By Stephen Henderson

The Patrick County High School Lady Cougar basketball team came out blasting in the first quarter of last Monday’s opening round of play in the Conference 32 Tournament against Cave Spring, hosted by PC. The Lady Cougars scored 21 to Cave Spring’s nine points.

Autumn Hubbard controlled the game much of the night, leading the offense and bringing down a number of important rebounds. She scored 13 points, including one three-pointer.

The Lady Cougar offense cooled off a bit in the second quarter, allowing the Lady Knights to outscore PC 12-6.

Both teams’ offenses picked up in the second half, but the early Lady Cougar lead sealed the win, 53-45.

Lindsey Marshall added 11 points while Hannah Roberson scored 10 to give three Lady Cougars double-digit scores.

Wednesday, the Lady Cougars traveled to Abingdon for the second round game and lost to the Lady Falcons 59-50.

The Lady Falcon defense held Patrick County to only five points in the opening quarter while they scored 15 points. The Lady Cougars finally found the key to their offense in the second quarter, and the rest of the game, but the early Lady Falcon lead was too much to overcome.

The score at the half was Abingdon 25, PC 21. After three periods, it was 43-38 with the Lady Falcons maintaining the lead. The final score was 59-50.

Lindsey Marshall had 15 points, including two three-pointers, for the Lady Cougars. Autumn Hubbard added 10 and Izzy Beasley scored nine.

Coach Michael Hedrick was disappointed with the early end to the post-season for the Lady Cougars. “You never want your season to end this early,” he said. “I think we played extremely hard this week with the exception of the first quarter versus Abingdon. That quarter, we took some punches in the mouth and we definitely fought back in the game, but like I told the girls, we put ourselves in a bad situation on the road in a playoff game and it’s extremely difficult to change that kind of momentum.,” he said.

“Moving forward, we need to get in the weight room, we need to work almost exclusively on our shooting and ball handling and we need to play high level competition,” Hedrick said. “Our coaches are working to put together the absolute hardest schedule this summer, and we are actively trying to seek some of the better teams in VA/NC to schedule next season,” he added. “I am a huge believer in to be the best, we gotta beat the best,” Hedrick said.

“We had a good season and changed the culture this year, but the real work is just about to begin,” he said.

Cutlines: Photos by Stephen Henderson

Izzy Beasley picks up two points in Monday’s game against Cave Spring.

Lindsey Marshall manages to get this shot in the basket weaving through a Lady Knight’s hands.

Hannah Roberson gently slides the ball out of her hands for a score against the Lady Knights Monday night.

Z Cole battles for control of a rebound against Cave Spring Monday night.

Autumn Hubbard snags a rebound.