By Stephen Smoot
Captain Edward Aloysius Murphy, Jr., served honorably in the United States Air Force as an engineer both in war and in peacetime. No one remembers his contributions to aerospace engineering, but most people recognize his maxim, or “law.”
“Anything that can go wrong will go wrong and at the worst possible time.”
It was a game like that for Pendleton County in the sectional finals against Pocahontas County.
The Wildcats opened up the game with Jenna Smith finding Julia Mongold with a pass for a three-point shot, but Pocahontas County answered quickly with a layup. By the five minute point, the Warriors surged ahead on a layup to take a 6-3 lead.
Pendleton County opened the game seemingly playing tight. The young team faced its biggest game of the year. For the players not on the team last year, it was the biggest of their lives.
They made mistakes they don’t normally make. An experienced, aggressive, and motivated team like Pocahontas County makes sure that the bills come due every time for mistakes made. That said, Pendleton County never faltered on effort.
The Warriors pushed out to an early 11-5 lead, but the Wildcats clawed away at it. Avery Townsend, the recipient of special defensive attention from the visitors, completed a length of the court drive for a layup and followed that with a backcourt steal and a foul drawn. She hit both free throws with 39 seconds in the first.
Nataley Hedrick then found Gabby DePue with a pass that led to a 17-foot shot to tie the game at 13.
Pocahontas County scored five straight to open the second, but with four minutes remaining in the half, Jameigh Miller, seeing her first action in weeks, drove to the 10-foot point and drained a shot. Three minutes later, Townsend grabbed an offensive rebound and hit one of two free throws to pull her team within two.
The Warriors extended the lead to 21-16 with a three, answered by an 11-foot shot from Townsend.
This dynamic lasted the entire night. Pocahontas County earned some breathing room, then the Wildcats would narrow the gap, but never retake the lead. Both teams employed high energy defense to contain the other, but Pocahontas County got the benefit of timely calls and bounces of the balls.
The third quarter started with Pendleton County down by only two. A few minutes in, Susan Vincell took an offensive rebound back for a layup to put the score at 24-23 in favor of the visitors. Pocahontas County then went on a 13 to seven run broken by a Townsend coast to coast layup drive at the 1:50 point followed by a Smith three. Townsend briefly tied the game at 39 with time running out in the period, but a Warrior three with 12 seconds left gave them back the lead.
Pocahontas County hit a layup early in the fourth to give them a six point advantage, but Smith knifed into that with a three. The Warriors hit a three to put the lead back at five at the 4:27 point.
With two minutes left, the Warriors led by eight and looked like they had put the game away, but Miller dashed those hopes with a three-point shot. Almost 15seconds later, Miller drew a foul, hit two foul shots, and shaved the lead to three.
In the final minute, the lead looked tantalizingly close as the Warriors were merely up 52-49. The Warriors battled to keep it just as hard as the Wildcats fought to take it. Each team gave maximum effort in the entire game, but even more so in that final minute.
Townsend had an open shot at the buzzer to potentially send the game to overtime, but it missed by mere inches.
Pocahontas County won the section, but both teams earned the right to advance in the post season.
For Pendleton County, the sting felt in the loss also served as a teacher. This was the kind of game that builds a young team for the future, even though the loss held them from their goals in the present.
