Bruce McKean
Contributing Writer
PCHS V 21
East Hardy V 66
East Hardy High School is only able to field a varsity girls basketball team, and they traveled to Pocahontas County High School December 13. Last season we opened with a 38-24 win over EHHS at PCHS, and they won on their court 41-34 about three weeks later. The Cougars lost four seniors to graduation and opened this season with three strong wins at home over Berkeley Springs (66-35), Tygarts Valley (44-24) and Legacy Christian (54-3) plus a close loss at Baker to #2 Tucker (35-47).
Nobody expected EHHS to dominate the game at PCHS the way they did. The five top scorers in the game were all Cougars: sophomore Brooklyn Tinnell 19 points, senior Autumn Crites 16 points and freshman Chloe Miller 15 points and 13 rebounds.
PCHS high scorer was Olivia Vandevender with 7 points, 6 rebounds, 2 steals, 2 deflections, 3 assists and 1 block. Other PCHS team high stats were: senior Kelsi Taylor – 9 rebounds, sophomore Riley Pollack – 3 assists and 1 block, and junior Adelyn Warner – 3 steals. The Cougars made 25 of 53 field goal attempts (43 percent), and PCHS made 8 of 51 (16 percent). PCHS lost the rebounding effort 28 to 45, and EHHS committed fewer turnovers, 23 versus 32. EHHS won all four quarters: 12-8, 7-22, 3-20 and 3-12.
East Hardy improves to 4-1.
PCHS V, 22
#2 Tucker County V, 66
Game high scorers in this game at TCHS December 16 were: 6’1” senior center Cadie Colebank with 18 points, 10 rebounds and 3 blocks; junior Brylee Wetzel 17 points and 4 steals; and junior 5’ 11” Ericka Zirk 11 points. PCHS’s Burks was team high scorer with 9 points, 5 rebounds, 3 deflections, 2 steals and 1 block. Team leaders in other statistics were: Kelsi Taylor – 11 rebounds and 2 blocks.
PCHS was called for 15 fouls and made 6 of 13 foul shots (46 percent) while the home squad was whistled for 11 and made 13 of 26 (50 percent). Seven Warriors and eight Lions scored in the game. PCHS lost all four quarters: 6-22, 6-14, 4-19 and 6-11.
PCHS was out-rebounded 41-34 and committed seven more turnovers 28-21. PCHS was called for 15 fouls while TCHS was called for 11. PCHS made only 7 of 49 two-shot attempts (14 percent) and 2 of only 15 three-shot attempts (13 percent), so PCHS made 9 of 64 in the game (14 percent). Tucker made one three and is 4-0. One huge win for TCHS was a 69-43 win over #4 ranked Class AA Petersburg.
PCHS JV, 65
Bath County VA, 4
The squad that Bath County was able to field for this game included 1 junior, 1 sophomore, 2 freshmen and 4 eighth graders. All nine Lady Warriors scored in the game. High scorers for PCHS were Shayla Bennett – 14 points and 12 rebounds; freshman Calli Propst – 10 points, 5 deflections and 9 assists; junior Mileya Bircher – 8 points; senior Makenzie Moyers – 8 points and sophomore Mallori McCoy – 8 points and 16 rebounds. Freshman Ramona Hardy had a game-high 5 steals, and Andrea Alderman grabbed 10 rebounds. PCHS grabbed 62 rebounds. The Chargers JV is now 0-3.
PCHS JV, 31
Tucker County JV, 40
The JV game at Tucker was not settled until midway into the fourth quarter. The game was marked by multiple lead changes and ties. With the score 32-31 TCHS, Tucker scored eight unanswered points for the 40-31 win.
PCHS’s Propst tied for game high scorer with 9 points by nailing 3 treys and 4 deflections. Sophomore Reagan Herron of TCHS also scored 9 points. Bennett and junior Andrea Alderman were the next highest scorers in the game with 8 points each. Bennett also was team high rebounder with 9. Other games highs were: Bircher – 6 rebounds, 6 deflections, 5 assists and 3 steals.
TCHS out-rebounded PCHS 38 to 36 and had more turnovers 33-29. Six Warriors scored in the game, and 9 Lions scored. PCHS won the second quarter: 10-11, 9-6, 7-8 and 5-15 PCHS was called for 24 fouls and made 3 of 12 foul shots (25 percent), while TVHS was called for 17 fouls and hit 12 of 27 foul shots (44 percent). PCHS made 5 of 40 two-shot attempts (13 percent) and 6 of 21 three-shot attempts (29 percent), so PCHS made 11 of 61 in the game (18 percent).
The PCHS V record is now (2-3) while the JV is (4-1).