By Stephen Smoot
Conventional wisdom states that basketball teams should ease into the season. Many regional programs schedule light early on, both in terms of having few games and playing against “tune-up” competition.
Neither boys head coach, Jeremy Bodkin, nor girls coach, Donnie Kopp, subscribes to that strategy.
Both teams faced early season challenges created by the court system. Both the volleyball and football playoffs were delayed over the application of class categorization prior to the fall sports seasons. This pushed the playoffs back at least a week, meaning that core players on both teams did not have time to get the full amount of conditioning or tactical preparation for the season.
This put both teams behind the eight ball against tough early season tests.
The boys opened against East Hardy, as of the time of this writing the Cougars are four and two and ranked seventh in Class A by Max Preps. They fell in that initial game, then again against currently four and one Tygarts Valley.
Against Luray, Virginia, on Dec. 14, the Wildcats seemed to hit their stride. They took a close last minute loss at home, but Luray would rank as Class AA in West Virginia and puts a solid team on the court.
The boys took a long road trip from the Potomac to the Ohio Valley as Christmas approached. They took a 36-28 lead at the half against their first opponent, Parkersburg Catholic, then saw that lead dwindle to a tie score by the end of the third. Stout defense helped the Wildcats win the fourth quarter 13-8 and the game itself 61-56.
After a loss to a strong Tyler Consolidated team, the Wildcats headed home to face regional rivals in the Holiday Tournament.
It was here that the high preseason expectations started to be realized because Pendleton County truly hit its stride.
First, the Wildcats handled Moorefield 60-51. Then, they took on Petersburg. The Vikings came in with a three and two record. One of those wins came over Braxton County, currently ranked sixth by Max Preps in Class AA. The Wildcats powered their way to a 67-63 win, beating two class AA rivals in a row and taking home the Holiday Tournament trophy.
The girls team also had some early struggles, but have risen to be one of the teams to watch in the Potomac Highlands.
They opened with a solid win against the Union Tigers, but then faced the always tough Tucker County Mountain Lions and took their first loss. They then fell to a rising and aggressive Pocahontas County program.
On Dec. 17, however, they traveled to Baker to take on a strong East Hardy team. The Cougars have wins over Class AA Petersburg and Robert C. Byrd on their resume, as well as a close loss to Elkins.
Though they fared very well against bigger schools, Pendleton County’s defense held them in check all night. East Hardy had a 14-13 advantage at halftime and were down 21-20 at the end of three. The Wildcats, however, purred in the fourth, outscoring East Hardy 19-13 and taking the game 40-33.
A deceptively tough Moorefield team beat the Wildcats in the first round in the Petersburg tournament. Deceptively because although they only sport a two and four record, they took on mostly Class AA and AAA teams to forge their team in the fire of tough games.
The Wildcats, however, won two after that against Union and Frankfort for a 4-3 season record to start the new year.
