By Carl Holcomb
Moorefield Examiner
Chill Cats: The Mountain Lions went skiing out of sub-zero temperatures only to end up frozen in the Cougars igloo as East Hardy created a frozen entrapment icing a 48-38 victory with ten free throws and a slam dunk to punctuate the final stanza.
Snow still covered the terrain as the ninth ranked Cougars took sled rides over seventh ranked Tucker County in a highly anticipated rematch.
The Mountain Lions edged East Hardy in the state semifinals last season and at the beginning of this year.
This game was reminiscent of the state semifinal game with tight defense and the Cougars holding their mettle, but this time shifted gears to finish strong.
“These kids haven’t seen a ball in a week, except for a limited practice on Friday. My driveway was cleared out, but some of our kids might have needed sleds to get here,” East Hardy coach Chris Hahn remarked.
Although, there were no Iditarod sled dog teams in the Baker winter wonderland as due to training in Alaska.
“I expected on our side in order to be able to compete with these guys, we would need a defensive battle. For us to come in without what I consider enough preparation for a Top-10 Tucker County team, I thought we did really good. As far as our energy and intensity, these guys never took a possession off. Make no mistake, their best player going out with a wrist injury hurt them bad. I thought our energy and getting into a rhythm before that, we found something that was working and kept basketball more simple and had success that way. We weren’t trying to pressure ourselves and when we got downhill [not slalom skiing], we were able to attack. We relied on a guard heavy lineup with four out there on the floor which really changed things up and put a lot of pressure on Tucker County and not allowing them to have a clear look being in their face. It was a total team effort tonight getting this win. We didn’t just have one guy doing all the work,” Coach Hahn stated.
East Hardy utilized a tenacious guard oriented defense anchored by the towering giant Gideon Good looming in the paint.
The Cougars had a steady core with two pairs of brothers Evan Hamilton and Mason Hamilton, joined by Levi Price and Joseph Price.
The Cougars ferocious defense was complemented by Aubrey McCullough and Trevor Roof.
Offensively, Good scored eight of his game-high 21 points in the opening frame lifting the Cougars to a 12-7 edge.
East Hardy twin brothers Evan and Mason Hamilton contributed nine points apiece.
Evan Hamilton notched the other four points in that first period, but helped in the clutch along with his brother in the final frame on the free throw line combining for nine markers putting the game on ice.
Tucker County would find a little more footing in the second period with a 13-11 edge, but still trailed East Hardy 23-20 at halftime.
During the second period, Tucker County’s Cayden Arnold netted six of his team-best 15 points, while Ethan Cummings notched seven of his 14 points.
The Cougars refused to let Tucker County get the upper hand with consistent defensive chaos.
Tucker County got close to shattering the icy barrier with a slam dunk by Sam Marks with two minutes and change left in the third period to pull within one marker, 27-26.
After two errant free throws, the Cougars recovered defensively with a block by Good, then Mason Hamilton hauled in a defensive carom leading to his own perimeter basket with 15 seconds left to take a 30-26 advantage entering the last call.
East Hardy’s Evan Hamilton swiped the ball commencing the fourth period, but tripped and lost it falling to the floor as Tucker County’s Sam Marks snatched up the fumble with a quick pass to Cayden Arnold for a shot cutting the deficit to 30-28 at 7:10.
East Hardy’s Trevor Roof drew a foul falling along the baseline, then the Mountain Lions committed another foul on the inbound play.
Good finished the possession with a jumper at 6:49.
Tucker County walked, then Xander Lambert stole the ball leading to an errant attempt with Levi Price collecting the rebound and drawing the foul before hitting the rim on the line.
The Mountain Lions saved a close call at mid-court before having a pass intercepted by Mason Hamilton.
An offensive foul was rectified with another steal by Hamilton leading to a pair of free throws.
Good sandwiched two blocks around a missed Tucker County shot as the Cougars faithful roared with approval.
McCullough grabbed a defensive rebound and dished to Evan Hamilton, who crashed into the paint earning a trip to the charity stripe adding two points for a 36-28 lead with 4:22 remaining.
A Cougars steal was denied on a foul, then Tucker County’s Carson Dearborn made a leaping pump fake on the perimeter only to still be holding the ball upon landing for a turnover.
East Hardy took advantage of that miscue as Mason Hamilton connected with Good for a basket extending the lead to double digits with 3:31 left, 38-28.
Evan Hamilton swiped the ball and missed the breakaway layup under pressure, but Roof was trailing on the sequence to cap off the score, 40-28.
The Cougars fouled twice, then Good collected a defensive board and was fouled.
Good added a one marker at 2:57, 41-28.
Tucker County walked trying to setup a play on the top of the key and the gym became noisy again.
Tucker County managed to change the momentum slightly on a 6-1 run including a 3-pointer by Lambert with 1:04 to go, 42-34.
Four seconds later, Mason Hamilton knocked down two free throws going back up by double digits with one minute to securing the win.
Arnold added two free throws with 55 seconds left for the Mountain Lions.
In the ensuing six seconds, Mason Hamilton missed two free throws with Roof keeping possession alive on a rebound and transforming into his gridiron mystique as a quarterback making a clean handoff back to Hamilton who would draw a foul immediately and this time nail the two markers on the line.
The Mountain Lions had two shots go awry with the latter carom fielded by Mason Hamilton.
Good was already down the court wide open and waving for the ball.
Hamilton looked like a state champion infielder firing the ball to Good, who made a monstrous slam dunk exclamation point for the Cougars going up 48-36.
Arnold would make a layup with 14 seconds left, then a steal by Jon Marks led to a game ending frozen brick.
The Cougars were the cool cats prevailing with a 48-38 chilling win.
East Hardy will transform into the Mathias Eagles in a throwback recognition game tomorrow night in Baker.
