KINGWOOD – For three quarters on Tuesday night, the Preston High School boys basketball team seemed to have a third-consecutive 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 pull ahead by 11 entering the final quarter of regulation, but the visitors outscored the Knights 21-10 in the fourth quarter to force overtime before winning the extra period 10-3, escaping The Castle with a 62-55 road-win.
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 with five coming 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 got away from getting the ball inside. We did well to create some open shots, some of them just didn’t fall. I thought our defensive effort was good and we had energy all night, just couldn’t close the game out in the fourth.”
The game began slow offensively as through the opening four minutes, Buckhannon led 6-2 on a pair of threes.
Preston then went on a quick 7-0 run that was sparked by the defense, and led 11-9 after the opening quarter.
The second quarter saw another sluggish start for both sides on offense, but both clubs eventually started picking up its scoring and entered the halftime break with the score knotted at 25.
With one team needing to separate itself, Preston came out of the locker room with an 8-2 run to open the second half, and continued to extend the lead, eventually pushing it to double figures entering the fourth quarter, 42-31.
With five minutes to play in regulation, the Buccaneers trailed 44-36. Their next three trips down the floor all produced a three-pointer for the visitors, who made 10 in the contest, While the Preston offense flattened.
The third triple by Buckhannon 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 remaining.
Slaton Manko put the Knights back in front with a pair of free throws, but the visitors answered with two of their own, pulling ahead 51-50.
Schmidl scored a tough lay-up to regain the lead 52-51, but the Buccaneers converted a free throw to send the game to overtime tied at 52.
The only basket for the Knights in overtime came on a Manko three-pointer with 60 seconds to go that gave them a 55-54 lead, but Buckhannon made free throws and rebounded well down the stretch to leave Kingwood with a 62-55 Big 10 conference victory on the road.
“I thought we did well rotating on defense and getting a hand up on their shooters, they just made some tough shots,” Forbes said. “This type of game will sting for a little while but the good thing is that we have many positives so far early this season and we have a clear idea of where we need to improve. We already look forward to the chance 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 TOTALS: 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
3pt goals made: Buckhannon-Upshur 10 (Mcdaniels 5 Robinette 2 Jev Westfall 1 Jer Westfall 1 Frye 1); Preston 5 (Schmidl 3 Manko 1 Smith 1)
