By Stephen Smoot
Two weeks ago, Pendleton County rolled into Baker and gave the second ranked East Hardy Cougars a stout challenge.
East Hardy has both narrowly defeated and narrowly lost to top ranked Tucker County this season. They also own two wins over triple A Berkeley Springs and a 13 and one record overall.
Great teams always take dangerous opponents seriously and the Cougars certainly opened the game with their best effort.
In the first game between the two teams, the Wildcats fought hard and stayed close for a time before the Cougars opened up a 10-15 point margin that they maintained the rest of the game.
Last week, however, the Cougars opened with post season form and intensity. They opened the game by scoring the first 15 points. Chase Owens broke the streak two minutes and 30 seconds into the game by fighting for an offensive rebound and scoring a layup, but the Cougars scored the next eight points.
Credit the home team. They started slicing away at the lead with three minutes and 20 seconds left in the first. Bradey Bowers, whose defense has served as a catalyst for big plays as of late, swiped a steal that led to an Owens layup. Owens then drew a foul on an aggressive drive to the basket and hit both of his free throws.
Next, Owens did not get the basket himself, but his pass found Dusty Smith for a midrange jump shot that he has hit with increasing confidence as of late.
This set the score at 23-8 close to the end of the first quarter.
East Hardy scored 15 points in the second quarter. Remarkably, every score came on a three-point shot. Pendleton County chipped in 14 of their own. Kimble hit a three of his own off of a Cashton Kisamore pass, but the rest of Pendleton County’s points came from opportunities created by drives, good passing, and Cougar fouls.
The Wildcats played defense with strong effort, but the more experienced Cougars passed to find open shots. In the second half, East Hardy continued to work on extending the lead. The third quarter opened with them hitting a three from about 25 feet from the basket.
Kimble tried to pry open the Cougar defense with dribble drives and passing. He drove for a layup at the 6:20 point and a little over a minute later, found Smith on a drive to the hoop, giving him an opportunity to make a shot close to the basket. That set the score at 47-26.
Both coaches brought in their reserves with about three minutes to play. Justus Kuykendall picked up a steal, which he took to the basket for a score at the 2:15 mark.
The game closed with a 65-38 score.
Owens led scoring with 12. Smith scored eight, followed by Kisamore with seven. Kimble also put in seven. Kuykendall had two and both Jaydon Hess and Henry Warner scored one.
