By Carl Holcomb
Moorefield Examiner
Gideon Good blocked 11 shots as the Cougars thwarted Clay-Battelle in the WVSSAC Class A state quarterfinals 51-34 on Thursday morning at the Charleston Coliseum and Convention Center.
The Good times were rolling as East Hardy built a 30-16 halftime advantage en route to the victory to advance to the state semifinals against Tucker County.
“In the first quarter, we weren’t quite as aggressive defensively as we’d like to be. Once we made that switch, we were a different team. We started running transition, getting turnovers and that got us into what we do. When you have guards as fast as our front two, that puts a lot of pressure on whoever is out there. With our ball pressure, you try to attack it and get downhill. Well now if you get downhill, you have to see [Gideon Good] in the paint,” East Hardy coach Chris Hahn commented.
Good led East Hardy with a game-high 11 blocked shots and collected a team-high 12 caroms.
“I had a little bit less of an offensive night, but tried contributing any way I could,” East Hardy center Gideon Good noted.
“He’s long. It’s hard to finish over a tree. We had to do a better job pulling up to shoot over him,” Clay-Battelle coach Josh Kisner remarked.
Evan Hamilton guided the Cougars in scoring with a game-high 20 points with four perimeter buckets, followed by Jordan Teets with 14 points and four shots from beyond-the-arc and Joseph Price pitched in nine markers.
Evan and Mason Hamilton recorded five steals apiece as the Cougars notched a dozen steals.
Clay-Battelle was led in scoring by Preston Luzader with 11 points and Brock White garnered a game-best 14 rebounds.
This was the second consecutive season for the Cougars (20-5) winning in the first round and reaching 20 victories again in program history during a third straight trip to the state tournament in Charleston.
However, the good fortune was at an impasse to start the game falling behind the Cee-Bees (18-7) 4-nil in the opening two minutes as Preston Luzader hit a jumper and Braden Ponceroff netted a layup.
It took just a minute and a half for the Cougars to erase that deficit and take a 5-4 lead on two buckets with Evan Hamilton making the initial East Hardy 3-pointer at 5:50 and Jordan Teets sank a mid-range jumper at 4:21 for the lead.
During the first four minutes, the Cougars would miss six shots and Clay-Battelle had three errant attempts plus one denial from Good.
East Hardy hit the rim four times over the next minute, while the Cee-Bees regained the edge 7-5 with a perimeter shot from Cooper Payton at 3:09.
Clay-Battelle kept the momentum going with baskets by Cooper and Luzader to develop an 11-5 lead with 1:47 remaining in the first period.
East Hardy responded with an 8-nil run to close the frame and take a 13-11 edge going into the second period as Evan Hamilton garnered all of those points beginning with a steal and breakaway layup at 1:09 before netting back-to-back trifectas in a span of 26 seconds (0:46 & 0:20) with defensive rebounds from Mason Hamilton and Good resulting in those long distance rings.
East Hardy scorched the nets with 15 more straight points in the first four minutes of the second period led by four 3-pointers by Teets to create a 28-11 advantage.
It took just seven seconds for the Cougars to pounce with a perimeter bucket from Teets, then recovered a defensive carom and Teets nailed another 3-pointer at 7:28.
Both teams combined for six bricks over the next two minutes, then East Hardy’s Joseph Price completed an old-fashioned three-point play at 5:30 for a 22-11 lead.
Teets stole the ball and the ensuing shot missed with the ricochet going off the Cee-Bees out of bounds.
Teets drilled a trey at 5:01 to put the Cougars up 25-11.
Good blocked a shot and snatched a defensive carom, then Teets netted his fourth shot from beyond-the-arc for the 28-11 cushion at 4:27.
Clay-Battelle snapped out of the scoring drought with a three-point play from Luzader at 3:48 to slice the deficit to 28-14.
Luzader hauled in a defensive board, then East Hardy’s Aubrey McCullough blocked a shot.
Luzader grabbed an offensive rebound and made a layup for the Cee-Bees at 3:09 for a 28-16 score.
The Cougars stalled for two minutes before missing a shot, then Evan Hamilton made a steal and notched the breakaway layup with 55 seconds to go for a 30-16 advantage which would hold for the halftime score.
East Hardy commenced the second half with a block by Gideon Good, then Good collected a couple of offensive rebounds prior to a foul.
Mason Hamilton made a steal before crashing to the floor and being tied up for a jump ball.
Clay-Battelle’s Braden Ponceroff made a layup at 6:20, then the Cougars responded with a pair of free throws by Evan Hamilton for a 32-18 score at 5:48.
Good intercepted a pass, but the ensuing attempt went awry.
The Cee-Bees got a bucket in the paint by Ponceroff at 4:50.
Luzader and Evan Hamilton traded steals, then Ponceroff blocked a shot.
White scored on a layup for the Cee-Bees to cut the deficit to 32-22 with 4:01 left in the third frame.
East Hardy answered with a layup by Price on the next possession.
Evan Hamilton made a steal and a timeout was called.
Teets dished to Good for a bucket in the paint at 2:50 for a 36-22 Cougars lead.
Good blocked a shot, but the Cee-Bees recovered and Luzader netted a basket on a tip-in at 2:28.
Evan Hamilton nailed a 3-pointer and a reverse layup in the final two minutes to give the Cougars a 41-24 lead entering the final stanza, while the Cee-Bees hit the rim five times.
Both teams recorded ten points apiece in the fourth period for a final score of 51-34.
Clay-Battelle closed the gap to 41-19 on a layup by Ponceroff and trifecta from Josiah Morgan in the first two and a half minutes.
After a steal by Teets, East Hardy’s Aubrey McCullough netted a layup at 4:40.
During the final three minutes of the contest, Price hit a jumper and layup, while Mason Hamilton added four free throws to secure the East Hardy state quarterfinal win by a score of 51-34.
The Cougars kept the faith to move forward in the state journey.
“”We try to follow through Him as much as possible. Before every game, we go in and have a pregame speech and before we go on the court for every game we say the Lord’s Prayer. We try to stay through Him as much as possible, because without Him none of this is possible,” East Hardy senior Jordan Teets said.
“I think our kids do a great job of their everyday lives of being good kids,” Coach Hahn added.
The Cougars advanced to face Region II and Potomac Valley Conference foe Tucker County in the state semifinal.
