Bruce McKean
Contributing Writer
The Class A #9 ranked (AP Poll) Pocahontas County High School Lady Warriors ended their regular season February 15, at #4 Tucker County with a 34-63 loss to the Lady Mountain Lions. TCHS (20-1) then entered Region II Section 2 play, having been voted the #1 seed by the Section 2 coaches. Number two seed PCHS (14-6) opened Region III Section 1 play at PCHS February 19, vs #7 seed Webster County (1-19). Both sections of these two rivals are seven-team fields, and 50 schools total compete in the four Class A regions that are each divided into two sections.
Thursday’s game at Tuck-er started out as a defensive battle, and with only 2:32 to go in the first period, with Tucker only ahead 4-2, Tucker’s all-time scoring leader, senior Sydney Nestor, was injured in a scramble for the ball.
The first quarter at Tucker ended with PCHS down only 3-8. PCHS would pull within one point twice, 10-11 and 16-17, during the second quarter, but Tucker ended the first half on a 10-0 run to up their lead to 27-16 at the half. A 14-0 Tucker run late in the third quarter ended the upset hopes of PCHS.
PCHS junior starter Brianna Hefner had her best scoring game of the season with 12 points and seven rebounds for team honors. Hefner also scored 10 points in the June 10 Pendleton County win. Hefner was injured during the summer season, and was not released to play until after the season started. Sophomores Kira Bircher and Charity Warder each put up eight points. Bircher also grabbed nine rebounds while Warder tallied five rebounds, three assists and three deflections. PCHS out-rebounded Tucker 31-29, and TCHS committed fewer turnovers 18-23. Tucker made 10 of 13 foul shots, and Pocahontas hit 9 of 15. Each team hit only one trey.
The PCHS JV team lost only their second game of the season 40-53 and finish with an 8-2 record. Tucker out-rebounded Pocahontas 48-24. The scoring book was not available at press time.
PCHS notched two wins against Pendleton County on February 8 and 10, 50-24 at Franklin and 65-18 at the annual Pink Out home game. Charity Warder scored 28 points in the first win over Pendleton, and that is her career high and the most offense of any player this season. Warder added 11 rebounds, two blocks and four deflections for her fourth double-double of the season. Sage McLaughlin scored 10 points in that game and tallied four deflections and four assists. Laila Calhoun had her seventh double-double in the Pink Out game with 17 points and 10 rebounds. PCHS won a thriller over Greenbrier West on February 13, and Warder was high team scorer with 10 points and seven rebounds.
If #1 seed PCHS wins their game on Monday versus #7 seed Webster County, the Lady Warriors will then host on Wednesday at PCHS the winner of Monday’s #6 seed Richwood at #3 seed Valley Fayette game. All games start at 7 p.m. If PCHS plays and wins on Wednesday, then they will play in the Region III Section 1 Championship on Friday, February 23 at 7 p.m. If their opponent is #1 seed Midland Trail, then they would play at Trail. If any other team advances to the Section 1 final, then PCHS would host the game for being the higher seed. Please turn out for all the PCHS games, as the young Lady Warriors try to return to states for the 10th time in school history and for the first time since 2015. Head Coach Mike Kane expects tough games for the rest of the tournament.