photo by: Kim North

Wheeling Park’s Jordan Beck-James dunks the basketball during Friday night’s W.Va. North Region Class AAAA Tournament game against Preston inside the ‘Palace on the Hill.’ The Patriots won, 58-54, and will now play at Washington next week with a berth in the state tournament at stake.

WHEELING – This past Monday, Wheeling Park dropped a tough 59-57 road decision to Preston. The Patriots, however, turned the tables on the Knights Friday night at The Palace On The Hill, pocketing an exciting 58-54 WVSSAC Class 4A regional triumph.

The win was the eighth in 22 starts for Coach Michael Jebbia’s seventh-seeded charges who are now one win away from gaining a state tournament berth. The Patriots must now travel some four hours away to the Eastern Panhandle Wednesday to face Washington at 6 p.m.

Tenth-seeded Preston wrapped up its campaign with a 4-19 mark.

“Our guys deserved this win,” an elated Jebbia said. “We had a tough week. We lost to Preston on a buzzer bucket then we lost to a very good Parkersburg South team by two.

“We are playing our best ball of the year right now. That is big when it comes tournament time,” added the former Park hoop great. “We got a group of seniors who don’t want to see it end. We played competitively against Washington last week. So, we will be confident Wednesday.”

Washington, rated No. 4 in the state, prevailed by a 53-42 count at The Palace seven days ago.

Park played with poise and character down the stretch to offset Preston’s outstanding long-range shooting. The Knights buried 10 treys in the contest.

The Patriots held a 41-39 lead entering the final quarter. The final eight minutes played out nip-and-tuck with the hosts holding a 53-49 with 2:17 to play thanks to a Jordan Beck-James free throw. That was the biggest lead in the fourth quarter, matching that of the final score.

Preston’s Easton Hayes meshed a free throw to make it a 53-50 issue with 1:50 left. Park went into clock-killing mode only to commit a turnover. Preston drew to within one on a Wyatt Moyer hoop with just 57 ticks left.

A JD Williams’ free throw pushed Park’s lead to two with 41 seconds remaining. A Preston player was fouled with 21 seconds to go. However, he missed both attempts, and to make matters worse for the Knights, he was assessed a technical for a verbal comment.

Park senior point guard Kolten Whitmire made one of the technical free throws. Just seconds later, Whitmire was fouled again, knocking down two freebies to increase the Patriots’ advantage to 57-52 with 17.5 seconds remaining.

Hayes goaled for the Knights before Whitmire iced the verdict for Park with another free throw with five seconds showing.

“We executed well down the stretch and we made some crucial free throws,” Jebbia said. “We played hard, we always do. Our guys showed a lot of resiliency tonight.

“Preston’s record is deceiving. They have played really well of late, winning four straight games,” he continued. “Give them credit. They shot the ball very well away from home.”

Beck-James led Park with 22 points, which included four dunks. He had well-balanced support as Whitmire delivered 11 points while solid senior Josh Huffman produced 10 lightings, all coming after intermission. Williams chipped in with nine points.

Kash Jenkins paced Preston with 20 points, including six treys. Hayes tallied 19 points.

Junior Jay Bordas pulled down seven rebounds for Park. Huffman and Mar Rouse each had six boards for the winners. Whitmire dished out four assists.

Both teams took great care of the basketball. Preston had four turnovers, one more than Park.

“We haven’t had the best of seasons but we are one win away from the state tournament. I am proud of my guys,” Jebbia said.