By Stephen Henderson

The Patrick County High School Cougar basketball team lost three games last week, falling to Tunstall, Blacksburg and George Washington of Danville.

In last Tuesday’s contest against Tunstall, the Cougars came out flat, “playing with little energy,” said Coach Andrew Terry. The Cougars looked “uninspired,” forcing shots on offense.

“We got down by 20 by halftime,” Terry said. “We came out fired up in the second half, but we were sloppy early in the half until we settled down and had an 11-1 point run to cut the lead to 10,” he said.

The Cougars continued to cut away at the Tunstall lead in the third final quarter, cutting their lead to three with 27 seconds left in the game.

“We had a chance, but turned the ball over,” Terry said. “You can’t put yourself in the hole 24 points and expect to come back and win,” he added. “We can play a lot better than that. I am proud of how the guys did come back in the second half,” he said. “I was hoping it might translate into something better against Blacksburg, but not quite what I had hoped,” Terry added.

The final score was Tunstall 52, PC 49.

Hunter Lawless was leading scorer with 15 points, including three three-pointers. (He scored 12 points in the third quarter.) RJ Hagwood added 11 points and Seth Scott scored eight.
Thursday, the Cougars traveled to Blacksburg and lost 61-50.

The Cougars started off well, taking an 11-4 lead in the opening moments of the game, playing well defensively. However, later in the quarter, the Cougars started to “settle” and played just enough to keep even with the Bruins.

“We came out flat in second half; I was disappointed in their play,” Terry said. “I thought we had finally gotten our consistency and execution back, but in the second half, we let them get up and down the court and let them make some easy shots,” he admitted.

“Offensively, we started settling for jump shots—forced shots that I didn’t think we had to shoot,” he said. “Then, we played uninspired. We got down by six or eight in the fourth and never really responded after that,” he said.

The Bruins won by 11 points, 61-50.

Hunter Lawless led Cougar scorers with 15 points, including three three-pointers. RJ Hagwood added 10 points.

The Cougars completed 15 of 19 free throws for 79%.

Friday, the GW Danville Eagles traveled to the Cougar gym and won 79-62.

The Eagles utilized a full-court press against the Cougars that hindered their ability to get the ball home. Several loose passes ended up in Eagles’ hands, lending to the fall by the Cougars.

The Cougars were down by only three points at the end of the first quarter, 20-17. The Eagle defense cut short Patrick County’s scoring ability in the second period, taking a 41-26 lead.

The Cougar offense rebounded in the third quarter, picking up 24 points; however, the Eagles offense came alive in the final quarter to outscore the Cougars 17-12 to win 79-62.

Seth Scott scored 14 points and had eight rebounds. Hunter Lawless added 13, and Matt Amos scored 11 points.

“We have a tough schedule ahead. We play three of the best teams in the district next [this] week’” Terry said.

The Cougars hosted Magna Vista Tuesday night and travel to Magna Vista Thursday night. Friday, the Cougars travel to Halifax.

The Cougars are now 8-8 for the season.