By Stephen Smoot
The stage was set for a memorable night.
First, the two teams in competition — Pendleton County carried a slightly better record than Pocahontas County, but the teams had split the season in wins. The Warriors won on their home court and the Wildcats did on theirs as well.
More than 30 minutes before the game started, those driving to Pendleton County Middle/High School could not find an open parking space on campus. Faithful and feisty fans on both sides packed the stands, creating a standing room only situation.
After the game started, one could be forgiven if they closed their eyes and imagined themselves in West Virginia University’s Colosseum for a rivalry game with through the roof decibel levels.
Neither squad disappointed as they battled.
The Warriors worked to run the Wildcats off the floor from the opening tip to quiet the crowd. Pendleton County took the tip, but Pocahontas County swiped the ball within a few seconds. The opening quarter saw the visiting team in high-energy mode. Defenders got into position a step earlier than usual.
Pocahontas players seemed to slide in to the perfect position every time to get the rebounds they wanted on both ends of the floor.
At the 6:53 point, the Warriors hit a free throw. A layup 20 seconds later extended the lead to 3-0. The furious defense of Pocahontas County kept the home squad off the scoreboard for the first minute and a half until Jameigh Miller put in a layup.
The Warriors worked well inside in the opening quarter, battling for and getting offensive rebounds that led to scores. Pendleton County’s star center Susan Vincell played well, but was not 100 percent for the game.
Pendleton County fell behind 9-2 by the 3:30 mark in the first before they started hitting shots regularly. Jessica Parker cut the lead with a three-point shot. Nearly a half minute later, Avery Townsend drove to the basket and kicked the ball out to Jenna Smith for a 15-foot baseline bucket, closing the lead to three.
Through the postseason teams have keyed on Townsend, trying to knock her off her rhythm with more physical defense. She has had to play through a lot of jersey grabbing, subtle body checks as she drives to the basket, and a number of hard fouls. Townsend has adapted by using drives to draw defenders to her, then dishing to whatever player got left open.
When she does not draw the extra defender, she scores it herself.
Smith opened the second quarter with a three-point shot. The Warriors followed with a two, but then the Julia Mongold show commenced when she buried a three-point shot and sliced the lead to 13-12. Mongold played perhaps the best game of her solid career with the Wildcats that night.
After the Warriors hit a layup to try and hold off the surging Wildcats, they fouled Miller, who calmly hit both free throws. The Warriors scored and went back up by four, but then Townsend’s pass to Vincell resulted in a layup.
With 2:50 remaining in the first half, Townsend fired a pass to Mongold, who put in a shot from six feet to tie the game at 18. Pendleton County went into the press and Mongold immediately stole a pass, drove the ball in, and put her team up for the first time all game, 20-18.
The Warriors answered with a step back three to retake the lead 21-20 at the 2:22 point, but on the next Wildcat possession, Townsend hit a 10-foot shot to grab the lead right back.
As it turned out, for good.
As the second half started Pendleton County clung to a narrow five-point advantage, but the level of intensity that the Warriors brought to the first, the Wildcats established for the entire second half.
The Wildcats ground out points against the still hard-working Warriors. Just inside of seven minutes left in the quarter, Townsend grabbed a steal and laid the ball in to set a nine-point lead. Pocahontas County followed with their first points of the half, a three.
While the lead did not widen much to this point, Pocahontas County started to break down somewhat. They committed a number of fouls and, for a time, players relied less on running offensive sets than dribbling down and firing up quick threes.
At the 4:07 mark, Townsend pulled up at the foul line and hit a shot. The visiting team responded with a two shortly after, but Townsend responded again with a running one hander from eight feet.
The last few minutes of the quarter saw the Wildcats break the game open. At the 1:47 point, Townsend got a steal and found Miller, who hit a three and extended the lead to 43-32. The two teams traded scores and the quarter ended with Pendleton County ahead 46-35.
One cannot understate the sometimes deafening crowd noise. Both schools had strong support from their student sections, especially, throughout the game.
Mongold led off scoring in the final quarter by taking the ball coast-to-coast for a layup. Then neither team cracked the scoreboard until 5:31 when the Warriors hit a two and cut the score to 48-37.
But time was ticking away on the Warriors and Wildcat head coach, Donnie Kopp, used a somewhat unconventional tactic to shorten the game.
For a time, Townsend dribbled the ball along the outside to use up precious seconds of time that Pocahontas County needed to get back in the game.
Then, Kopp channeled his inner Dean Smith in the last five minutes of the game. The legendary University of North Carolina head coach invented the four corners offense, which uses precise passing and disciplined, but constant, player movement in an elaborate game of keep-away.
With every player on the floor for Pendleton County an accomplished dribbler and great caretaker of the ball, Kopp could have confidence that his squad could eat a lot of time off the clock. This tactic also showed that the coaching staff had tremendous confidence that their defense could continue to keep the Warriors in check.
Pocahontas County responded by playing even more physically. At one point, a body check sent a Wildcat player with the ball flying to the floor. Other Pendleton players dove to keep possession. As soon as the ball was secured in Wildcat hands, Kopp called a quick time out.
Pendleton County’s student section, packed with boys’ basketball, baseball, and football players who know a few things about intense play, tremendous effort, discipline, and solid coaching, immediately started loudly chanting, “Donnie! Donnie!”
The Warriors mounted a final expedition to try and climb into competitiveness. Players stormed up the floor with the ball to take momentum and get off quick shots. At the 1:55 mark, they scored a layup and cut the lead to seven, giving them a slender chance to reverse the direction of the entire game.
But Pocahontas County could not put the ball through the hoop again.
Forced to foul to stop the clock, the Warriors gave the Wildcats a chance to put the game to bed. Three made free throws and a Townsend finger roll led to a final score of 55-43 — earning the Wildcats a trip to Charleston.
“I’m ecstatic!” said the silly string covered Kopp after the game, who then added, “we didn’t have the start we intended to . . . Pocahontas County is well-coached, scrappy.”
He then thanked his assistants, Travis Heavner and Dan Miller, explaining that decisions often came by committee as they shared their ideas based on their own strong experience.
As is customary, the school sacrificed a net for the time-honored ritual of each person involved in the team snipping a piece of string for themselves as they remove it from the hoop.
Kopp was the last to ascend the ladder to get his threads. As he cut off his piece and removed the net, his girls followed the boys’ example from earlier, chanting, “Donnie! Donnie!”
Pendleton County, the fourth seed, will play against Cameron at 9 p.m. today in the Charleston Civic Center Colosseum.
