By Carl Holcomb
Moorefield Examiner
East Hardy Girls Basketball took the early lead for the first half of the opening frame, then the Wildcats slashed back to take a 21-15 halftime lead and commenced the third period on an 8-nil run en route to securing a 50-34 victory on senior night in Franklin.
“The difference was we had five turnovers to start the third quarter. We actually had six turnovers in a row as they scored off a turnover to end the second quarter. We came out and had five turnovers in the third quarter. That was the difference in the game. They went up by 12 and that was it. We can’t play from behind,” East Hardy coach Calvin Mongold noted.
Pendleton County senior Avery Townsend recorded a game-high 16 points, followed by Jameigh Miller and Susan Vincell with 11 points apiece.
East Hardy senior captains scored all of the points as Brooklynn Tinnell led the way with 15 points, followed by Chloe Miller with 12 points, Brooklyn Miller with five points and Addison Armentrout with two points.
Brooklyn Miller gave the Cougars an initial 3-nil lead with a perimeter basket at 7:37.
The Wildcats fumed the ball out of play, then Julia Mongold stole the ball before it was deflected out by the Cougars.
East Hardy’s Chloe Miller made a steal and save along the sideline, but the ensuing pass went awry.
Tinnell swiped the ball, then the Cougars hit the rim thrice.
Both teams would hit the rim three times over the next minute prior to one foul shot by Townsend at 4:21.
East Hardy’s Jenna Mongold collected a defensive rebound.
Chloe Miller drew a foul and added one point on the line to put the Cougars up 4-1 at 4:11, then Tinnell hauled in the carom and Pendleton County’s Susan Vincell blocked the ensuing attempt.
Pendleton County’s Julia Mongold notched a 3-pointer to tie the game at 3:45.
A steal by Jessica Parker led to a Wildcats miss, but grabbed the reobund and tied up for a jump ball.
Both teams came up empty prior to a putback from Jameigh Miller giving Pendleton County the lead for good at 2:37, 6-4.
Pendleton County’s Jenna Smith stole the ball and Vincell scored on the series.
Townsend forced a turnover on a back court violation and VIncell added a jumper to put the Wildcats up 10-4 with 1:25 left in the first period.
Townsend stole the ball, then Pendleton County hit the rim twice prior to a lane violation.
Both teams missed one final shot attempt to close out the frame.
The first two minutes of the second period featured a combined six errant field goals and steals by Pendleton County’s Mongold and Townsend.
Vincell scored inside the paint off an assist from Townsend to give the Wildcats a 12-4 lead at 6:08.
East Hardy answered with a long range jumper by Brooklyn Miller at 5:34.
The Cougars forced a turnover, but failed to connect.
Pendleton County hit the rim twice and missed free throws before a leaping save along the baseline by Chloe Miller turned into a blunder as the pass was caught by Addison Armentrout who was standing out of bounds.
Chloe Miller collected a defensive rebound, but Townsend stole the ball and was fouled leading to a pair of charity stripe buckets to make it 14-6 at 4:36.
Armentrout knocked down a jumper for the Cougars on the ensuing possession.
The Wildcats responded with a putback by Vincell doubling the lead to 16-8 at 4:01.
A defensive carom garnered by Chloe Miller resulted in a foul and two free throws made for East Hardy at 3:44.
Vincell notched one free throw just six seconds later, then the Cougars missed two free throws.
Smith swiped the ball and was fouled to add one free throw for the Wildcats at 2:43.
Pendleton County’s Julia Mongold stole the ball and dished to Townsend, who tripped and drew contact for one free throw made.
Tinnell was fouled and made both free throws as the Cougars cut the deficit to 19-12 with 2:21 remaining in the half.
A steal by Tinnell led to a layup by Chloe Miller at 1:30 as East Hardy kept the momentum going, 19-14.
After a charge by the Wildcats, the Cougars lost control of the ball.
Pendleton County missed several field goal attempts before fumbling the ball out.
Chloe Miller notched one free throw for the Cougars with 36 seconds left in the half.
The Cougars forced a jump ball, but Townsend swiped the ball and scored on a breakaway layup to close the first half giving Pendleton County a 21-15 edge.
East Hardy opened the second half with steals by Chloe Miller and Brooklyn Miller, but no points came to fruition.
The Wildcats went on an 8-nil run starting with a jumper by Jessica Parker at 7:10, then Townsend collected a defensive board and a foul led to two points on the line.
A steal by Chloe Miller turned into a walk for the Cougars, then Julia Mongold hit a jumper for the Wildcats.
Parker swiped the ball and found Townsend for a layup extending the lead to 29-15 with 5:42 left in the third period.
Tinnell drilled a 3-pointer for East Hardy to end the run at 4:56, 29-18.
Townsend and Chloe Miller traded one free throw apiece for a 30-19 score at 4:25.
Pendleton County’s Jameigh Miller hit a trifecta with 2:58 remaining.
The Cougars responded with a jumper from Tinnell on the ensuing series, 33-21.
East Hardy’s Jenna Mongold made a steal, but the ball was snatched back by Parker with a quick foul.
A defensive carom was corralled by Chloe Miller, then Tinnell drew a foul and added two free throws at 2:07.
The Wildcats answered with a jumper by Julia Mongold for a 35-23 lead at 1:44.
Both teams hit the rim prior to a 3-pointer connected by Julia Mongold for a 38-23 advantage with one minute to go in the third frame.
The Cougars hit the rim twice before Tinnell blocked a shot and forced a jump ball, then added a bucket in the paint to close the gap to 38-24 entering the final stanza.
“This was very special. These are wonderful girls who have been playing together since recreation league. I was looking at pictures of them as kids today. They are a good, hard working group of girls. We had a really tough game on the road at Tygarts Valley last night spending a lot of emotion and energy, but they bounced back tonight. We hd some good balance tonight with a lot of people in the scoring column. I am proud of the overall effort. Now we have to get ready for the playoffs and give these seniors a chance at going to teh state tournament,” Pendleton County coach Donnie Kopp said.
Vincell and Townsend netted putbacks in the first minute of the fourth period to extend the Wildcats lead to 42-25.
Chloe Miller knocked down a mid range jumper for the Cougars at 6:54.
Pendleton County came back down the floor with a 3-pointer by Jameigh Miller.
Townsend and Tinnell traded a free throw over the next minute for a 46-28 score.
Townsend recorded two field goals sandwiching a block from Jameigh Miller as the Wildcats secured a 50-28 lead with 4:12 remaining.
There were eight combined missed field goals over the next several minutes.
East Hardy’s Chloe Miller drilled a 3-pointer with 20 seconds to go, then the Cougars forced a turnover and Tinnell nailed another perimeter bucket with 14 seconds left to slice the deficit to 50-34.
Pendleton County survived the attack on senior night in the Franklin Den.
East Hardy defeated Tygarts Valley 42-32 in the opening round of the Class A Region II playoffs, while Pendleton County beat Paw Paw.
The Cougars face top seeded Tucker County on the road in the Class A Region II championship co-final tonight, while Pendleton County hosts Pocahontas County in the other co-final with the winners advancing to the state tournament in Charleston.
