Dec 21, 2024
photo by: Nick Henthorn
Wheeling Park’s Josh Huffman drives inside against the Preston defense on Friday inside The Palace on the Hill.
WHEELING – A tale of two halves did not have a happy ending Friday for the Wheeling Park Patriots, who saw an 11-point halftime lead flipped on its head against the Preston Knights in an eventual 47-39 defeat to visiting Preston at The Palace on the Hill.
Wheeling Park went cold from the field in the second half, finishing the game shooting 10.5% from 3-point range on a large quantity of attempts. The Patriots did hold a 27-16 lead at halftime, and did not trail at any point in the game before a score inside by Preston’s Aaron White put the Knights ahead 31-30 at the end of the third quarter.
“I thought we played a pretty solid first half,” Wheeling Park head coach Michael Jebbia said. “We were able to stretch the lead to 11 there. But I’ve never seen us shoot so poorly at home. We had a lot of open looks throughout the game. Even if we made some of those in the first half, the lead might have been bigger.”
Park’s first half advantage had much to do with the turnover differential they built up, with two giveaways against Preston’s 10 turnovers at halftime. Park also competed on the boards, with a 13-13 rebound deadlock at the midway point.
Park won the turnover battle 19-9 by game’s end, and had a slight disadvantage on the glass where Preston won the rebounding battle 34-29.
Regardless of the peripheries, Park’s struggles from the field were too much to overcome Friday.
“We’re just a young team and we’re not going to beat anybody on our schedule if we score 12 points in the second half,” Jebbia said.
White led all scorers with 17 points Friday. Aidan Schmidl joined him in double figures with 10.
Three Patriots scored 10 points Friday- Jay Bordas, Josh Huffman and J.D. Williams. Williams added a game-high five steals. Jamar Creighton finished with 11 rebounds for Park, including five offensive rebounds.
Park led 11-6 at the end of the first quarter, with 3-pointers coming from Bordas and Williams in the period.
Preston started to catch up early in the second quarter, tying the game 14-14 and later 16-16. Each time, Josh Huffman provided a response for Park with scores inside to put the Patriots back in the lead. Park ended the half on a 11-0 run.
Park only scored three points in the third quarter. White’s score with 30 seconds left in the fourth quarter put Preston ahead 31-30.
The Knights would extend their lead to 42-36 before the Patriots’ lone 3-point make of the second half- a shot from the wing by Kolten Whitmire- cut the lead to a single possession, 42-39. Time was running short for Park by then though, and Preston made enough of their free throws to keep their distance until the final buzzer.
“Credit to Preston, their big guy [White] hurt us in the second half a little bit, I thought we did alright against him in the first half,” Jebbia said. “We had a plethora of open treys and we missed a lot of them. We’re not a team right now that can drive in there and get easy two-point field goals. I thought we did get some drives in the first half.”
The Patriots move to 1-2 after Friday. Park will try to regroup on the road against Marietta (4-0) on Dec. 28.
“Just a tough night,” Jebbia said. “We’ve got a young team, and they’re upset right now, they practice hard. Just have to continue to try to work and get better.”
Michael Jebbia
Credit to Preston, their big guy hurt us in the second half a little bit, I thought we did alright against him in the first half. We had a plethora of open treys and we missed a lot of them. We’re not a team right now that can drive in there and get easy two-point field goals. I thought we did get some drives in the first half. Just a tough night. We’ve got a young team, and they’re upset right now, they practice hard. Just have to continue to try to work and get better.”
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