Wildcats fall in last second
PETERSBURG — Mark Burkholder’s last-second shot helped Petersburg down Pendleton County, 67-65, as the boys varsity basketball regular season came to a close Friday night.
“It was a hard-fought game for four quarters,” Wildcat coach Ryan Lambert said. “There were many lead changes. We lost on a last-second shot. They had the ball with about 14 seconds left and (Mark) Burkholder hit a fade-away jumper from about the free throw line, banked it in straight on. Time elapsed and that was the game.”
The Wildcats narrowly edged Petersburg, 17-16 at the end of the first quarter. The Vikings offense came alive in the second period to take a 37-31 lead into the locker room. After halftime, Petersburg added to the lead in the third quarter to make the score 53-44. The Wildcats engineered a run late in the game, taking the fourth quarter 21-14, but the last second heroics by Burkholder sealed the victory for Petersburg.
Cody Southerly set the tone for the Vikings with 22 points. Burkholder added 19 points, while Trad Harman finished the game with 8 points.
Freshman Draven Roberts was the top scorer for PCHS with 22 points. Luke Cooper also reached double digits in scoring with 19 points. Tyler Day, 9 points, and Trey Cooper, 8 points, also played well for the Wildcats.
Pendleton County (17-5, 8-1 PVC) is set to host the West Virginia School for the Deaf on Monday in the first round of the Region II Section 2 Tournament. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m.