By Stephen Smoot
For Pendleton County basketball this season, the schedule, the weather, and other factors have brought extra challenges. Last week, however, a last second basket helped to beat Class AA Petersburg in overtime to set the tone for the second half of the season.
Pocahontas County came to town last Tuesday night and ran into a buzzsaw by the name of Josiah Kimble. Kimble performed his best imitation of Chris Leonard (if one is a West Virginia University fan) or Larry Bird (if one prefers the professional version of basketball.)
The Warriors won the tip to open the game, but conceded much in the first quarter. Just 25 seconds into the action, Kimble drained his first three-point shot. He then got his hands on a Pocahontas County pass. In that possession, Chase Owens snagged an offensive rebound and laid it back in.
Kimble then hit two more treys at the 6:05 and 5:33 mark in the first stanza.
Exactly two minutes later, Travis Owens and Jaydon Hess teamed up to steal the ball, kicking off another possession that ended in a Kimble three. Hess must have felt left out of the long bomb contest because he nailed his own three-point shot with 3:02 in the quarter. A Travis Owens offensive rebound led to that score.
The last score of the first quarter came from, who else, Kimble, who hit, what else but a three-pointer.
Kimble had a total of five three-point shots in the opening quarter to help his team construct a 20-5 advantage.
The Wildcats kept rolling in the second quarter. Chase Owens scored a three at the 7:15 mark. Shortly after, Travis Owens grabbed a steal, tossed the ball to Caleb Armentrout, who hit Chase Owens near the basket for a layup and a 26-6 lead.
Later in the quarter, Dalton Rohrbaugh hit a turnaround shot at the post to push the lead to 32-14. A minute later, at the 2:33 point, he and Kimble combined on a steal that led to a Kimble layup.
The half ended with the Wildcats holding a commanding lead of 39-20.
As the second half started, the Wildcats continued to pour energy and effort into protecting and extending their lead. Hess contorted his body to put in a reverse layup with just under seven minutes in the third. Not long after, Armentrout showed himself armed and ready, hitting a basket from the foul line extended for a 45-20 advantage.
Only 40 seconds later, Hess drove the baseline to the hoop and flipped the ball out to Armentrout, who drained a 10-foot shot from the baseline.
As the third quarter wound down, Cashton Kisamore put in part of his offensive contribution. He laid in a shot after taking a crisp pass from Henry Warner at the 2:42 point. A little over half a minute later, he pulled down an offensive rebound and scored to put the lead at 57-27.
Any playing time with the regular starters pretty much ended as the fourth quarter commenced, but the solid and efficient play continued. Tony Vanmeter’s quick hands took a steal, then fired a pass to Colton Roberson for a fast break layup.
Roberson then joined the assist column when he sent a pass out to Travis Owens, who hit a three-point shot for a 67-33 lead. Soon after, with 3:33 left, Braylin Hull hit a three-point shot, followed shortly after by Zykijah Wright muscling his way to an offensive rebound and a layup.
The Wildcats scoring ended with a minute left. Gaining possession of the ball and holding a 78-43 lead, Pendleton County held the ball, drained away the clock, and took the win.
