The Cougars roamed the woods keeping the trails clear before Class AA Berkeley Springs inundated the Den with a barrage of attacks in the second half enabling the Indians to depart Baker in a wake of debris with an 87-54 victory on East Hardy’s senior night on Wednesday.
East Hardy Boys Basketball honored its seniors prior to the contest: Casey Connelley, Jesse Dove, Drew Kelican, Nick Miller and Brett Tharp.
Brett Tharp scored a game-high 25 points in his final regular season home game for the Cougars (9-10), followed by junior Aden Funkhouser with 11 points and senior Casey Connelley contributed eight points.
Colin Breeden led Berkeley Springs (15-5) with 24 points and Ethan Barkley netted 21 points.
“It was pretty ugly from start to finish. You’ve got to play better defense than that, it’s just that simple,” East Hardy Coach Chris Hahn commented.
“Give them credit, they came out aggressive in the second half and we couldn’t throw the ball into the ocean.”
In the first two minutes of the game, Berkeley Springs missed six field goals and forced two turnovers, while the Cougars hit the rim twice with rebounds by Tharp (2), Dove and Kelican during that stretch.
The initial basket of the game came at the 6:00 mark as Nate Mason stole the ball for the Indians and passed to Ethan Barkley for the score.
Kelican snatched an offensive rebound and was fouled which created two foul shots to tie it up.
Funkhouser swatted at the ball and Breeden made the recovery with a dish to Barkley for the jumper.
Barkley knocked the ball loose and it bounced out of bounds, then Barkley swiped the ball and lost it out of bounds rushing the pass down the floor.
Connelley drilled a field goal from the free throw line to knot it up again at the 4:54 mark, 4-all.
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In 13 seconds, the Indians responded with a shot by Nathan Osborn to regain the edge.
Mason’s defense forced Funkhouser to lose the ball out of bounds and Berkeley Springs took advantage of the turnover as Mason hit a jumper at 4:03.
East Hardy went to its leader with a jumper from Tharp at the 3:43 mark to make it 8-6.
Both teams missed a field goal attempt, then Breeden scored inside the paint.
Mason blocked Tharp, then the Cougars hit iron and Mason Shipe collected the rebound before walking.
After a foul, East Hardy’s Chance Dove threw the inbound pass and it was intercepted by Barkley leading to a basket by Breeden.
Connelley grabbed an offensive rebound and secured a putback to cut the deficit to 12-8 at the 1:18 mark, but the Indians answered on the next possession with a shot by TyJae Armstrong.
There were a combined five errant attempts to close out the first period.
Berkeley Springs missed a pair of shots around a rim rocker by the Cougars before Armstrong netted a field goal at the 7:10 mark of the second period.
Dove kept the possession alive with a rebound, then Funkhouser redirected a ricochet off the rim back to Dove for a basket as the Cougars made it 16-10 at 6:43.
Armstrong was called for an over the back penalty, then Tharp worked down the baseline to create a score.
An old-fashioned three-point play by Armstrong gave the Indians a 19-12 edge at 5:53.
East Hardy’s Cole Swanson drilled a 3-pointer on the next series and during the shot there was contact underneath the hoop as Berkeley Springs’ Nathan Osborn was whistled for a foul giving the Cougars possession again as some Indians fans shouted disapproval.
Tharp leapt to catch the inbounds pass and was fouled by Breeden.
Adam Larson garnered a rebound, then the next miss was corralled by Funkhouser for a putback as East Hardy cut the deficit to 19-17 at the 5:22 mark.
Shipe scored inside the paint with a jumper over Larson on the ensuing Indians play.
Tharp went to the free throw line on a foul by Shipe which caused one Berkeley Springs to yell profusely and was kicked out of the game, meanwhile both free throws were made at 4:50.
Larson fouled Osborn on the next series, who made each foul shot for a 23-19 edge.
Funkhouser tucked the ball and rushed into a defender which caused a charge.
Barkley dropped a 3-pointer for the Indians, then the Cougars received a long range jumper from Kelican and the response was a jumper by Breeden with all of this happening within a minute.
Over the next minute and change, neither team could buy a basket with both drawing rim twice before Tharp grabbed a defensive board and scored on a layup for East Hardy at 2:17.
Berkeley Springs hit the iron again and Tharp snatched the rebound, then netted a fadeaway jumper.
Armstrong kept the Indians possession alive with a rebound, then passed to Mason for a 3-pointer providing a 31-25 lead.
After a Cougars turnover, Connelley blocked Breeden with the ball flying out of bounds.
Tharp hauled in a carom, then attempted to drive to the basket with Berkeley Springs Payton Mann playing defense very close with a hip check and a little extra bump from Tharp to gain an edge only created a charge.
Funkhouser snatched a defensive rebound and nailed a jumper to pull the Cougars to within four points heading into the locker room at halftime trailing Berkeley Springs 31-27.
The Indians opened the second half with a quick shot by Breeden, then Shipe grabbed a defensive board and passed to Mason for a basket.
Kelican assisted Connelley on a score in the paint as East Hardy made it 35-29 at the 7:03 mark.
Both teams missed an opportunity, then Osborn scored for Berkeley Springs.
Tharp drew a foul by Shipe and sank both free throws.
Berkeley Springs responded with a jumper by Osborn to create a 39-31 edge.
Breeden blocked a shot out of bounds, then stole the ball and passed to Barkley, who missed and Breeden snatched the board for a putback.
Connelley was whistled for a foul on a rebound attempt, then Barkley nailed two consecutive 3-pointers for Berkeley Springs with the latter coming off a steal by Osborn for a 47-31 advantage with 4:13 remaining in the frame.
Osborn and Tharp made defensive rebounds with Tharp throwing across to Dove, who found Funkhouser for a Cougars 3-pointer.
After a free throw by Osborn, Funkhouser netted a jumper to make it 48-36 at 3:24.
Connelley forced a turnover with the ricochet corralled by Funkhouser, but East Hardy didn’t take advantage of the miscue.
An alley-oop attempt for Shipe trying to dunk went horribly awry with the ball soaring out of bounds with Funkhouser defending on the play.
Tharp garnered a putback on the next possession as the Cougars trailed 48-38 at 2:39.
Osborn hit a jumper off an assist from Shipe, then Tharp went in for a layup.
Breeden netted an old-fashioned three-point play to put the Indians on top 53-40.
“We didn’t do a very good job attacking the basket in the first half. We relied on the three instead of making the extra pass. We weren’t making the extra pass and were rushing our shots,” Berkeley Springs Coach Chad Brinegar remarked.
“We really talked to them at the half and concentrated on the second half: let’s move the basketball more, be more patient and attack the basket and take higher percentage shots. It worked for us. Our kids have got to recognize that when we are on, we are on; but we can put ourselves in a hole. Thank goodness, we were on in the second half.”
Mason snatched a defensive board, then a 3-on-1 sequence was denied by Funkhouser as the ball went off the rim and out of bounds.
Tharp drew a foul and added one free throw with a minute left for the Cougars, then Berkeley Springs stalled to wind down the clock and missed the initial try with Armstrong getting the board and Tharp deflecting the ball out of bounds with one second on the scoreboard.
Armstrong nailed the buzzer-beater to give Berkeley Springs a 55-41 advantage entering the fourth period.
The Indians increased the attacks in the final stanza destroying the terrain with a 32-13 scoring differential creating the 87-54 final.
In the fourth period, Breeden poured in 15 points including a pair of treys and Barkley added six points to lead the final push.
Brett Tharp knocked down two trifectas leading to eight points for East Hardy, while Funkhouser and Connelley added one field goal and Andrew Tharp contributed one free throw towards the total.
Although it was a tough loss for the seniors, the season continues.
“Career-wise these guys put in a lot of work. If you’d asked me when these guys were freshmen, a couple of these kids came in as scrawny little guys. They were slow and they were weak, couldn’t shoot very well and couldn’t dribble. If you told me they would be starting senior year and contributing as much as they have, it’s a good group,” Coach Hahn stated.
“Take for instance Casey Connelley, worked really hard to see the floor. He’s a kid most people said would never see the varsity floor much less start. For him to come in and make himself a player, he worked really hard to make himself a player. I am super proud of those kids. Brett came in and what he has done in his career is pretty much second to none. All of these guys have worked really hard. Other than tonight, you hate to send them out like this in the regular season with a loss like this. I think Berkeley Springs is the best team we’ve played all year and we’ve played some pretty good teams. Their combination of guards and monster bigs, it is hard to match up with it,” Coach Hahn concluded.
In JV action, East Hardy defeated the Indians 68-53.
The JV Cougars were led by Christian Dove with 15 points and Adam Baker with 13 points.
East Hardy has to regroup for a catfight with the Wildcats in Franklin on Friday.
East Hardy will host Moorefield in the first round of the Region II Section 2 playoffs on Tuesday.
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