By Ashlee Mullis
The Varsity Lady Cougar Basketball Team played its first home game of the season on November 11, taking a 47-46 win over Dan River.
The Lady Wildcats had a one-point lead at the end of the first quarter, but the Lady Cougars outscored them 14-9 in the second.
Patrick County had a 25-21 lead at the half. Dan River narrowly outscored the Cougars in the 3rd and 4th, but it wasn’t enough to pull off the win.
Missy Hazard led the Cougars in scoring with 14 points, 12 of those behind the three-point line. She had 2 assists, 4 steals, and 4 rebounds.
Abby Epperson had 8 points, 2 steals, and 5 rebounds.
Samantha Harris had 2 assists, 4 steals, and 4 rebounds.
Allanah Mitchell had 8 points, and 3 assists.
Coach Donny Rakes said, “It was a really intense basketball game for the first game of the year. We have a very inexperienced, young basketball team. We only have three kids who have ever played varsity. I thought they gained a lot of experience in terms of the speed and physicality of this level.
“Lele Farmer, for Dan River, is an extremely talented basketball player, and as crazy as this might sound, we did a fairly good job of holding her to 25 points. We hit some really key free throws down the stretch when we were in our delay, game- capped by Missy Hazard hitting 2 free throws with 4.2 seconds after being down by 1 at the time. Just a clutch job in a very pressure packed situation for that young lady. Overall, I was very pleased with the grit we showed. We have a long way to go, but it was a good start. 1-0 for the year,” Rakes said.