Bruce McKean
Contributing Writer
The Moorefield Yellowjackets probably were not buzzing much on their way back to Hardy County after being hit by the Lady Warrior Express 83-32 in a girls basketball game at PCHS on Thursday, February 6. The score was not much different from the 79-38 loss the visitors suffered on their court on January 20, but about everything PCHS did this time around turned out to be a high for the season.
Junior all-staters Tristin Day and Bobbie McNabb drove the train down the floor full-speed and scored the first 18 points of the first quarter for PCHS to eight for MHS. By the end of one period, Moorefield was looking at a 28-13 deficit, and six girls had scored for each team, but the two PCHS juniors already had 20 points combined.
Things did not get any better as Head Coach Mike Kane’s swarming defense held the Bees to only 19 points total in the next three quarters, as PCHS scored the most points of the season, 83.
Pocahontas had two starters finish with double-doubles: sophomore point guard Melissa Murphy – 15 points, 12 assists, five steals, three deflections and two rebounds, and freshman Sarah Ryder – 11 points, 10 rebounds, two deflections, one steal and one assist. Two other starters were one rebound away from making double-doubles: game high scorer McNabb – 25 points (five treys), nine rebounds, six deflections, three assists, two steals and one block, and senior Lorena Rose – 10 points, nine rebounds, one steal, one assist, one block and one deflection . The fifth double-digit starter, Day, had 18 points (two treys), four rebounds, one block plus four steals and two assists both in the first quarter. Junior Olivia Knisely, back-up point guard, contributed four points (one trey), two rebounds and one steal.
Eight Moorefield players scored with senior Kellie Bedell, freshman Sumer Flinn and sophomore Alisha Redman each making six points.
PCHS had the fewest turnovers of the season – 10, versus 27 for Moorefield, and their most rebounds of the season – 42, versus 21 for Moorefield. The Warriors had their most defensive rebounds of the season – 25, and tallied their most assists of the season – 19, for the third time this season. Pocahontas hit their most threes of the season – eight, for the third time this season. Melissa Murphy had her second straight season high of 15 points, and Rose had her second season high of 10 points.
Team high statistics for the season are: Day – 260 points and 36 threes; McNabb – 17 blocks and 97 rebounds; and Melissa Murphy – 44 steals and 49 assists.
PCHS improves to 11-4 and 6-1 in the Potomac Valley Conference (PVC), while MHS drops to 5-10 and 2-4 in the PVC. PCHS is ranked number five in West Virginia Class A in the latest Coaches Poll and number six in the AP Poll.
The PCHS JV squad improved to 8-2 with their eighth straight win 69-38 vs Moorefield with their highest point total of the season also. Nine JV Warriors scored, and sophomores Kayleigh Arbogast (19 points) and Megan Galford (17) plus freshman Mary Kelley (15) were the three high scorers in the JV game.
The Lady Warriors were scheduled to host number four Tucker County on Monday and will host number 10 Tygarts Valley on Thursday (JV start time 5:45 p.m.) and tall, physical Pendleton County on Friday (JV start time 5:45 p.m.). The Lady Warriors travel to number eight Charleston Catholic on Saturday for a 2 PM game (varsity only).