Walker dropped nine dimes for Keyser.
Both schools will face off with Allegany County foes on Monday.
Keyser improved to 13-6 and will host Fort Hill Monday.
Petersburg falls to 8-12 and will travel to Cumberland to take on Allegany.
Chris Halbritter led the Keyser jayvee with 16 points and six rebounds in a 74-58 win.
RC Pratt, Langston Hines, and Peyton Hartman all scored 10 points.

Keyser Rolls over Petersburg, 84-47

KEYSER, W.Va. — Jeremy Green finished with 21 points and eight rebounds, and Keyser outscored Petersburg 24-10 in the second quarter on its way to a 84-47 win in high school boys basketball Thursday evening.

Preston Hartman had a double-double with 14 points and 14 rebounds. Keyser dominated the boards, outrebounding the Vikings by 48-20. Jarell Ross added 10 points and two steals, and Matt Wilmer finished with nine points and two steals.

Mike Wise scored 13 points and David Taylor added nine to lead Petersburg.

The Golden Tornado jayvees improved to 16-1 with a 74-58 win. Chris Halbritter scored 16 points, while Peyton Hartman, R.C. Pratt and Langston Hines added 10. Hartman also had nine rebounds.

Keyser (13-6) will play a tripleheader on Monday when it hosts Fort Hill. The freshmen game tips off at 4:15, followed by the jayvees at 6 and the varsity at 7:30. Petersburg (7-9) is at Allegany on Monday.