By Gaylen Duskey
realfang@citlink.net
Kyle Keesler hit a driving shot with 14 seconds remaining and Zach Moore grabbed missed Wirt shot as time expired giving the Red Devils a 52-50 victory over the home-standing Tigers Monday night.
Keesler's bucket broke a tie that Calhoun had forged in the last two minutes of the game.
The Red Devils had led most of the way but Wirt rallied to tie the score then take a 48-46 leading on an improbable left-handed scoop short by James Reeves at the 3:19 mark. After that Moore tied the score with a couple of free throws only to have Reeves again hit an improbably left-handed falling-down shot to put the Tigers back on top again, 50-48. But it would be the last points Wirt, 8-6, would score.
After a Moore bucket tied the game at 50-50 Wirt attempted to run out some clock before going for a shot. The strategy failed when the Red Devils took the ball back and proved fatal when Keesler drove the lane for the winning bucket.
The Red Devils jumped on top of Wirt early behind the long-range shooting of Keesler and Brandon Clark and some outstanding defense which took the Tigers out of their game. As a matter of fact Calhoun's defense stopped Wirt's one-two punch of Roy White and 6-6 Zach Cheuvront holding them to a combined 14 points, which is less than White's average on the season. Cheuvront had 10 points but he was held to two rebounds and was in foul trouble for most of the game. White, the Tigers' sharpshooter, had four.
The Red Devils had only a one-point first quarter lead but pushed it out to 10 on a couple of occasions before settling for an eight-point, 28-20, halftime lead.
Early in the third quarter it looked like Calhoun was nearing a knockout blow against the Tigers but the Wirt coaching staff put in a small lineup of mostly shooters. After that the Tigers clawed back but were still down by seven, 41-34, heading into the final period.
The Tigers kept the pressure on and finally pulled ahead, setting up the Red Devils' closing heroics.
Moore led Calhoun, now 4-8, with 20 points and 17 rebounds while adding two assists and a steal. Keesler, playing an extremely solid game at point guard, added 14 points, three steals, three rebounds and an assist.
Bronson Clark added seven points despite spending some time on the bench in the first half with three fouls. Justin Gerwig added eight and Chucky Kendall three. Kendall also had six rebounds while Gerwig added five. Both played strong defensive games.
Cai Clothier, Tyler Bennett and Daniel Sims all contributed valuable minutes despite not scoring.
Reeves led Wirt with 11 points and six rebounds while Cheuvront added 10.
Wirt won the junior varsity game 65-39 after taking a 40-15 halftime lead.
Brandon Sampson led the 0-9 Red Devils with 15 points. He also had eight rebounds, four steals and two assists.
Quentin "Q Dawg" Murphy and Caleb Schoolcraft had six each and Sims added five. Ricky Hall, three, Stuart Fitzwater and Trent Phillips, two each, rounded out the scoring.
Derek Dawson, Luke Moore and Bennett all played but did not score.
Taylor Campbell led Wirt, 8-2, with 18 while Dylan Wager chipped in with 10.
Calhoun returns to action Wednesday night with a home game against Doddridge County.
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