By Stephen Smoot
The Union team that came off the mountain last Friday came with claws unsheathed and teeth bared, ready to knock off the home standing Pendleton County Wildcats.
The Wildcats, however, gradually ground them down, wore them out, and secured a vital victory enabling them to move on to the next round of the super-regional postseason.
Instead of holding sectionals leading to regionals, which has created startling mismatches in the past, area coaches voted on seeding each team in each class. Pendleton County received a number four seed, which entitled the team to play a home game against the Union Tigers.
A packed house watched the two squads tangle as the mud rain splattered and splotched everyone’s vehicle in the parking lot outside.
Cashton Kisamore got his hand on the tip, but Union ended up controlling it. Quickly, they showed their strategy to take on the Wildcats. The Tigers featured size and strength underneath and worked hard to shield Pendleton County players from the boards.
On their first possession, the Wildcats blocked three shots, but Union’s hustle got their hands on the ball one last time to score a layup. Pendleton County followed with a three, but the Tigers went right back inside and scored again with a layup and followed that at the 5:55 point with a three, taking a 7-3 advantage.
The Wildcats clawed back when Kisamore sent a pass to Travis Owens on the outside, who hit a three-pointer to bring his team within one.
Much of the remainder of the initial stanza saw Pendleton County scrap to take the lead, only to see the Tigers seize it right back. They led at the end of one, 14-10.
The first half of the second quarter greatly resembled the first, with Union working hard to get loose balls and rebounds while trying to hold off the Wildcats. At the 7:32 point, they took a five-point lead, but then Zykijah Wright muscled his way to tap in an offensive rebound to close the gap to 15-12.
Union took back the five-point lead with a layup, but a minute and a half later, Josiah Kimble answered and the Wildcats once again found themselves down three.
Down 19-14 with 4:27 in the half, Owens pulled up from 10 feet and buried a shot. Then Wright took an offensive rebound, scored, and cut the lead to 19-18.
Union struggled to score against an increasingly aggressive defense, but also head coach Jeremy Bodkin’s continual switching of defensive sets. At times, the Wildcats played a tight man. They also went into different zone defenses, including the two-three, the one-three-one, and even the one-one-three. Switching defenses appeared at times to confuse the visiting squad as it attempted to match Pendleton County’s point production.
With 3:05 remaining in the first half, Owens hit a three, with Chase Owens scoring on a free throw not long after. Chase Owens tipped in a layup after that to set the score at 23-20. Wright then kicked a pass to Kimble, who gave the Wildcats a six-point lead with 1:54 remaining in the half.
Pendleton County raced to score as many as they could in the final two minutes. Chase Owens stole the ball and executed a coast-to-coast drive for a layup and a 28-20 advantage. He then hit a three to break the game open and allow the home team to enjoy a double digit 31-21 lead going into a hard-fought half of basketball.
Pendleton County put the pressure on in the third as the team pulled away from Union. Kisamore laid in a shot almost 30 seconds into the half. Union scored, but then Chase Owens fired a pass outside to Travis Owens, who scored another three-point basket for a 36-23 lead.
Midway through the quarter, Kimble put the game away with two three-point shots that gave the Wildcats a 42-25 lead.
While the Wildcats cruised on the scoreboard, the game remained an intense battle. The crowd loudly cheered the home squad as it slowly extended the lead. By the 4:14 mark in the fourth, a Travis Owens full court drive and layup put the Wildcats up 55-33.
With just over three minutes left, Pendleton County put in its reserves. Dalton Rohrbaugh scored a three pointer and Caleb Armentrout hit a free throw as the Wildcats finished off a 62-45 win.
Bodkin praised the effort of his team, saying they “gave everything they’ve got.” He added, “We couldn’t have done it without the seniors.” Wright played despite coming back from an illness. His coach stated that he “came in and did well” while Kimble “shot the ball really well.”
The Wildcats traveled to Tucker County Wednesday night to play for the right to advance to Charleston for the state tournament.
