KINGWOOD – In the first regional playoff game hosted by the Preston boys’ basketball team since 2011, the fourth-seeded Knights and visiting fifth-seed Wheeling Park produced an instant classic inside The Castle in Kingwood.
With win-or-go-home stakes at hand, Preston survived a late comeback bid by the Patriots, making the necessary plays down the stretch to hold on for a 52-49 victory on Friday night.
With the win, the Knights advance to the Region I co-final and will travel on Tuesday for a chance to advance to Charleston against top-seeded Morgantown.
Preston had three players in double figures in the contest, with senior Aaron White and junior Easton Hayes each contributing 14 points. Senior Kaden Bachtel added 12.
“We got sped up a few times in transition where we wanted to slow the ball down, but overall, I think our kids did a good job tonight,” Preston head coach Bucky Forbes said. “They (Wheeling Park) pressured the ball well and made it difficult for us sometimes, but I’m proud of how our kids battled through at the end.”
The Knights built a ten-point advantage midway through the fourth quarter but saw it vanish as Wheeling Park found success on offense down the stretch.
The Patriots cut the PHS lead to one possession, 47-45, with two minutes to play. Preston junior Easton Hayes converted a layup to extend the lead to four, but Wheeling Park’s Kolten Whitmire responded with a triple to cut the lead to one, 49-48, with less than a minute to go.
Forbes took a timeout to regroup his club, but the Knights turned the ball over on the inbound pass and sent Wheeling Park to the free-throw line to tie the game after a pair of split attempts.
Preston got the ball back with 30 seconds left to play and the game tied at 49. After running the clock down to ten seconds, Bachtel took the ball in the corner. He dribbled around his defender and found White for an open layup to give the Knights a 51-49 lead with 4.9 left in the game.
On the ensuing inbound, the Patriots crossed the baseline before throwing the ball into play, giving possession back to the Knights.
Hayes split a pair of free throws to give Preston a 52-49 lead but committed a foul with 2.2 seconds left, sending Wheeling Park to the line.
Both attempts were missed, and junior Slaton Manko stepped to the line for the Knights, needing one of two free throws to seal the game.
He missed both attempts but managed to get his offensive rebound, sealing the game for the Knights and sending them to the Region I co-final on Tuesday, with a chance to punch their ticket to the state tournament in Charleston.
“These kids have played a lot of basketball. When I arrived a few years ago, these older guys were freshmen,” Forbes said. “They’ve seen a lot of high school basketball. We’ve played in a tough class and region every year and are seeing the improvement every season. I think our guys were very mentally tough out there tonight.”
Preston and Morgantown will tip-off from the Rowdie Center on Tuesday, March 11, at 7:00 p.m.
BOX SCORE
Preston 52, Wheeling Park 49
WP 13 10 9 17 – 49
PHS 14 9 13 16 – 52
Wheeling Park – Bordas 5 0-2 13 Whitmire 2 1-2 7 Huffman 3 2-2 8 Beck-James 5 0-0 10 Galberth 1 2-3 4 Simon 2 0-1 5 Creighton 1 0-0 2
Preston – White 7 0-0 14 Hayes 6 1-4 14 Bachtel 5 2-2 12 Manko 3 0-2 7 Smith 1 2-2 4 Schmidl 0 1-4 1
3pt goals made: Wheeling Park 5 (Bordas 3 Whitmire 2); Preston 2 (Manko 1 Hayes 1).
