Preston falls to Buckhannon-Upshur in overtime 62-55

KINGWOOD — Through three quarters Tuesday night, the Preston High School boys basketball team looked like it would earn a third straight victory to begin the 2024-2024 season. However, the visiting Buckhannon-Upshur Buccaneers had other plans.

Preston (2-1) used a 17-6 advantage throughout the third quarter to take an 11 lead heading into the final quarter of regulation, but the visitors outscored the Knights 21-10 in the fourth quarter to force overtime before to win the extra period 10. -3, escaping The Castle with a 62-55 road victory.

The Buccaneers outscored the Knights 31-13 in the final 12 minutes of regulation and overtime.

Preston junior Aidan Schmidl led the way with a game-high 20 points on 7-of-13 shooting with three triples.

Buckhannon was paced by Brody McDaniels, who scored 17 points including five from beyond the arc.

“We got away from what was working with our offense down the stretch,” PHS head coach Bucky Forbes said. “Our movement wasn’t good enough and we managed not to put the ball inside. We did a good job of creating open shots, but some just didn’t fall. I thought our defensive effort was good and we had energy all night, but we just couldn’t close out the game in the fourth.

The game started slowly offensively as over the first four minutes Buckhannon led 6-2 on a pair of threes.

Preston then went on a quick 7-0 run sparked by the defense and led 11-9 after the first quarter.

The second quarter saw another slow start for both teams on offense, but both clubs eventually began to regain their scoring and went into the halftime break with the score tied at 25.

With one team to split, Preston came out of the locker room with an 8-2 run to open the second half and continued to extend their lead, eventually pushing them to double figures early in the fourth quarter, 42 -31.

With five minutes remaining in regulation, the Buccaneers trailed 44-36. Their next three trips down the court all produced a three-pointer for the visitors, who scored 10 in the contest, while Preston’s offense flattened out.

Buckhannon’s third triple cut the lead to one possession 48-45. Preston turned the ball over and the Bucs added a free throw, followed by their fourth three of the quarter to take a one-point lead 49-48 with 1:12 left.

Slaton Manko gave the Knights the lead again with two free throws, but the visitors responded with two of their own, taking a 51-50 advantage.

Schmidl made a tough layup to regain the lead 52-51, but the Buccaneers converted a free throw to send the game to overtime tied at 52.

The Knights’ only basket in overtime came on a Manko three-pointer with 60 seconds left, giving them a 55-54 lead, but Buckhannon made free throws and rebounded well in the final sequence to leave Kingwood with a Big X of 62-55. conference victory on the road.

“I thought we rotated well on defense and got our hands on their shooters, they just made some tough shots,” Forbes said. “This type of match will sting for a little while, but the good thing is we have a lot of positives so far at the start of the season and we have a clear idea of ​​the areas we need to improve in. We can’t wait to play them again.

BOX SCORE

Buckhannon-Upshur 9 16 6 21 (10) – 62

Preston 11 14 17 10 (3) – 55

Buckhannon (2-0) – Jeran 1 4-4 6 Robinette 4 0-0 10 Mcdaniels 6 0-0 17 Jer. Westfall 4 4-7 13 Jev Westfall 4 3-4 12 Frye 1 0-0 3 Allen 0 3-4 3 TOTAL: 20 14-19 62

Preston (2-1) – Schmidl 7 3-4 20 Bachtel 5 0-3 10 Hayes 4 0-0 8 Manko 1 1-1 4 White 3 0-2 6 Smith 2 1-2 6 TOTALS: 22 5-12 55

3-point goals scored: Buckhannon-Upshur 10 (Mcdaniels 5 Robinette 2 Jev Westfall 1 Jer Westfall 1 Frye 1); Preston 5 (Schmidl 3 Manko 1 Smith 1)