By Stephen Smoot
Pendleton County’s boys’ basketball squad rolled up for a magical mystery tour last week. Two top five opponents, a trip to rival Moorefield, a lengthy bus excursion to a riot in Paw Paw, and no rest for the weary added up to a challenging stretch.
All of this took place on four consecutive days.
The road trip to Baker came on the heels of a tough night in Morgan County, not for the team, but in general. Pendleton County earned an 81-46 victory, but in front of a gymnasium cleared of fans due to a hostile reaction to game officiating.
That all said, the young Wildcats took the game to the upperclass dominated Cougar squad with one loss on the year and a fourth place ranking in single A.
The Wildcats took the opening tip and also the first score. Cashton Kisamore grabbed an offensive rebound and laid it in less than 30 seconds into the action. He gave his team a 4-0 advantage a minute later doing the same thing.
Both squads gave up points grudgingly and played outstanding defense. The Wildcats used a one-two-two zone defense at times in the first quarter that disrupted East Hardy at the top of the key. The man defense was often extended past the three-point line to defend long range shots.
East Hardy stuck to a tight man to man that, like Tucker County, worked to take away Pendleton County’s accurate outside shooters, but conceded opportunities to make plays after using drives to break down the defense.
The Cougars hit two free throws and a three-point shot to regain the lead at the 3:09 point, but a Wyatt Franklin layup seized it back just 13 seconds later. The end of the first quarter saw the teams knotted up at 10.
East Hardy took the lead with a three at the 7:30 mark in the quarter, but Dusty Smith responded with a 17-foot jumper a minute later to close the lead to one. The Cougars patiently worked the ball around the outside to find three-point shooting opportunities. They did not have a lot, but what they got, they generally made. Of the 19 points they scored in the quarter, 15 came from long distance shots.
With accurate shooting, they opened up a 29-19 advantage at the half.
Smith opened second half scoring with a layup, matched by the Cougars shortly after. Chase Owens drove to the post, executed a spin move to free himself, then laid the ball in to set the score at 31-24 with 6:17 left in the third.
From the 6:38 mark, East Hardy outscored Pendleton County six to three over the remainder of the quarter, with a Josiah Kimble free throw at 3:17, the last scoring until the fourth.
The Cougars took a 10 point lead into the fourth. Both defenses maintained energy and intensity until the final seconds of the game. Pendleton County went into a press, which forced turnovers from the efficient Cougar squad. Bradey Bowers did not make the stat sheet, but contributed valuable time and high energy on defense.
Wildcat offensive players also worked hard to manufacture points. After an East Hardy three, Owens once again took his man to the post, spun around him, and scored. He followed that with an offensive rebound and a layup with 5:36 left.
In the final minutes, Pendleton County whittled a lead that was at 15 at the 6:48 mark down to eight with a little less than two minutes left.
Kimble played a huge role in that push. At about the three minute mark, he drove from the right wing, hit a shot, drew a foul, and hit the free throw to complete the old fashioned three-point play. Next, he fired a pass to a cutting Franklin for a score and followed that by driving and pulling up from about six feet to hit a shot.
Pendleton County was only down 45-37 at the 1:48 point. They started working to extend the game through intentional fouling. East Hardy hit most of their foul shots. Kimble scored four more, but the Wildcats could not keep pace.
On their third game in as many days, Pendleton County gave the fourth ranked team all they wanted, but had to take the setback in the end.
Kimble led scoring with 12 points, followed by Kisamore with 10. Smith added seven, Owens six, Franklin four, and Zykijah Wright two.
In the 81-46 Wednesday win at Paw Paw, who came into the game with 10 victories, Kimble and Owens both scored 22. Wright added eight, Henry Warner and James Kuykendall both put in seven, Franklin six, Kisamore five, and Smith and Caleb Armentrout each had two.
The Wildcats will battle with the Cougars again tonight. Game time is 6 p.m. On Saturday, Paw Paw comes to town with the middle school game starting at 1 p.m., followed by the high school game.
