The Patrick County High School boys basketball team opened their season at home with a hard fought, 55-50 win over the Bassett Bengals on December 4.
The Bengals came into the game off of a 35-point win over Franklin County the night before, scoring 82-points in the game. Cougar head coach Brian Chitwood knew what they were up against. “That’s a really good basketball team. They’re really big, and they’re very athletic.”
The Cougars started fast, forcing Bassett turnovers with solid team defensive play and not allowing any easy points. Offensively, Vishal Somasundaram got the Cougars going with their first twelve points, hitting four 3-pointers. The Cougars held Bassett to just five points in the first quarter, leading 15-5 through one.
The Bengals got going in the second, using a full court press to cause turnovers and slow down the Cougars. With less than two minutes to go in the half, Bassett would take their only lead of the game, 21-22. The lead would last just one possession, with the Cougars retaking the lead and closing out the first half up 30-25.
In the third, both teams struggled offensively against tough defensive pressure. Each team would manage just 10 points, keeping the Cougars ahead by five, 40-35 after three quarters.
The Cougars started strong in the last quarter with an 8-0 run to extend their lead to 13 points, 48-35. The Bengals replied with their own 9-point run, closing the gap to 4 points with 2:36 to go.
Following a Patrick County timeout, the Cougars increased their lead to six, 50-44 with less than two minutes to go. The final two minutes were physical, with both teams battling over every rebound and loose ball. Up two points with twenty seconds to go, a Noah Jessup free throw made it 53-50. Extremely tough Cougar defense and two free throws by Jayden Corns with two seconds to go sealed the victory, 55-50.
“Great effort by our guys. Very, very proud of them for the defense,” said Chitwood, adding that solid team defense “has to be our strength. We have to be able to defend. We’re nowhere near as big as they are. We talked about it all week leading up to the ball game. We’ve got to do a good job on the boards, we’ve got to put a body on people, and I thought we held our own on the boards.”
Vishal Somasundaram led the Cougars with 17 points. Easton Harris chipped in 11 points and five steals and Jayden Corns finished with 8 points, 11 rebounds and 3 steals.
“I’m really proud of the guys tonight,” said Chitwood following the game. “We did what we had to do to get the W.”
