By Stephen Smoot
The Wildcats’ first month of the season served as a class from the University of Hard Knocks. The schedule featured two teams still undefeated by Christmas Day and, overall, the combined records of all teams played came out to 19 and eight as of last Friday evening.
In that time, however, the football players worked their way into condition and out of lingering injuries from the fall season. Playing winning teams week after week also sharpened the squad and prepared them for the rest of the schedule – which started last Friday against Class AA rival Moorefield.
Pendleton County met Moorefield in the Petersburg Holiday Tournament. The Grant County school is rightfully proud to call this the longest continually running such tournament in West Virginia, playing since 1960.
The Wildcats took the opening tip and also the score as Jaydon Hess passed the ball over to Chase Owens, who drained a three-point shot from the corner with almost 50 seconds gone in the first quarter. Moorefield came right back 10 seconds later with a layup.
At the 6:18 point, Owens drove the baseline and drew a foul as he completed a layup. The Moorefield coach screamed at his defense to implore them to cut off his baseline drives before they got to the basket. The Wildcat players, however, demonstrated offensive explosiveness off the dribble all night, forcing the Yellow Jackets into defensive help situations time and time again.
Jeremy Bodkin, Pendleton County head coach, also switched his defenses to keep Moorefield guessing, moving from half court and full court man-to-man to one-three-one base and trap defenses in half court sets.
With 1:34 left in the first, Pendleton County opened up a 13-8 advantage on the strength of a Josiah Kimble three-point shot, then an Owens free throw. From then until about three minutes left in the second quarter, however, Moorefield’s defense slowed Wildcat scoring as they embarked on a 10 to five run to knot the game at 18.
The Yellow Jackets closed the gap by using patient passing to attack the zone and finding shots near the basket, mostly in the second and third quarters.
Moorefield hit a layup with 10 seconds left to assume a slender one-point lead, but a Travis Owens drive and five-foot pullup shot seized it right back going into halftime.
The Yellow Jackets stung the Wildcats worst in the third quarter. At 4:41 Chase Owens missed a fast break layup, but Cashton Kisamore, who hustled hard here as he did all game long, came up from his trail position and put the ball in for a 31-29 advantage, two of his eight points for the game. From that point until the 4:33 mark in the fourth quarter, however, Moorefield outscored Pendleton County 17 to nine and racked up a seven-point lead.
That said, in the final second of the third, Chase Owens drove to the basket, wove through defenders, and contorted his body for a layup to cut the lead at that point to 38-35.
Before this point in the opening minutes of the fourth quarter, the Wildcats made an unconventional move that helped to reverse the direction of the game.
“Give credit to my assistant coaches that made the move. It worked and panned out,” said Bodkin. His coaches at the end of the third quarter suggested inserting players off the bench, some of whom had not seen many varsity minutes. Travis Owens had lifted the team in the first half and perhaps his teammates among the reserves could as well.
Into the game went Tony Vanmeter, Colton Roberson, and Henry Warner (who has been called upon often to contribute.) This also brought in a smaller lineup whose quickness started to stymie and frustrate Moorefield. Suddenly tentative in passing, Moorefield found Wildcat hands and bodies in the way of many passes, leading to turnovers and scores at the other end.
Additionally, Kimble and Chase Owens challenged the defense with drives that, even with the physical play allowed by the officials, often put them on the line – where they made Moorefield pay.
Between the 4:33 point where Moorefield enjoyed its biggest lead, and 2:55 left in the game, the Wildcats shut down the Yellow Jackets. Kimble, who led all scorers with 22, tied the game at 48 at the 2:55 point with a pullup 15-foot baseline jumper. Almost 15 seconds later, he stole a pass and fired the ball to Chase Owens for a fast break layup and a 50-48 lead.
Warner stole a pass 10 seconds later, leading to a Pendleton County timeout. The game had shifted so quickly and so completely, the Wildcat coaches paused the action to prepare for the final minutes. With 2:06 left, Travis Owens drove past his man to score a layup, two of his 10 points, and give his squad a 52-48 advantage. Warner grabbed his own steal and drove it in shortly thereafter.
Moorefield had an opportunity at the 1:30 mark, but the Wildcat defense foiled two layup attempts. Kimble was sent to the line intentionally and hit two free throws for a 56-48 lead. With 12.3 seconds, the Yellow Jackets scored their first points in four minutes and 20 seconds, a three-point shot from very deep.
Chase Owens finished the game off with a steal and a layup, the last of his 18 points, with three seconds left, helping to earn his team a big 60-51 win.
Though they did not feature in the scoring, Zykijah Wright played big on the post with his defense and rebounding. Hess managed the game well from the point guard position and poured in tremendous defensive effort. Caleb Armentrout added great defense and found open men often with skilled passing.
After the game, Bodkin joked that “I don’t know when the bus pulled in for our team, but it seemed like the fourth quarter” but “something clicked then and I was glad to see it happen.”
