By Carl Holcomb
A beacon of light shined in Baker as Gideon Good brightened the court with flair and a dynamic dunk electrifying the Cougars to a groovy sweep over the Yellow Jackets 37-21 in the second edition of the Hardy Boys Hardwood Classic.
The Cougars entered the contest coming off a 53-48 loss to Fort Hill where Good recorded a game-high 27 points and looked to change the attitude to a positive outcome.
The Yellow Jackets swarmed into the Den in a chipper mood having won back-to-back games by a point.
Good scored eight of his game-high 18 points in the opening stanza including East Hardy’s first three buckets and finished with a double-double with a dozen rebounds and nine blocked shots.
Moorefield started wheeling and dealing perimeter shots as Jackson Helmick nailed a pair of treys in the first period for his team best six points to reduce the gap and loosen the grip of the miry clay shrouded in darkness.
East Hardy’s Evan Hamilton dished to Levi Price for a buzzer beating long range jumper as the Cougars entered the second frame up 11-6.
Midway through the second period, Moorefield’s Edison Metheny made a sharp drive into the lane drawing a pride of Cougars before a laser pass to Brock Linville to drain a 3-pointer.
The Yellow Jackets chopped the deficit down to a single possession in the second period, but that is the closest East Hardy would allow them to fly.
The Cougars maintained its steady variety of attacks as Trevor Roof pitched in six markers to build a 23-13 halftime advantage.
For Moorefield, the 6-7 trend was abuzz as the first two periods side-by-side signified the special numbers.
The second half brought out the defensive strategies as the Cougars only managed to outscore Moorefield 7-4 in each of those periods.
The hot hand for East Hardy in the third period was Evan Hamilton lighting up the 3-pointer net twice.
The Yellow Jackets limited Good to a single point in the third frame going just 1-of-6 from the charity stripe.
Good illuminated the final stanza with five more points including a slam dunk. The play originated from a missed Yellow Jacket shot with the rebound ricochet batted away from the group by Moorefield’s Shawn Reed where East Hardy’s Aubrey McCullough redirected it to Evan Hamilton.
On the breakaway, Hamilton kissed the ball off the backboard as Good trailed to corral the alley-oop assist and slammed it home as the Cougars student section roared with approval.
Metheny hit a jumper at the final buzzer for the Yellow Jackets.
The Cougars filled the Den with tidings of great joy with a 37-21 win shining bright.
East Hardy improved to 5-3, while Moorefield fell to 4-6.
The Cougars travel to Fort Hill tonight, then greets Tygarts Valley in Baker and has some fun on Saturday in the second annual Potomac Valley Conference Skills Competition in Sunrise Summit.
The Yellow Jackets return home to the Hive this week with a game against Keyser tonight and welcomes the Vikings on Friday.
