It was a battle of the cats last season in the playoffs with the Mountain Lions knocking out East Hardy Boys Basketball in the section semifinals, but this season the Cougars are ready to pounce back with a ferocious attack with a sense of renewal and sharpened skills or nails since they are cats.
East Hardy Boys Basketball head coach Chris Hahn returns for his 13th season at the helm with a career record of 94-94 and will be assisted this year by Matt Teets.
The Cougars finished last year with a record of 13-13, but the latter part of the season was where the success was building and the improvements are continuing to be made.
Coach Hahn is excited for this season to see the improvement and making the adjustments to become better as the year progresses.
“I’m excited. I think this team is excited to show everyone the improvement they have made. We will see where our talent is best and try and keep them playing with their strengths,” East Hardy coach Chris Hahn remarked.
“I want to be better when we leave than when we started and win more than we lose.”
East Hardy has three seniors Adam Baker (center), Seth Smith (point guard) and Colten Spaid (shooting guard) preparing the Den for a feeding frenzy.
Baker brings a physical presence as a football player going strong to the hoop to score or grab rebounds with his height, but can shoot from the outside and thwart opponents coming inside.
Baker averaged five rebounds per game last year.
Smith and Spaid are expected to provide assists this year, but remain threats to score with quickness and timing all around the hardwood in addition to smart defensive play creating steals.
A majority of the basketball players are football players, so the physicality for the Cougars will be intimidating.
East Hardy juniors Alex Miller (sg) and Brayden Ritchie (sf) were dynamic on the field and bring that intensity to the court with powerful defense and pouncing to the rim for scoring and rebounds.
Riley Mongold, a junior power forward, has developed a knack for hitting perimeter range shots to compliment his impact in the paint.
Christian Dove, junior point guard, was the quarterback this season for the Cougars, so he knows how to dish out the ball and will be a threat anywhere on the court shooting and has quick hands to steal the ball.
Dove averaged ten points per game last season.
East Hardy junior brothers Andrew and Bryce Tharp, small forwards, create a dynamic tandem on the floor with Andrew’s hustle to score and rebound combined with Bryce’s defensive skills known to induce a charge should pay dividends.
Andrew Tharp averaged five rebounds per game last season.
Denny McDonald, junior shooting guard, gives the Cougars another option on the floor for attacks.
East Hardy sophomore shooting guard Justin Teets was a leader last season in the junior varsity with an all-around shooting finesse and his time on the varsity floor will drastically increase.
East Hardy sophomore pg/sg Josh Hahn knocked down some 3-pointers late in the varsity games and has dedicated time to work on impacting the paint going for rebounds and shots.
Sophomore shooting guards Noah Lang, Jacob Combs and Andrew Hahn provide quickness, plus a wide range of shooting and rebounds skills.
East Hardy freshman power forward/center Dawson Price was a lightning bolt on the football field and that speed translates to the hardwood plus great jumping ability with height that will be a dynamic presence inside.
The Cougars freshmen rounding out the roster with Price are Brandon Parker, Gavin Ritchie, Elijah Schetrom and Austin Wilkins.
East Hardy is preparing for the season opener at Class AA Petersburg on December 12 with a visit to Page County, Va. the following day prior to the home opener against Paw Paw on December 17.
East Hardy hosts the Yellow Jackets on December 21 and visits Moorefield for the regular season finale on February 21.
The Cougars play in the Strasburg Rams Hardwood Classic on December 28 and 30.
East Hardy will participate again in the West Virginia Hometown Invitational Tournament with games in January and February.
The Class A Potomac Valley Conference opponents are [private]Moorefield, Tucker County, Pendleton County, Paw Paw, Union and Harman.
Having a versatile and balanced team will help East Hardy have a very productive season.
East Hardy coach Chris Hahn responded to a barrage of questions for the preview:
Who were your statistical leaders last year?
Christian Dove, Andrew Tharp, and Adam Baker are expected to carry a lot of the load this year, however we are probably the most balanced team 1-7 that I’ve ever had, anyone any day can score so that’s exciting. Christian and Seth Smith are going to be my guess as to where most of my assists are going to come from and Christian averaged about 10ppg, Andrew Tharp averaged about 5 rebounds as well as Adam Baker.
What is the best way to improve free throw shooting?
Practice game situation with realistic as possible scenarios.
How crucial is it to grab rebounds in the game and what are the keys to countering the height of other teams?
We are going to play small a lot this year so our focus has to be being fundamental when it comes to rebounding the basketball. If we don’t we could find ourselves in some tough spots.
How important is perimeter shooting?
In order to keep teams from collapsing on the drive you have to be able to shoot from outside to open up lanes and limit help.
Does man or zone defense work best for your team?
We are going to mix and match game to game depending on the matchups to see what we can take advantage of.
How is the team chemistry this season? This is a very talented but very small team. So far they have been very unselfish and if they continue to play that way they will be very fun to watch.
What impresses you the most about your team? They want to be good and they are working hard towards that goal.
What are the best attributes for each player on the team?
They are all competitors very excited to have a bunch of kids that hate to lose.
How do you feel about your overall schedule, are there any new teams or tournaments?
Our schedule is pretty tough. Page County owned the Bull Run District when they were in it and that included a lot of very tough teams. I expect they might be the best team we play other than the Strasburg tournament. We also play in the WVHIT which gives us four very competitive games. I think the PVC is very balanced this year and there aren’t many games on our schedule that won’t be a battle to the end.
Coach Hahn provided the final insights for his roster:
Brandon Parker 9 SG fast strong good future.
Dawson Price 9 PF and C really good on the glass, the future is bright with Dawson.
Gavin Ritchie 9 sf
Elijah Schetrom 9 g
Austin Wilkins 9 g
Noah Lang 10 SG lots of talent good rebounder will work very hard.
Joshua Hahn 10 PG/SG grew a lot over the summer is learning to attack the rim and use his size.
Jacob Combs 10 SG
Andrew Hahn 10 SG
Justin Teets 10 SG one of the best shooters on the team.
Andrew Tharp 11 sf tons of energy and hustle will be one of the best rebounders on the team.
Bryce Tharp 11 sf best charge taker I’ve ever coached or coached against he knows how to get in front of the offense.
Christian Dove 11 PG quick can score and dish will be a handful for other teams to play against.
Denny McDonald 11 SG
Brayden Ritchie 11 sf strong fast will be a difficult matchup for a lot of teams.
Riley Mongold 11 PF good scorer inside can extend on the wings a bit too.
Alex Miller 11 SG can shoot better than he thinks and is always in the right spot.
Colten Spaid 12 SG can shoot very well.
Seth Smith 12 PG can create and score if he loosens up he will be one of the best in the PVC this year.
Adam Baker 12 C really good from the foul line in. stronger than he looks and is a competitor.[/private]