By Carl Holcomb
Moorefield Examiner
East Hardy senior Jordan Teets reached the 1,000 career point milestone while leading the Cougars with 26 points to defeat Frankfort 68-51 on senior night in Baker last Tuesday.
Jordan joins brother JW Teets in achieving this scoring mark against the Falcons just one year apart.
“It feels pretty good. I knew I was getting close, but I didn’t know I would get it tonight. I got it against Frankfort and if I am not mistaken, I am pretty sure JW got his 1,000th point last year against Frankfort as well at Frankfort, but we didn’t give it to him until we had our next home game. It feels pretty good, but I can’t believe four years is already up. It is a good way to end the season hitting 1,000 and winning at home and now on to the state tournament and see what we can do down there,” East Hardy senior Jordan Teets remarked.
East Hardy coach Chris Hahn kept the number total a secret, so it wouldn’t create a distraction for the team and acknowledged how this milestone exemplifies Jordan’s career.
“We didn’t want to put too much pressure on him or the team or anything. We just wanted to keep it low key and make the announcement short and sweet. It just shows you he has had a good, resilient career. He’s been a scorer for us since he stepped on the floor. He’s always playing confidently. You get to a mark that is 1,000 points, It speaks more about the career than individual accolades. It takes a lot of work outside of game time to be able to put yourself in a position to get 1,000 points in the sport,” East Hardy coach Chris Hahn commented.
“You play a Triple-A team right before sectionals start. That was an emphasis for us and that’s what we talked in the locker room about before the game started. We want to go into postseason play with some momentum and make a statement about who we are. We didn’t want to be backsliding coming into postseason play. I thought the kids did a great job coming out and staying focused and executing. We made the most with our possessions. We only had about a two minute stretch in the third quarter where I think we didn’t play our best basketball. If we are playing good basketball for 30 out of 32 minutes at a high level, that’s pretty exciting heading into the postseason.”
Teets led the Cougars with 26 points, followed by Evan Hamilton with 18 points and Gideon Good with 11 markers.
Jeremy Phillips netted a game-high 27 points with seven 3-pointers for the Falcons, but that wasn’t enough to climb out of the hole.
East Hardy drilled perimeter shots as well with Jordan Teets making five long distance calls, Evan Hamilton hit a pair and Mason Hamilton notched one from beyond the arch.
Teets scorched four perimeter baskets within two and a half minutes in the opening frame as the Cougars developed a 12-4 lead which would not be relinquished.
Frankfort started with the lead as Bryson Mckenzie hit a jumper at 6:19, then East Hardy took the lead for good on a trifecta by Teets and added another just 42 seconds later.
The Falcons scored on the ensuing series on a bucket in the paint from Jake Layton.
Teets drilled a 3-pointer after both teams drew iron, then the Cougars forced a turnover and Teets sank another perimeter shot at 3:24 for the 12-4 edge.
Layton scored on a 3-pointer for the Falcons with 2:34 left in the first period, then forced a turnover and Kycin Waites added one free throw.
The Cougars came back with a jumper by Gideon Good on the following possession.
Mason Hamilton knocked down a 3-pointer to put the Cougars up 17-8 with under one minute to go.
East Hardy’s Evan Hamilton swiped the ball and missed the layup, then Teets corralled the carom and executed the putback for his 1,000th career point.
The Cougars took a 19-10 lead into the second period as Teets had 14 of those points.
Phillips opened the second period with a 3-pointer and would score all 11 points for the Falcons in this stanza.
East Hardy answered with back-to-back treys from Evan Hamilton and Teets before Phillips added another from beyond the arch for a 27-16 score.
Joseph Price contributed field goals thrice to help lift the Cougars to a 37-21 halftime advantage.
Frankfort commenced the third period with a 3-pointer by Mckenzie, then the Cougars responded with a trifecta by Evan Hamilton.
After a pair of free throws by the Falcons, East Hardy added a jumper by Teets.
Frankfort went on a 7-0 run as Phillips hit a perimeter bucket, then Uriah Cutter netted two layups with the help of a steal to cut the deficit to 42-34.
East Hardy closed out the third period with a layup by Evan Hamilton and two foul shots from Gideon Good as time expired for a 46-34.
East Hardy kept a 22-17 edge in the final stanza with the Falcons trying to dig back with 13 points by Phillips in the last period. But the Cougars kept pounding for the 68-51 win.
The Cougars honored basketball and cheerleading seniors with a special ceremony: Jaden Edwards, Kelly Flynn (cheer), Brayden Gregory and Jordan Teets.
“I could tell stories about all these seniors. They mean a lot to our program. Jordan was here before he was here with older brothers playing for me. When he was in middle school, he was still around. One of the reasons I stayed in it coaching is those guys wanted me to coach them. Brayden Gregory came into the gym as a freshman and we were at summer getting ready to go to WVU camp and I didn’t even know his name, so I just said who is that dark haired freshman. I didn’t know his name when we were going to the camp roster, so we called him dark haired freshman. When we went to camp, that’s literally the room assignment, the dark haired freshman. He has been the dark haired freshman for four years, because of that. Jaden transferred in and has always been able to drive to the basket and score and be dangerous. He comes into practice and works his tail off. He just has the unfortunate circumstance to play on a really talented team. They are all going to be missed when they aren’t here next year,” Coach Hahn stated.
Here are a few of the future highlights mentioned for the seniors:
Edwards plans to become a HVAC technician and start his own business.
Flynn plans to study advertising and journalism at West Virginia University, then become a globetrotter working with international organizations.
Gregory plans to continue his athletic career at Bethany College and pursue a physical therapy degree.
Teets plans to attend Iowa State University for veterinarian school.
East Hardy opened the Class A Region II Tournament playoffs with a 92-33 win over Pocahontas County to advance to the championship tonight against Tygarts Valley with a chance to earn a third consecutive trip to the state tournament.
Jordan Teets led the Cougars with 23 points and Evan Hamilton contributed 20 points in the playoff win.
Frankfort lost to Lewis County 66-56 in the Class AAA Region II playoffs, while Moorefield fell to top seed Doddridge County 74-39 in Class AA Region II playoff action.
