Lady Warriors open with two strong wins

Bruce McKean
Contributing Writer

PCHS V, 55
CHS  V, 28

The Pocahontas County High School girls basketball team had not played Covington, Virginia, since PCHS assistant girls basketball coach Chloe Bland was playing for the Lady Warriors. This is CHS’s final year of play in the Covington school due to the Class I school being consolidated into Class II Allegheny County next school year. A  crowd of PCHS fans made the trek into Virginia December 1, and outnumbered the CHS fans. Both teams played hard.

PCHS junior point guard Olivia Vandevender started strong in the first quarter and scored eight of her career-high and game-high 28 points versus a much bigger squad.

Olivia was the high scorer in 16 of last season’s 20 games, which was a rebuilding year, and she scored 20 or more points in four of those games. Sophomore Riley Pollack made 10 points, eight of which were scored in the second half, and senior Kelsi Taylor put in six points. 

Eight Warriors and seven Cougars scored in the game.  CHS’s Lauren Bragg scored nine points and grabbed 13 rebounds, while Alexus Wall also contributed nine points and eight rebounds. PCHS won all four quarters: 17-6, 8-4, 14-5 and 16-13. 

Team leaders in other statistics were: senior Haley Spencer – 4 blocks and 5 steals, Pollack – 7 rebounds and 3 assists, junior Adelyn Warner – 7 rebounds, sophomore Mackenzie Taylor – 3 assists, senior Kelsi Taylor – 3 deflections and 1 three, junior Hannah Burks – 1 three, and Vandevender – 3 assists, 3 free throws, 11 twos, 1 three and 3 deflections.

PCHS out rebounded CHS 36-28 and committed fewer turnovers 37-51. PCHS was called for 19 fouls and made 4 of their 8 foul shots (50 percent), while CHS was called for 12 fouls and hit 8 of 19 foul shots (42 percent). PCHS made 21 of 50 two-shot attempts (42 percent) and only 3 of 21 three-shot attempts (14 percent)  so they made 24 of 71 in the game (34 percent).

PCHS will play at Midland Trail Friday, December 9, (JV – 5:45, V – 7:30) and at PCHS Tuesday, December 13, vs East Hardy (No JV game, V – 6 p.m.).

PCHS JV, 41
CHS JV, 12

PCHS sophomore Mallori McCoy was game-high scorer with a double-double of 14 points, including two threes, and 10 rebounds. Freshman Calli Propst was second with a double-double of 10 points (8 in the third quarter including 2 threes), 9 assists, 4 deflections and 4 steals. CHS’s Kendra Dressler also scored 10 points. PCHS junior Mileya Bircher tallied 4 steals and 3 deflections. Junior Andrea Alderman totaled 7 points and 7 rebounds.  Freshman Shayla Bennett scored 5 points and grabbed 7 rebounds.

PCHS out-rebounded CHS 38 to 21 and had one fewer turnovers 20-21. Six Warriors scored in the game, and two Cougars scored. PCHS won all four quarters: 9-6, 4-2, 12-2 and 16-2. PCHS was called for 12 fouls and made only 2 of their 11 foul shots (18 percent), while CHS was called for 19 fouls and hit 4 of 7 foul shots (57 percent).  PCHS made 12 of 46 two-shot attempts (26 percent) and only 5 of 17 three-shot attempts (29 percent)  so they made 17 of 83 in the game (27 percent).