By Stephen Henderson
Two victories came to the Patrick County High School Lady Cougar basketball team last week—and both wins looked very similar on paper.
The Lady Cougars played George Washington of Danville last Tuesday, winning 65-38. Wednesday, North Stokes came to PC and the Lady Cougars defeated them 41-21.
In both games, the Lady Cougars came out strong in the opening moments of the game to take commanding leads before their opponent could get accustomed to Patrick County’s quickness on the court. In Tuesday’s game, PC lead 18-10 at the end of the quarter; against North Stokes, they lead 10-5.
By the second and third quarters, each opponent had almost caught up with the Lady Cougars yet still trailed.
The big difference for the opponents came in the final quarter when the Lady Cougars outscored their opponents by an even greater margin. Against GW of Danville, Patrick County scored 20 to the Lady Eagles’ three points. Against North Stokes, Patrick County scored nine to the Lady Vikings’ two points. The Lady Cougar defense took control of the final quarter in both games.
Tuesday’s game against GW saw PC command an 11-2 lead before the Lady Eagles could manage the Lady Cougar offense. By the second quarter, Danville balanced out their offense and defense to match Patrick’s scoring, 12-12. The same held for the third with GW scoring 13 to the Lady Cougars’ 15.
The blowout occurred in the final quarter with PC outscoring 20-3. The final score was 65-38.
According to Coach Mike Hedrick, the Lady Cougars had great practices over the Christmas break—a total of nine. “We applied everything we had been working on with our game against GW,” he said. “It was one of those games where everybody contributed,” he said. “All eight of our players are playing better than they ever have.”
Lindsey Marshall was leading scorer last Tuesday night with 15 points. “She just keeps stepping up—bringing that lunch pail mentality, comes to work every day and doesn’t need to be patted on the back for her contributions. She just does her job,” Hedrick said.
“It’s a fun group right now to be with,” he added.
A total of four Lady Cougars scored in double figures. Autumn Hubbard, Hannah Roberson and Sydnee each scored 10 points. Izzy Beasley scored nine.
Wednesday’s game against North Stokes saw a slowed performance by the Lady Cougars, but still a strong defensive effort, especially in the final quarter.
The Lady Cougars lead 21-9 in the first half and added 20 more points in the second half to win 41-21.
According to Coach Hedrick, North Stokes plays a totally different kind of ball than anyone else the Lady Cougars play. “You just have to grind out a victory with them, and we did that on a night that we didn’t shoot the ball very well,” he said.
“We defended probably better than we ever have, we rebounded better than we ever have—that is a tribute to our girls being very smart and following a scouting report and being able to put it into action,” Hedrick explained.
The Lady Cougars held the Lady Vikings to nine points in the first quarter, something that is difficult to do to any team. “It used to be that we want to do well, and maybe we can. Now, it’s like we definitely think we can and we are going to do well. That change is a world of difference for our team,” he said.
Once again Lindsey Marshall was leading scorer with 10 points. Autumn Hubbard added nine, and Izzy Beasley, Z Cole and Hannah Roberson each added six points.
Friday’s game against Magna Vista was postponed and no make-up has been scheduled yet. Monday, the Lady Cougars were slated to host Blacksburg. Wednesday (today) they travel to Bassett and Friday, they host Martinsville.
The Lady Cougars have a 7-4 record so far this season.
