PLEASANT VALLEY — East Fairmont had been through the nightmarish story arc before, just seven days earlier in fact. The Bees raced out to an early 10-0 lead against visiting Preston and withered as it faded, planting an L that stung more than usual on the schedule.

Friday's game with Elkins was devolving into another horror show with the Bees squandering a 13-point halftime advantage as the Tigers actually took the lead before the contest went into overtime. Another festering loss existed on the horizon if the Bees continued to wilt. Instead, they fortified, swapping their flimsy backbone for a stiffened mettle in the extra period to win 63-53 on their home floor.

“We just knew we needed to come out and ‘punch them in the mouth,’” said EFHS senior guard Lane Pollock, who had 13 points, six rebounds, two assists and two steals. “That’s what coach always says.”

 
 

EFHS landed the initial blow in the overtime with four quick points, courtesy of their senior ball handlers in Pollock and Jesse Maddox. Maddox, who had a team-high 16 points to go with seven rebounds, five assists and three steals, scored the first bucket with a tough floater then in the lane. Then Pollock swiped a dribble handoff and rattled home a midranger.

“Those first four points were critical because in an overtime period someone is going to come out and punch somebody in the mouth right off the bat,” EFHS coach Tyrone Asterino said, echoing Pollock. “Then we dug in and held our ground.”

After a pair of Elkins free throws, East delivered another haymaker, finally burning the Tigers’ 1-3-1 halfcourt trap that had flustered them the entire second half. Warding off hands and arms in the corner, the Bees’ Gage Nicholson zinged a skip pass to Maddox on the wing, who then shuffled an extra pass to Alex Harvey. Harvey rewarded the conscientious decision with a money triple to put the Bees up five, essentially sealing it as Elkins’ knifing dribble drives were suddenly thwarted by a souped up EFHS defense.

“I’m really proud of how they played in the overtime period. That shows a little bit on our part, a little gumption to come back like that,” Asterino said.

Any sort of comeback hardly seemed necessary for the Bees in the first half as EFHS was humming on both ends. Offensively, EFHS tossed its customary skip passes, allowing ball handlers to attack or fire off the catch versus a shifting Tigers defense. The Bees’ defense offered a further boon to the team’s scoring as Elkins hemorrhaged possessions against the Bees’ handsy on-ball defense and sturdy weak side rotations on the back end.

The Tigers scored a scant three points in the opening period to trail by 14, going 1-for-9 from the field with eight turnovers. EFHS, meanwhile, connected on 7-of-16 from the field with Pollock scoring six points and Harvey serving as the steward of malleability as he had three points, three rebounds, three assists and two steals in the first quarter alone. He finished the game with 10 points, five rebounds, five assists and two steals.

East continued to push the pace in the second quarter, taking a 17-point advantage after a double-clutch layup by Ducati Linn in transition and a nifty shoulder-shake-turned-floater baseline drive by Nicholson, who finished with 14 points.

Elkins discovered an elixir in the latter half of the period, ramping up its traps out of its extended 1-3-1 zone as the Bees’ offense went stale, scoring just two points over the final four minutes of the frame.

The Tigers still trailed by 13 at the half, but while East may have dolled out punches to begin the overtime, Elkins socked and bopped with newfound fury to begin the second half.

The Tigers’ Luke Swecker canned a corner 3 to start the deluge of buckets with Donovan Wiles then burying a pull up jumper before Swecker let loose for another piercing triple, this one on a face up from the corner. Not more than three minutes into the half, EFHS’s lead was chopped to two measly points after a 9-0 Elkins run.

As the Tigers offense soared with Elkins draining four 3s and going 8-for-14 in the quarter, East’s became a mangled mess of turnovers versus the Elkins trap.

“They spread that out so big and wide, you’d have to go to the trap area almost to get the ball anywhere else,” Pollock said. “They were punching the skip pass and the further skip pass was a far pass to make, so you almost had to get into the trap to beat it.”

“You got to be strong with the ball and we needed to get a man in the middle,” Asterino said. “Once we got a man in the middle I thought we did OK against it.”

“I didn’t think we got flustered or lost our composure. Maybe for a little bit, but we were quick to get back in it,” Pollock said.

The damage was already done as Elkins had short-circuited the Bees’ once-humming offense to pull close. The Tigers’ own offense eventually pulled them ahead as East’s sticky defense on the perimeter became riddled by blow bys from Elkins’ Wiles and Elliott White, who ripped into the Bees with 24 points, 10 rebounds, four assists and three steals. Ball screens just above the elbow, that floated out higher when needed, assisted White and Wiles in ungluing their penetration abilities.

Elkins squirted ahead on an and-one layup by Wiles before the Bees stole back the lead on a drop-off assist from Pollock to Nicholson and a wing 3 from Maddox. Elkins barbed right back with a skip and ping-pin passing sequence that resulted in a White corner 3 to give the Tigers a 38-36 lead through three.

Elkins maintained its advantage midway through the fourth, topping out at a four-point lead. Then EFHS reserve Nick Stinespring went to work with two timely buckets, hitting a turnaround jumper from the block and finishing an and-one layup. Maddox knotted the game at 47-47 with free throws with 1:30 left, setting up an anxious ending.

Elkins opted to play for one shot, bandying the ball around trying to melt off the entire 1:30 while sneaking in a last second attack. They widdled the clock to about 30 seconds before Wiles attempted a bold pass in the teensiest of cracks. Nicholson intercepted and was fouled before cooly burying both free throws.

But once again White sprang to the bucket, aided by the highest ball screen yet, to tie the game, setting up the ever-important sparring match with the initial hit looming large.

“I know we probably shouldn’t let it get it like that, let it get to overtime like that. Sometimes we’ll keep teams in games with us when we should be pulling away, but as long as come out and finish strong, it just gives for a good game,” Pollock said.

“Tonight, again mentally we made a couple of errors at some critical times in the game, but high school players are going to do that and you have to find ways to battle back,” Asterino said. “And I give out guys a lot of credit for finding those ways to come back.”

Email Bradley Heltzel at bheltzel@timeswv.com or follow him on Twitter @bradheltzTWV.