The Patrick County Lady Cougar basketball team lost to Floyd County in the region semifinals, 44-29, on February 21 at Bassett High School. The loss ended the season for the Lady Cougars.
The Lady Cougars came into the game off of their 41-23 regional quarterfinal win at Appomattox County. Floyd County, coming off their quarterfinal win against Chatham, had won both regular season games against Patrick County.
The game got off to a strong defensive start for both teams. The Lady Cougars opened up the scoring three minutes into the first quarter on a Kendra Worley running jumper. Floyd County did not score for over half of the quarter, and Patrick County led 5-2 after Aniya Penn made a three-point shot. Floyd would add four points in the closing minutes, to head into the second quarter up 6-5.
Floyd County would continue their run, extending it to 7-1 and extending their lead to 11 with 5:00 to go in the half. The Lady Cougars struggled with turnovers and shots that wouldn’t go down for much of the quarter, trailing 24-10 at halftime.
The Lady Cougars came out playing aggressive defense in the second half, but could not put enough stops and points together to make a dent in the Floyd County lead. In the final quarter, the Lady Cougars outscored Floyd, but with the lead, the Lady Buffaloes slowed the game down, preventing Patrick County from getting enough chances with the ball to close the gap any further. After a scoreless final 1:30, during which Floyd County maintained possession for the majority, the final buzzer sounded with the score 44-29.
For the Lady Cougars, there was more to battle than the Lady Buffaloes. Injury and illness were a factor for Patrick County.
“We had a few girls that were sick and out injured. It’s been a rough week as far as health is concerned,” said Cougar Head Coach Tony Mosley, who liked the effort his team gave for the night. “They battled real hard. I’m super proud of them. They didn’t quit. They gutted it out. We had some out there playing, but they weren’t feeling good.”
The Lady Cougars finished the season at 12-12, and 5-7 in the Three Rivers District. While losing four seniors, the future looks bright with most of this year’s team returning along with players from this year’s JV team. Coach Mosley likes the direction of the program.
“I feel like the program is just going to get better. We’re in a tough conference, which is good, because it prepares us for days like today when we have to come in and play tough teams,” he said.
Looking ahead to next season, Coach Mosely feels this year’s team has set the table for upcoming seasons.
Following the game, Coach Mosey said, “I told them they laid the foundation for this program, and that’s what we’re going to build on in the future. That’s our expectation, the way they played tonight, good defense, we just need some buckets to fall and we’re going to be pretty good.
