By Stephen Henderson
Last week was a difficult week for the Patrick County High School varsity boys’ basketball team. The Cougars had three games in the week and lost all three games.
Last Wednesday the Cougars traveled to Halifax and lost to the Comets 47-30.
The Comets took a two-point lead at the end of the first period, 12-10. The Comet defense held the Cougars to only four points in the second period while they added 16 to make the score 28-14 at the half.
Patrick County did a bit better in the second half, adding 16 points to the Comets’ 19 points, but not enough to cut the big second period Halifax offense.
Frankie LaComa scored 10 points; the Comet defense keyed on Darius Hagwood and Brandon Hubbard and held them to only six points each.
“We really struggled offensively—Halifax took us away from what we wanted to do that night. Brandon (Hubbard) and Hunter (Lawless) struggled all night with the physical nature of the game,” Coach Andrew Terry said. “Energy-wise, we were pretty quiet and dead for most of the game,” he added.
Thursday, the Cougars traveled to Martinsville to face the Bulldogs and lost 65-47.
The Bulldogs took a huge lead in the first period, scoring 22 points to PC’s eight. They continued to dominate offensively in the second, racking up 15 more points and holding the Cougars to 10 for a 37-18 halftime score.
The fourth quarter saw the Cougars match up with the Bulldogs with each team scoring 16 points; however, Patrick County could not dig out of the hole created for them by Martinsville’s strong offense.
Brandon Hubbard led Cougar scorers with 16 points. Hunter Lawless scored 11 and DeAndre Reynolds added seven.
“We got off to a slow start—the Bulldogs were hot since it was their senior night,” Terry said. “Two Martinsville players hit a total of six three-pointers in the first half,” he said. “After the first quarter, we evened up our play and got to move the ball better and do the things we wanted to do,” Terry said. “We just didn’t shoot the ball really well,” he added.
Saturday, the Cougars headed to Bassett for a five-game extravaganza with middle school, JV and varsity games for both boys’ and girls’ teams. The Cougars fell to the Bengals 43-39.
The teams were tied 10-10 at the end of the first period. Bassett edged ahead at the half 21-16.
The Cougars ended the third period in the lead 29-28, but the Bengals out-scored the Cougars 15-10 in the final period to claim the lead and win.
Brandon Hubbard scored 14 points, including three three-pointers. Hunter Lawless scored 10 and DeAndre Reynolds added eight.
“Energy-wise and focus-wise, we played well against Bassett. We were able to play most of the game the way we wanted to,” he added.
“We were up by four in the fourth, but didn’t get to close it out,” Terry said.
“After last week’s Tunstall game where we put up 70-some points, this past week was a struggle for us when we didn’t get above 50 points,” Terry lamented. “It hurt—it was a struggle.”
The final Cougar home game was Tuesday night against Halifax—senior night. “I hope we will come out offensively and get some points that will carry us through to the district tournament,” he said.
Wednesday, they travel to Tunstall; Friday they play at Chatham.
The Cougars are 6-13 overall and 2-8 in the Piedmont District.
