By Stephen Henderson
The Patrick County High School Cougars finally got to play basketball last Friday night when they traveled to Martinsville to meet the Bulldogs. The game was up and down, but the Bulldogs pulled ahead in the final quarter to win the contest 46-38.
The Cougars started off slow on offense in the first quarter, scoring only two points. The ‘Dogs scored 11.
“The guys played really well and really hard tonight against a very good team,” Coach Andrew Terry said. “We really struggled scoring in the first quarter and missed a lot of good opportunities, but our defense kept us in the game.”
The Cougar offense picked up in the second quarter, scoring 14 points to Martinsville’s 12.
“Our defense forced them to shoot from the outside, and we did a great job forcing them into tough shots when they got it inside,” Terry explained.
The Cougars once again outscored the Bulldogs in the third quarter, 17-10 and tied the game at the end of the third.
“We heated up in the third and Hunter Lawless hit a 3 at the buzzer to tie it at 33 going into the fourth,” Terry said. “We took the lead a few times in the fourth quarter and were up by one with less than five minutes to go, but a few careless turnovers in the fourth got them the lead,” he added.
“They went to a four-corners offense in the last three and one-half minutes, and we had to foul. We missed a couple of opportunities late, but overall, we gave ourselves a chance to win, and I’m really proud of the guys,” Terry said.
Looking back over the game and studying the stats, Terry made some observations that explained more about the game. “We gave up too many offensive rebounds (15) and had too many turnovers (25) throughout the game,” he said.
Terry was also proud of several of his players Friday night. “Frankie LaComa, Hunter Lawless, and Seth Scott all played really well.
“Hopefully, our guys took away lot from this game that we can learn and grow from being able to compete against one of the best teams around,” he said.
Seth Scott led PC scorers with 12 points and nine rebounds. Hunter Lawless had 10 points, including two three-pointers. Frankie LaComa had four points, three rebounds, three steals and three assists. Brandon Hubbard had two three-pointers
The Cougars play Bassett at home today (Wednesday). Their record is 7-5 on the season.
