Bruce McKean
Contributing Writer
Five straight hectic days of b-ball last week
The Lady Warriors finished the regular season Saturday with a 13-7 record, which included nine games versus top-10 opponents from both Class A and AA. Five straight days of basketball were exhausting, but prepared the number-one seed Lady Warriors for sectional play, which begins for them on February 26 at PCHS.
February 18 : PCHS 48 @ East Hardy 22
After one goal by freshman Sarah Ryder to open the second quarter with the score 12-9 for PCHS, Lady Cougars’ head coach Bridget Billmeyer decided to slow down the game and freeze the ball near half court. The strategy was an attempt to pull Pocahontas away from their basket and to slow and frustrate the Lady Warriors. Coach Kane kept his defense in place and the stall did not work, so PCHS went on to a 48-22 win.
Game high scorers were Tristin Day – 17 points, three steals, three deflections and one rebound and Ryder – 16 points, eight rebounds, five steals, two deflections and one blocked shot for PCHS. East Hardy’s top player, Marilyn Cassell, was back in the lineup and got a double-double of 10 points and 14 rebounds. Bobbie McNabb hit the only three in the game while making seven rebounds, five deflections, three steals, two blocks and one assist. Lorena Rose grabbed six rebounds, three deflections, three points and one steal. Melissa Murphy did her usual great play control at point guard and had five points, two rebounds and two deflections.
The PCHS JV team took their ninth win at East Hardy by a score of 51-16. Freshman Mary Kelley led the way with 20 points, her fifth double-digit scoring effort of the season. Point guard Tiffany Hoover had eight assists, six deflections and five steals.
February 19: PCHS 54 @ Charleston Catholic 66
Number 7 (AP poll) Charleston Catholic pulled away in the fourth quarter to beat Number 6 PCHS at Dunmore 66-54. Both schools shot their free throws well: Catholic hit 14-18 (78 percent) and Pocahontas connected on 19-24 (79 percent).
Game high scorer was senior Anna Whelan with 26 points including six threes and 4-4 at the foul line. CCHS freshman Vida Imani was 9-11 at the foul line and scored 17 points. Hannah Gallian scored 12 points.
PCHS high scorer was Day with 22 points (8-8 free throws and two treys), four rebounds, four steals and two deflections. Melissa Murphy contributed 18 points, three assists, three deflections, two rebounds and one steal. Ryder had eight rebounds and seven points. Olivia Knisely contributed seven points off-the-bench including one three. McNabb had three rebounds, three deflections, two steals, two assists and one block.
February 20: PCHS JV 53 @ Harman varsity 29
The PCHS JV beat a young and short Harman varsity squad, 53-29, at Harman. Freshman Mary Kelley put on a three-point shooting exhibition in the first two quarters and made six treys, three in each quarter. Kelley went on to score 24 points, with 22 in the first half. Kayleigh Arbogast was game second high scorer with 15 points including two treys. Tiffany Hoover hit the ninth three for PCHS, which is 26 percent of their treys this season.
February 21: Pendleton County 44 @ PCHS 70
The Lady Warriors took the first half 43-17 on Senior Night that was also the second annual Great Pink Out event for cancer, and Pocahontas never looked back. The second half was a 27-27 tie, so the final score was 70-44. Pocahontas improved to 13-6 and 8-2 in the Potomac Valley Conference (PVC), while Pendleton dropped to 9-11 and 7-5 in the PVC.
Pocahontas hit nine threes (Day – 5, McNabb – 3 and Ryder – 1) to one ( Mallow – 1) for Pendleton. The Lady Warriors grabbed 29 rebounds to 32 for the taller Pendleton team. The Lady Wildcats committed 23 turnovers to only 9 for the Warriors.
Pocahontas had three girls in double figures, cheered on by the biggest and most energetic crowd of the season: McNabb, game high scorer, – 22 points, Day – 21 and Ryder – 19. Ryder had nine rebounds, one assist and one block. McNabb tallied seven rebounds, three steals, six deflections and two assists. Day accounted for five rebounds, six deflections, one steal and one assist. Melissa Murphy had six points, five steals, eight assists, two deflections and one rebound. Senior co-captain Rose pulled off four rebounds, two steals, two assists, one deflection and handled well the job of guarding the bigger and taller Hillary Ord.
Senior co-captains and team leaders Lorena Rose and Bethany Arbogast, along with parents Cara and Greg Rose of Minnehaha and Darlene and Shannon Arbogast of Mill Point, were honored for their four years of athletic participation and dedication at PCHS. The PCHS team also recognized with flowers Pendleton seniors Kaylee Edwards and Hillary Ord.
Ord for Pendleton had a double-double of 14 points and 13 rebounds.
Mary Kelley and Kayleigh Arbogast were both in double digits for Pocahontas in the JV game with 17 and 10 points respectively. The Lady Warriors JV won again over the Lady Wildcats 38-24 versus 33-28 at Pendleton on January 16. The PCHS JV team finishes their season with an impressive 11-3 win record. Caylie Simmons was Pendleton high scorer with 10 points. Congratulations to coaches Mike Murphy and Phil Anderson.
February 22: PCHS 28 @ Charleston Catholic 42
PCHS made the long trek to Charleston Catholic Saturday, the fifth straight day of games for the program, and learned that you cannot make one of 37 two-point shot attempts for the lowest point total of the season and win a game. PCHS did make four of 15 three-point shot attempts and 14 of 16 (88 percent) foul shots. Charleston Catholic only made one three-point shot in this second match up in three days between the two top-10 teams and hit 11-18 (61 percent) foul shots. The quick and scrappy Irish did make 14 two-point shot attempts and that resulted in the 42-28 win.
Catholic took the first quarter 13-8, and PCHS tied the second quarter 5-5. The Irish took the third 9-5 and the fourth 15-10.
Game high scorer was freshman Vida Imani of CCHS with 14 points. PCHS high scorer was Day with 13 points, two steals and two deflections. Senior Anna Whelan of CCHS is closing in on 1000 points with 10 this game plus four rebounds. Melissa Murphy had eight points and five rebounds. McNabb sank six points and eight rebounds.
CCHS took the rebounding effort 29-27 and had less turnovers 10-18. PCHS went from their best team effort of the season on Friday to their worst defeat on Saturday. The game was stopped multiple times due to clock errors.
On Wednesday, February 26 at 7 p.m., the number-one seed Lady Warriors host the winner of a first-round sectional game between East Hardy and Paw Paw. The Class A Region II Section 1 championship game will be played at 1 p.m., Saturday, March 1, at Petersburg High School, between the winners of Wednesday’s game at PCHS and the Moorefield at East Hardy game.
Regional championship games will be played on Wednesday, March 5 at 7 p.m. and the winner of each sectional championship will host the loser from the other section. The winners of those two games advance to states in Charleston and open on Thursday, March 13.
