The Patrick County High Cougars finished out their regular season with a big win on senior night, beating James River 67-55 on February 10.
The Cougars tipped off the game with a starting lineup of their five seniors, Cameron Collins, Seth Geiger, Easton Harris, Noah Jessup and Tyler Marshall. Noah Jessup got the Cougars going with a 3-pointer just seconds into the game. Seth Geiger hit a 3-point shot with 5:10 to go in the quarter, giving the Cougars an 8-1 lead.
James River answered with an 8-1 run of their own, tying the game at 9-9 with 3:37 to go. The Cougars went up by 5 points with a minute to go, but a James River 3-pointer at the buzzer closed the gap to 2 points, 16-14, heading into the second quarter.
James River took their first lead of the night a minute into the second quarter on a 3-point shot, and built up their lead to seven points with an 11-0 run, going back to the late first quarter. Even with shots not falling, the Cougars kept James River within reach, trailing by four at halftime, 12-25.
Once again, the Cougars started with an all-senior lineup, and they came up big. Shots by Noah Jessup and Cameron Collins early in the third made up the deficit, and they took a 3-point lead 90 seconds into the quarter. Another Noah Jessup 3-pointer capped a 10-1 run, giving the Cougars the 31-26 lead with 5:50 to go. The Cougars didn’t let up. 3-pointers by Easton Harris, Cameron Collins and Noah Jessup helped them outscore James River 21-9 in the third quarter, taking a 42-34 lead into the last quarter.
Cougar head coach Brian Chitwood challenged his seniors at halftime to lead the team to the win. “I got on their case pretty hard. I said, “Guys, here we are sitting with 21 points again at halftime. Forty points doesn’t beat anybody.’ I said, ‘at the end of the day, effort does not require talent.’ I’m going to give my seniors that opportunity one more time. They came out, laid it all out on the line and they produced.”
In the fourth quarter, Collins and Jessup each had a 3-pointer early on to help extend the Cougar lead to 16 points. The Cougars would once again outscore James River in the quarter, this time 25-18, giving them the 67-55 win.
“I’m so happy and so thankful for our seniors that they were able to go out with a win,” said Chitwood after the game, adding about his seniors, they’re “great kids. I would take them any day.”
