BY STEVE KEENANSPORTS EDITOR

SMITHERS — AbbyBuchan erupted for 39 pointsand the Valley Greyhoundssurvived a 61-55 overtimethriller over the Class AAAOak Hill Red Devils Friday.

In the extra period, thegame was knotted at 54-allwhen Buchan, a junior, hittwo free throws with 41.6 sec-onds left and Gracyn Grubbfollowed with a single charitytoss to make it 57-54. AfterOak Hill’s Alyssa Barrontrimmed the deficit to two,57-55, with a foul shot,Buchan canned a deuce with12.3 seconds left to make it59-55. Buchan then sealedthe victory with a late lay-in.

The contest was played be-fore a standing-room-onlycrowd in the school’s new,cozy auxiliary gym due to aleaking roof in the main gym.It marked the return of veter-an Valley track coach andgirls basketball coach Mar-shall Murray, who is now

guiding Oak Hill.“I was really proud of Ab-

by,” said Murray, who admit-ted it was tough to coach inthe game. “It was just toohard.”

“That might have been oneof the most emotional gamesI’ve ever been involved with,”said Valley assistant coachJohn Thompson, filling in inthe absence of head coachJohn Hammonds. “I think wewanted it just a little bitmore.”

Valley raced to a 12-1 startin the first quarter beforeOak Hill got into more of arhythm. Savannah Keffer hita 2-pointer to pull the RedDevils to within two, 23-21,at halftime.

“We started out slow butwere able to get back in it,”said Murray. “We just hadmissed layups and turnovers.

“We didn’t shoot particular-ly well, and our defensive cov-erage was pretty bad. Abbyhad a great game.”

Keffer later tied the gameat 23-23, but Valley moved

into a 29-23 cushion on aBuchan goal.

Oak Hill regained the leadat 33-31 on a Keffer deuce,but Buchan tallied fourstraight points to move theGreyhounds into a 37-34margin after three periods.

“We had to spread the floorand let Abby drive the mid-dle,” Thompson said.

Keffer hit a 3-pointer to putthe visitors ahead 39-37 atthe 6:30 mark of the fourth,and Kaitlyn Goodman’s in-side bucket made it 41-37 andforced a Valley timeout at5:22. The break seemed tohelp, as the ‘Hounds got adeuce from Kelsey Bird tomake it 41-39, then Bird tookan inbound feed from Eliza-beth Beard and converted toknot it at 41-41.

Buchan then canned singlefree throws on successivetrips to the line, followed by a2-pointer off a drive, to giveValley a 45-41 spread with1:29 remaining.

With Valley clinging to a51-49 margin, Goodmanscored a 2-pointer in the clos-ing seconds to force the over-time.

For VHS, Bird scored eightpoints, Grubb and Beard tal-lied five each, and EmilySmallman and Lauren Plevahad two each.

Keffer scored 19 and Good-man 15 for the Red Devils (1-2).

Valley (2-0) plays tonight atFayetteville.

— E-mail;skeenan@register-herald.com

Herald Sports 1Bwww.montgomery-herald.com

WednesdayDecember 11, 2013

STEVE KEENAN/THE MONTGOMERY HERALD

Former Valley High standout Alexis Payne, now a freshman atRio Grande, shoots over two WVU Tech defenders last week.

FROM STAFF REPORTS

The Valley High School boyswill welcome neighboringRiverside to Smithers Thurs-day, Dec. 12 for the Grey-hounds’ second preseason bas-ketball scrimmage.

The contest will tip off at 6p.m.

■ ■ ■

In upcoming regular seasonbasketball contests:

■ Wednesday, Dec. 11 —Valley girls at Fayetteville,7:30 p.m.

■ Friday, Dec. 13 — Fayet-teville boys at Oak Hill, 7:30p.m.; Webster County boys atMidland Trail, 7:30 p.m.; Val-ley girls at CharlestonCatholic, 7 p.m.; St. Albansgirls at Riverside, 5 p.m.

■ Monday, Dec. 16 —Fayetteville boys at Valley,7:30 p.m.

■ Tuesday, Dec. 17 —Sherman boys at MeadowBridge, 7:30 p.m.

■ Friday, Dec. 20 — Valleyboys vs. Sherman, CharlestonCivic Center, 3:30 p.m.; River-side boys vs. Magnolia,Charleston Civic Center, 5:15p.m.

■ ■ ■

Coaches at the college, highschool, junior varsity, juniorhigh and recreational league(adult or youth) levels areurged to submit game resultsand updated statistics to TheFayette Tribune and TheMontgomery Herald.

When turning in scores orstatistics, coaches/statisticiansare reminded to provide atleast last names of partici-pants; information will not beaccepted with only the firstname.

Winter rosters and sched-ules can be submitted whenthey’re available.

Information can be sent avariety of ways: via e-mail toskeenan@register-herald.com;by U.S. mail at The FayetteTribune, P.O. Box 139, OakHill, WV 25901; by fax at 304-469-4105; or in person at theoffices at 417 W. Main Streetin Oak Hill or 406 Lee Streetin Montgomery.

Anone with questions cancall Steve Keenan at 304-469-3373.

Valley-Riversidescrimmage set

MONTGOMERY — WVUTech softball coach AmberAffholter has announced plansto hold a fastpitch softball two-day clinic Jan. 18-19 in theBaisi Athletic Center. Thecamp is open to beginners aswell as advanced players.

Players will learn the funda-mentals of the offensive gameof softball with focus on hit-ting, bunting and slapping, aswell as learn fundamentalsand advanced skills specific tobatting. Attendees will also betaught proper fielding andthrowing techniques whileparticipating in drill/stationwork. Those attending thepitching and catching sessionwill learn fundamentals oftheir position such as spins,arm circles, blocking and buntcoverage. Individualized in-struction is given to playersaccording to their skill level.

In order to maintain smallteaching groups and to controlthe quality of teaching, enroll-ment will be limited and appli-cations will be accepted on afirst-come, first-served basis.All registration materials andpayment in full must be re-ceived by Jan. 11.

Sign-ups at the door will beaccepted if space is available.

Attendees 12 years of ageand younger must be accompa-nied by a parent/guardian dur-ing the entire clinic.

The cost of camp is $40 perskill session (both days) or $70for one skill session (bothdays). There will be a pitchingand catching session, 9 to 11a.m. each day, and a hittingand fielding session, 11:30a.m. to 2 p.m. each day.

To obtain a registration formor for further questions, con-tact Affholter by phone at 304-981-6256 or 734-620-2464.

BY STEVE KEENANSPORTS EDITOR

MONTGOMERY — TheWVU Tech women’s basket-ball team suffered a disap-pointing 89-69 loss to the Uni-versity of Rio Grande lastWednesday evening at theBaisi Athletic Center.

With 21 points and four as-sists, junior guard Nia Nolanled the Golden Bears (2-7) inscoring for the fourth consecu-tive game. In her last four con-tests, Nolan is averaging 23.3points per game.

Sophomore LaKisha Adkinsnotched a new career-high of14 points, while pulling downfour rebounds. Senior TraceeMitchel was the only otherTech player in double figures,scoring 13 points off the bench.Mitchel also had eight boards.Junior Noelani Woodsonadded seven points to roundout Tech’s leading scorers.

Sophomore Cheyanna Luskrecorded two new career-highswith 15 rebounds, while alsoproducing a game-high eightassists. Lusk chipped in fivepoints and grabbed two steals.The sophomore is currentlyranked 10th in the nation insteals per game (3.25).

Julia Heaberlin’s 15 pointspaced Rio Grande. KaylynGambill added 14 and SarahBonar and Sharday Bainesscored 12 each. Former ValleyHigh standout Alexis Payne,in her freshman season for theRed Storm, enjoyed a strongouting, scoring 11 points andclearing eight rebounds in 15minutes of action.

In the second half, the RedStorm strengthened their leadwith a 27-6 run in the first 10minutes, taking a 69-41 lead.The Golden Bears tried to chipaway at the lead, but RioGrande didn’t allow the hoststo get within 20 points for theremainder of the game.

“We were really disappoint-ed,” Tech coach Jenna Ever-hart said of her team’s show-ing against Rio Grande. “Wegave up a lot of offensive re-bounds.

“We just didn’t play. Wecould have competed a lot bet-ter. It was probably our mostdisappointing game of the sea-son.”

Tech followed the RioGrande effort with a 93-59 lossto Pikeville and an 86-42 exhi-bition setback to MarshallUniversity.

Against Pikeville, Nolanscored 17, Elizabeth Evanshad 14 and Mitchel tallied 10.Lusk grabbed 10 rebounds.

Against the ThunderingHerd, Roche Wimberly scored16 and Lusk yanked down 10rebounds for the Bears.

“The score wasn’t very good,but it was a great experiencefor the team,” Everhart said ofthe MU contest. “We didn’t doas good a job of defending thepaint as I would have hoped.

“But we had some good,competitive moments. It gaveus a new sense.”

Tech will face BluefieldState College on Dec. 20 andGlenville State College on Dec.21.

STEVE KEENAN/THE MONTGOMERY HERALD (2)

Valley junior Abby Buchan shoots a jumper against Oak HillFriday. Buchan poured in 39 points to power Valley’s 61-55overtime conquest of the Red Devils.

Tech plans softballclinic Jan. 18-19

Valley’s Emily Beard fights off the defensive pressure of OakHill’s Kaitlyn Goodman.

Rio Grande women down WVU Tech;Payne has 11 points, eight rebounds

See WOMEN on 2B

Greyhound girlswin OT thriller

The Montgomery Heraldwww.montgomery-herald.com2B ■ Wednesday, December 11, 2013

D2SPO106

■ ■ ■

Rio Grande coach David Smalleysaid Alexis Payne “played big and con-sistent” against Tech.

“She had not practiced since our up-set win versus Lindsey Wilson Collegeon Nov. 23, due to a concussion she re-ceived in that game,” he said via e-mail. “She was released the morning ofthe WV Tech game and did a tremen-dous job for not having her game legsunder her.

“Our game at WV Tech was like ahomecoming event for Alexis. The fam-ily and fan support for AP was very im-pressive and very helpful to our overallwin.”

Smalley says Payne has enduredsome physical ailments during hertime at Rio Grande, including a dislo-cated big toe and the concussion.“Through this adversity, AP hasdemonstrated a toughness by fightingthrough these two setbacks and beingable to play and contribute in big ways.Her athleticism and length createsproblems for our opponents. She has

the ability to run the floor, post up, hitthe medium range and eventually shewill be a great 3-point shooter. (She)always has a smile on her face evenwhen things are challenging. Her workethic is superior and focused both inthe classroom and on the court. (She)joins a freshman class (including St.Marys’ Audra Clark) that is loadedwith great students, good people andtalented basketball players withunique skill sets.

“In between those two injuries, shehas earned a starting position at the 4spot and she is capable of playing bigminutes at the 3 position, as well.”

“I am very pleased with the directionwe are heading with such a young ballclub,” Smalley continued. “We are go-ing to redshirt our only senior, KateHammond, due to a broken hand.Therefore, we will have all of thisyear’s varsity team members back nextseason. Coach Bias, one of my assis-tant coaches, has done a tremendousjob recruiting this class. Our programstruggled last year with an 8-22 overallrecord and with 10 games under ourbelt in 2013-14, we have alreadyequaled the eight wins.”

(WVU Tech sports information direc-tor Becky Brouse contributed to thisstory. For more on Tech athletics, visitwww.goldenbearathletics.com.)

WOMEN▼

CONTINUED FROM 1B

STEVE KEENAN/THE MONT-GOMERY HERALD (2)

WVU Tech’s CheyannaLusk, above right, goesup against Rio Grande’sAlexis Payne, left, andMorgan Daniels for a re-bound.

At left, Tech’s DeeHawkins passes aroundRio Grande’s Ciara Han-ning.

The 10th annual Har-ry White MemorialHorseshoe Tournamentwas held Saturday, Aug.17 at the home of Gregand Gina Pauley, with75 people in attendance.

The horseshoe tourna-ment was won by BobTaylor and Shane Ryan,this being Bob’s firstyear in participating.Both received a plaqueprovided by Thomas andTammy Morris and a T-shirt with the 10-year lo-go provided by Kaitlyn ofDezign Line.

The Hole E Boardtournament winnerswere Bryan Taylor andHeather White, and thewinners of the cornholetournament were TomNickoson and BrianDunn. Each received aplaque as their firstplace prize.

Prior to the horseshoetournament a softballtournament was held atBoomer ballfield. Fourteams participated withthe winner being FrankArmstrong’s team. A hotdog sale and cornholeboard ticket sale alsowere held at the Mont-gomery Pediatric HealthFair. A pink flamingoflocking was held the

month prior to the tour-nament.

Raised for diabetes re-search was $8,005, witha 10-year total of$41,336.

Organizers would liketo thank everyone forthe participation in thetournaments as well aslocal businesses DoctorsAcklin, Atassi, Bernardoand Davis, Todd Flem-ing, Dezign Line, theFOE 1040, the LadiesAuxiliary 1040, MountOlive Correctional Cen-

ter Activities Commit-tee, Benny’s, Frank’sPizza, Gino’s, NewGrowth Landscapingand all the good-naturedpeople who accepted be-ing flocked by pinkflamingos with goodspirit and generous con-tributions to diabetes re-search.

A special thank youwas extended to RonniePrice for his time and ef-fort in designing andbuilding the cornholeboards.

SUBMITTED PHOTOS

Winners of the 10th annual Harry White Memorial Horseshoe Tournament wereBob Taylor and Shane Ryan.

Bryan Taylor and Heather White won the tournament’sHole E Board competition. Cornhole winners, not pic-tured, were Tom Nickoson and Brian Dunn.

Harry White Tournament raises fundsfor diabetes research for 10th year

The National Park Service is startingthe process of preparing a FoundationDocument for planning and managementof the Appalachian National Scenic Trail,a unit of the National Park Service. Thepublic is invited to join in this effort.

A Foundation Document involves revis-iting a national park unit’s core purposeand significance, most important re-sources and values, and the interpretivethemes that tell the park’s important sto-ries. Although the Foundation Documentis not a decision-making document anddoes not include actions or managementstrategies, it describes a shared under-standing of what is most important aboutthe park.

In this capacity, the Foundation Docu-ment will reestablish the underlying guid-ance for future management and plan-ning decisions at Appalachian NationalScenic Trail. Because many of the trail’soriginal planning documents are out ofdate, preparing the Foundation Docu-ment is the first step for considering thepark’s future planning and study needs.

The National Park Service invites you

to play a role in charting the trail’s futureby sharing your thoughts on what is mostimportant about the Appalachian Nation-al Scenic Trail, and to help identify itsmost pressing threats and its greatestopportunities. Your feedback will allowthe park to take your thoughts into con-sideration as they prepare the Founda-tion Document.

You may submit your feedback atwww.parkplanning.nps.gov/appafounda-tion through Jan. 9 by responding to fivequestions about the park’s significance,threats, and opportunities.

About the Appalachian NationalScenic Trail: The Appalachian Trail is a2,184-mile long public footpath that trav-erses the scenic, wooded, pastoral, wild,and culturally resonant lands of the Ap-palachian Mountains. Conceived in1921, built by private citizens, and com-pleted in 1937, today the trail is man-aged by the National Park Service, U.S.Forest Service, Appalachian Trail Conser-vancy, numerous state agencies andthousands of volunteers.www.nps.gov/appa.

Input sought for development of Appalachian Trail document

The Montgomery Herald www.montgomery-herald.com Wednesday, December 11, 2013 ■ 3B

BY STEVE KEENANSPORTS EDITOR

SMITHERS — TheValley Middle Schoolboys ratcheted up thedefensive pressure inthe second half Mondayto pull out a 53-28 bas-ketball victory over theFayetteville Pirates.

Having just a single-digit lead as the thirdperiod wound down,Valley (3-0) got a base-line jumper from JimmyHarper to go up 37-26,then Harper made 1 of 2free throws to push thelead to 38-26 with aquarter to go.

Then, the ‘Hounds gotsix points off the de-fense of Garyn Pritt andSpencer Dean at theoutset of the fourth tocreate even more cush-ion and coast to the vic-tory.

“In the first half wecame out a little flat,”said Valley coach MakieMcCommack, who is as-sisted by John Frisby.“We told them we had topick up the intensity.

“We started attackingthe basket and it paidoff.”

Harper’s 14 points leda balanced VMS attack.Also providing double-digit scoring wereNathan Kincaid (12),Dean (10) and Pritt (10).Dalton Perdue addedthree and Nick Gipsonand Adam Falbo hadtwo each.

Micah Bates scored 13to pace Fayetteville (0-2). Jonathon Malaychipped in 10 and Jor-dan Dempsey had six.

Valley (3-0) had anupcoming game withClay moved to Feb. 4.The Greyhounds’ nextgame is Dec. 17 versusAnsted at home.

■ ■ ■

In earlier games, theVMS boys secured apair of victories, overSummers County (36-35) and Van (54-38).

Nathan Kincaid tal-lied 14 points, includingthe game-winning 3-pointer with 4.9 secondsremaining, to lift Valleyover host SummersCounty. Spencer Deancontributed 13 points.Other scorers were:Jimmy Harper, 6; NickGipson, 2; and DaltonPerdue, 1.

The ‘Hounds got 15points from Kincaid inthe 16-point verdictover Van. Others in thescoring column were:Dean, 7; Gipson, 5;Pritt, 6; Perdue, 4; Lu-cas Marker, 4; Harper,7; Britt Armentrout, 3;

Jared Jones, 1; andNoah Arthur, 2.

■ ■ ■

The Greyhound girls,who lost to FayettevilleMonday, split their firsttwo contests of the sea-son. Valley defeatedVan 30-16 and lost toSummers County 30-23.

Gracie Gipson tallied14 points, grabbed sev-en rebounds and regis-tered eight steals topower the VMS tri-umph. Kyla Smith col-lected eight points andseven steals, TaylorOden contributed eightpoints and 12 boards,and Kristen Millergrabbed five rebounds.

A. Sampson scoredeight for Van.

“We struggled in thefirst quarter,” said Val-ley coach Johnny Whitt,whose team wound upleading 12-5 at the in-termission.

In the setback toSummers County, Odenprovided 10 points and11 rebounds to lead theway. Gipson had fivepoints, eight reboundsand five steals. Othercontributors were: Han-nah Foster, four points;Miller, two points and10 rebounds; Smith, onepoint and five steals;

and Amaya Walker, onepoint and four steals.

Taylor Brumit andStephani Cline hadeight points apiece for

Summers.For more on the Val-

ley-Fayetteville girlsgame, see next week’sissue.

STEVE KEENAN/THE MONTGOMERY HERALD (3)

Valley Middle’s Nick Gipson drives to the basket against Fayetteville Monday.Valley posted a 53-28 victory.

Valley High girls

STEVE KEENAN/THE MONTGOMERY HERALD (4)

Above, Valley’s Kelsey Bird, right, and GreenbrierWest’s Amber Nutter chase a loose ball in the Grey-hounds’ season-opening 56-36 win last week inSmithers.Below, in descending order, the VHS girls celebratetheir overtime win over Oak Hill, Valley’s Paris Fair-fax grabs a rebound against the Red Devils, and the‘Hounds’ Emily Smallman dribbles upcourt.

West Virginia sports notes■ West Virginia University played Pitt in the first

football game ever broadcast on the radio, in 1921on KDKA.

■ Mary Lou Retton, of Fairmont, became the firstU.S. gymnast to win gold in women’s all around com-petition at the 1984 Olympics.

■ On Jan. 26, 1960, Danny Heater of BurnsvilleHigh School scored 135 points in a high school bas-ketball game. With this record be earned his spot inthe Guinness Book of World Records.

■ ESPN’s Scholastic picked The Poca High SchoolDots as the best sports team nickname in America.

■ On Oct. 23, 1998, J.R. House, Nitro High’s quar-terback, broke the national high school career pass-ing record of 12,104 yards. That record had beenpreviously set by Cleveland Browns quarterback TimCouch.

■ Hack Wilson, a Martinsburg native, played for theChicago Cubs. From his time there, he had recordsthat stood for 68 years.

Valley’s Nathan Kincaid goes airborne to defendagainst a FMS player.

Dalton Perdue grabs a re-bound for the Greyhounds

in the second half. Histeammate, Spencer Dean,

is in the foreground.

ValleyMiddleboysare 3-0