By Stephen Henderson
Patrick County High School Cougar basketball season has finally arrived, and Coach Andrew Terry is looking forward to the season. The Cougars hosted Gretna Tuesday and will host Floyd County tonight (Wednesday). They will also host Halifax Friday night starting at 7 p.m.
The Cougars scrimmaged East Montgomery High School before Thanksgiving, and Coach Terry said that it went a lot better than he thought it would. “We were able to run a lot of our plays—we were more athletic than we have been in the past,” Terry said.
“We got what we wanted out of our offense—they ran it right,” he said.
The team did not get through all of their offense because the first and second options were always open. “We did get a chance to press a lot, and that looked really good,” he said.
The Cougar defense caused quite a few turnovers giving them additional opportunities to score. “We probably scored 22 points off turnovers in the first half,” Terry said.
“We pressured the ball really well and ran our stuff. I was impressed with our point guards getting us into offense. The guys executed,” he added.
RJ Hagwood had good day shooting inside. “We shot a lot inside—something totally different from last year. We scored 60-plus points inside the paint and took only one three pointer and shot five for the whole game,” Terry explained.
Terry has been emphasizing working from the inside this season. “Get a good look to the inside—if it’s not there, take it outside,” he said.
The Cougars shot over 50% from the field but disappointed Terry from the foul line.
“Our percentage from the field was better than our free throw percentage,” he said.
“That bothered me,” he said.
The Cougars got in foul trouble in the scrimmage. In a regular game situation, four of the Cougars would have fouled out.
“The young guys look good for their first varsity competition. This was a good game to start off with,” he said, “and I look forward to the upcoming season.”
