By Carl Holcomb
Moorefield Examiner
The Class A No. 7 Pocahontas County Girls Basketball Warriors ransacked the Baker Den and speared the Cougars 75-23.
Savanna Sharp recorded a game-high 27 points for the Warriors, followed by Alexis Arbogast with 23 points and Allyson Taylor with 16 points.
East Hardy Cougars were paced by Chloe Gue with 12 points and Jenna Mongold with 6 points.
The Warriors offense was on fire from the start as Sharp struck five field goals for 10 points in the opening frame and Taylor notched six points with Arbogast rounding out the scoring for an 18-3 advantage.
Jaiden Gordon netted a jumper for the Cougars and Gue added one free throw in the first period.
Pocahontas went on a 10-0 to commence the second frame in under three minutes with Arbogast scoring the first six of 17 points for that frame starting the run and Sharp added four points to complete it.
The Cougars lost the ball twice during that stretch and had two shots blocked by Taylor.
Gue transformed a Warriors miscue into one point on the line drawing a foul at 4:55 to put a pin in that run, 38-4.
Pocahontas County responded with a 3-pointer by Arbogast within seven seconds to spark a 10-0 run with another perimeter shot loading after that first one.
Two field goals by the Warriors came off of turnovers in this run.
East Hardy’s Charlee Hahn intercepted a pass and found Gue, who was hacked and added one point on the line at 2:04 to end the run, 38-5.
Taylor created another block for the Warriors and grabbed the ball, but Gue swiped it back and made a layup for the Cougars.
Arbogast nailed one more 3-pointer to put the Warriors up 41-7 at halftime.
Sharp unleashed 11 points for Pocahontas County in the third period for a 17-5 scoring onslaught.
The Cougars five points in the third period were on Mongold’s perimeter basket and a jumper by Gue.
East Hardy refused to go down quietly even with a 58-12 difference entering the final frame.
East Hardy netted 11 more points compared to the Warriors 17 in the fourth period.
Gue contributed five points for the Cougars in the final frame, Monogold nailed a 3-pointer in the closing seconds, Hahn netted a jumper and Alexis Baker added a point on the line.
The Cougars were always fighting and forcing jump balls, especially Baker and Gordon.
The Warriors marched away with the 75-23 win, but couldn’t take the East Hardy spirit.
