Bruce McKean
Contributing Writer
PCHS V, 27
Pendleton County V, 66
The (4-6) Pocahontas County High School Lady Warriors never came close to (3-1) Class A #11 (AP Poll – 1/10/23) Pendleton County in their first of two games this season January 10 at Franklin. The Wildcats opened with a 13-0 run and took the first frame 22-5. We all learned why 5’7” Wildcat senior point guard Ariana Young was not only the Pendleton top scorer but also the West Virginia top scorer on MaxPreps as she averages 33.2 points, 10 rebounds, 4.3 steals and 1 block per game. The Cats also won the last three quarters: 12-3, 20-10 and 12-9. Young did not play in the fourth quarter, and she finished with 30 points, 12 of 19 (63 percent) field goals, 4 of 4 free throws, 8 rebounds and 4 steals. The PCHS field goal attempts per quarter were: first – 2 of 13 (15 percent), second – 1 of 10 (10 percent), third – 4 of 11 (36 percent) and fourth – 3 of 14 (21 percent). The Cats dominated the twos, 22 versus 9, and threes, 4 versus 1.
Junior Mileya Bircher made the Lady Warriors’ only three and only block. Senior Kelsi Taylor had team highs for PCHS with 9 points, 4 of 9 (44 percent) twos, 4 rebounds, 4 deflections, 3 steals and 1 block. Another team high for PCHS was Adelyn Warner’s 5 rebounds. All 11 Warriors saw some action in the game, and 8 scored from 1 to 4 points, while all 11 Cats played and 9 scored from 2 to 7 points. The Cats took the rebounding honors, 39 to 24, and also committed fewer turnovers, 24 versus 30 for PCHS. PCHS was called for 2 fewer fouls, 14 versus 16, and made 6 of 13 (46 percent) free throws, while the Cats made 10 of 14 (71 percent). The Cats improved to 4-1. PCHS drops to 4-7. Pendleton is another school not fielding a JV girls squad this season.
PCHS V, 31
East Hardy V, 44
The PCHS varsity traveled to Baker January 12, and we saw improvement over the 45-point loss, 21-66, at Dunmore. Class A #14 (AP Poll) EHHS scored 22 fewer points in this second game this season, and PCHS added 10 points in this game on their home court for an improved 13 points 31-44 loss. The PCHS improvement included 5 more points when sophomore Riley Pollack scored a team-high 8 points this time, and 7 points from Calli Propst and 3 points from Shayla Bennett, both freshmen, who had not yet played any varsity time earlier in the season. Three more Warriors scored from 1 to 4 points. PCHS team high stats for Olivia Vandevender were: 8 points, 5 rebounds, 4 steals, 6 deflections and 4 assists. Our PCHS field goal shooting improved from 8 of 51(16 percent) to 11 of 56 (20 percent).
As for the Cougars, sophomore Brooklynn Tinnell upped her game-high points from 19 to 23, but sophomore Chloe Miller was held from 15 to only 4 points in this game. Senior Autumn Crites was not at the game, and she had scored 16 points in the earlier game. PCHS drops to 4-8, and EHHS improves to 6-7.
PCHS V, 36
Moorefield V, 62
The game score, a 36-62 loss on January 17 at Class AA #12 Moorefield, was a shock considering that PCHS lost both an away and a home game versus MHS last season by only one point each. PCHS lost 42-43 @ MHS and then 45-46 @ PCHS one month later. The Yellow Jackets started very strong in this season’s only game with a 7-28 first quarter, followed by three better quarters for PCHS: 6-15, 11-15 and then our only win, a 12-4 fourth quarter. PCHS lost three seniors to graduation this year, and those three seniors accounted for 15 and 16 points in the two games last year, which would have cut this loss to 10 points. MMS senior Sterling Kump greatly increased her scoring this season with a game high 23 points, while freshman CiCi Kump was next with 11 points.
Junior Kynlee Wilfong was our high scorer with 8 points plus 5 rebounds. The other 7 scorers’ points were: senior Haley Spencer – 7 plus 6 rebounds, Vandevender – 6 (only PCHS threes), Propst – 5, senior Mackenzie Taylor – 4 plus 4 rebounds, Pollack – 3, Bennett – 2 and Bircher – 1. MHS had 5 more scorers in addition to the Kumps. The Warriors were out-rebounded 38 to 27 and committed one more turnover 26 to 25. PCHS hit 25 percent of their field goal shots in this game. PCHS hit 6 of 18 (33 percent) of their free throws while MHS hit 14 of 20 (64 percent). MHS was called for one more foul, 17 versus 16 for PCHS. MHS improves to 6-5, and PCHS drops to 4-9.
PCHS JV, 60
Highland VA JV, 11
The Highland, Virginia, JV traveled to Dunmore January 9, for their second match-up this season, and PCHS saw improvement since their 47-27 win at Monterey on December 19, 2022. HHS scored 16 fewer points in this game, and PCHS scored 13 more points on their home court for an improved 49 points margin of victory with the 60-11 win. Seven of 9 PCHS players scored in the game, and 4 of 7 Rams again scored. PCHS high scorers were: Propst – 20 points, including 2 treys; Bircher – 14 points, 2 treys, 6 of 10 (60 percent) field goal attempts, 4 deflections and 3 steals; and Bennett – 13 points. Other game or team highs for PCHS were: junior Andrea Alderman – 7 rebounds plus 6 points; sophomore Ella Johnson – 7 assists and 2 blocks plus 1 point; freshman Ramona Hardy – 3 steals; and sophomore Mallori McCoy – 3 steals plus 4 points.
PCHS out-rebounded HHS this time, 36 to 33, and HHS again committed twice as many turnovers, 38-17. PCHS won all four quarters, two more than the last game: 16-8, 5-1, 20-1 and 19-1. PCHS was called for 12 fouls and made 8 of 12 (67 percent) foul shots, while HHS was called for 11 fouls and hit only 3 of 10 (30 percent) foul shots. PCHS made 20 of 50 (40 percent) two attempts and 4 of 18 (22 percent) three attempts. PCHS is now 8-2.
PCHS JV, 17
Moorefield JV, 36
Bennett was the high scorer of the 6 Warriors who scored, with her 5 points and 6 rebounds. Freshman Mackenzie Sewell, McCoy and sophomore Jasey Kramer all scored 3 points each. The two game high scorers of the 9 Yellow Jackets who scored were CiCi Kump – 10 points and Korbin Keplinger – 9 points.
The Warriors were out-rebounded 32 to 26 and committed 6 more turnovers, 37 to 31. PCHS only hit 10 percent of their field goal shots in this game. PCHS hit 6 of 16 (39 percent) of their free throws while MHS hit 11 of 19 (58 percent). MHS was called for 7 more fouls, 21 versus 14 for PCHS. MHS improves to 4-2 and PCHS drops to 7-4.
Both the Lady Warriors JV (5:45 p.m.) and V (7:30 p.m.) girls will play next at Richwood Thursday, January 26; at Class A #6 Greenbrier West Friday, January 27; at PCHS vs the Class AA #3 Summers County teams Monday, January 30; at Tygarts Valley Wednesday, February 1.
