By Stephen Henderson

The Patrick County High School Lady Cougar basketball team picked up four wins last week, five wins in seven calendar days, to remain undefeated in the Piedmont District.

Last Monday, the Lady Cougars hosted Halifax County High School and won handily 62-24 with a strong defensive effort over the Lady Comets. Tuesday, they traveled to Franklin County for another victory, 41-32 over the Lady Eagles.

Thursday, Patrick County hosted the Lady Bulldogs of Martinsville. With a packed house, the Lady Cougars defeated Martinsville 68-61, a team hoping to avenge an earlier loss. The final game of the week was at Bassett Saturday afternoon; PC won 39-35 in a very “ugly” game. This was Patrick County’s ninth win in a row. Friday a week ago, PC defeated Tunstall for the fifth game in seven days.

Monday’s home contest against Halifax saw the Lady Cougar defense hold the Lady Comet offense to single digits in each quarter. PC led 17-7 after the first quarter and increased its lead to 30-9 at the half. A huge third quarter score of 25 points boosted Patrick County’s lead even more. The final was 62-24.

Lindsey Marshall led scorers with 13 points. Sierra Hubbard scored nine with nine rebounds. Hannah Roberson, Izzy Beasley and Abby Dillon each added eight. Autumn Hubbard had nine rebounds and eight assists.

“This was a solid win for our kids,” said Coach Donny Rakes. “Our entire roster played good minutes and all but one scored,” he added. “I was really pleased with our defensive intensity—it was quite possibly our best effort defensively this year,” he said.

In a physical, hard-fought game against the Lady Eagles, Patrick County persevered and beat Franklin County 41-32. “We did not play well, but gutted out a win,” Rakes said. “Our defense and toughness are the reasons we were able to get out of there with a win.”

The Lady Cougars took a 15-6 lead in the first period, but the Lady Eagles worked hard to cut Patrick County’s offensive action in the second quarter, allowing only eight points. The third quarter was even worse; the Lady Eagles held Patrick to only five points while they scored 10. PC led 28-23 at the end of the third; in the final period, the Lady Cougar offense kicked in and added 13 points for the 41-32 win.

“We really struggled on offense, but Franklin County played really hard-nosed defense. We needed a game like this to make us work—we didn’t execute well, but managed to pull out the win,” Rakes said.

Hannah Roberson led with 11 points. Izzy Beasley and Sierra Hubbard each added nine; Hubbard also brought down nine rebounds. Autumn Hubbard had 10 rebounds and six assists.

Thursday’s home game against Martinsville saw a Lady Bulldog team bound to avenge their earlier loss, taking a halftime lead of 34-25. The Lady Cougar returned in the second half to stop the Lady Bulldog rampage, scoring 22 points in the third period to cut their lead to just two points, 49-47.

In the final period, the Lady Cougar full-court defense had all but worn out Martinsville; PC scored 21 points to take the lead and win 68-61.

“This was just a tremendous win for our program,” Rakes said. “We knew Martinsville would be prepared and ready to avenge the earlier loss at their place. They couldn’t miss in the first half, and we struggled a bit to find our shot,” he added.

“With our quickness, we wanted a full court game for the entire game. I think we wore them down and we started hitting some shots. We fed off the crowd, and then it was on,” he stated.

Three Lady Cougars scored 14 points—Autumn Hubbard, Izzy Beasley and Sierra Hubbard. Autumn Hubbard also had 20 rebounds.

“We had tremendous senior leadership with Autumn (Hubbard) and Alexus (Cain)–Autumn with an unbelievable 20 rebounds, and Alexus with a sprained ankle, 10 points and 7 rebounds. I am very proud of this team and its ability to never give up,” Rakes said.

Rakes also gave credit to the huge fan support Thursday night. All fans were admitted free due to an anonymous donation to PC Athletics. “The huge fan support willed our team to a win. Thank you Patrick County fans!” Rakes added.

The win over Bassett Saturday evening was not a very pretty game. “It was a win, but a real ugly win,” said Rakes. “Our offense never got going, but gracious did we play great defense. I always tell our girls, on the road your shot doesn’t always travel, but defense and effort always can travel. That is what won this game, flat out,” he said.

Bassett took an early 11-7 lead at the end of the first period and maintained the lead at the half—18-15. A low scoring third quarter for both teams (10, 11), kept the teams within several points of each other.

It wasn’t until the fourth quarter that the Lady Cougar offense clicked and they edged ahead. Sierra Hubbard’s 10 free throws in the second half had a lot to do with it. With 14 points scored and the defense holding the Lady Bengals to only six points, PC took the lead and the win, 39-35.

Sierra Hubbard scored 16 points and pulled down 10 rebounds. Izzy Beasley had nine points, and Autumn Hubbard added eight rebounds.

“I give Bassett a lot of credit; they out-scrapped us, got to every loose ball, and they wanted it worse than we did in the first half. It came down to who wanted it more in the fourth quarter. We, thankfully, came out on top,” Rakes said.

The Lady Cougar season record is 15-3, 11-0 in Piedmont District.

The Lady Cougars traveled to Halifax Tuesday night. Wednesday, they will host Tunstall (Senior Night) and will host Franklin County Friday night.

(Photos by Stephen Henderson)