HAMBLETON – The Tucker County Boys’ Basketball team hosted “AAA” Preston on Tuesday January 10th.

Tucker County jumped out to a big lead in the first quarter and held off a late charge by the Knights to give the Mt. Lions the 77-75 win.
Tucker County came out in the first quarter firing on all cylinders as they drained 4 three point baskets to take a 26-8 lead after one. Preston fought back in the second quarter as they outscored Tucker County 20-16, but the Mt. Lions led at the halftime intermission 42-28.
In the third quarter both team played even as Preston edged Tucker County in scoring in the period 13-12 to make the Tucker County lead 54-41 after three. The Knights would make another charge at the Mt. Lions led in the fourth as they outpaced Tucker County 34-23 in the fourth, but the Mt. Lions held on for the 77-75 home victory.
Kordell Fulton led Tucker County with a career high 29 points as Fulton connected on 6 three point baskets in the game and collected 6 rebounds. Ethan Crosten had 20 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists, 5 steals and Josh Kincaid added 15 points, 6 rebounds for Tucker County. Jakob Cousin led the Mt. Lions on the board as he collected 11 rebounds on the night. The Tucker County JV team fell in their contest 52-48.
KEYSER – The Mt. Lions traveled to Keyser on Thursday January 12th for a make-up game. Tucker County got down 6-0 early in the contest and never recovered from that deficit to fall in the road contest 70-53.

The first quarter belonged to the Golden Tornados as they jumped out to a 6-0 lead and held a 16-8 advantage after one quarter of play. Tucker County came out strong in the second quarter to score 18 points, but Keyser scored 22 points to increase their lead at the half to 38-26.
The Mt. Lions buckled down on defense in the third as they held the Tornados to 13 points, but Tucker County’s offense could not get on track with only 14 points in the third to make the score 51-40 Keyser after three. The fourth quarter was played pretty even until the final 2 minutes as Keyser began to pull away as they shots would not fall for Tucker County as they fell on the road to Keyser by the final score of 70-53.
Josh Kincaid led Tucker County with 14 points, 8 rebounds and Ethan Crosten added 12 points, 6 steals. Kordell Fulton finished with 11 points for the Mt. Lions in the loss and Jakob Cousin led Tucker County in rebounding with 11 boards. The Mt. Lions JV team picked up the win 39-37.
HAMBLETON – Tucker County hosted longtime rival Elkins on Friday January 13th. This game has not been played at Tucker County since the Mt. Lions dropped to “A” in 2003. Tucker County came out strong early in front of a jam packed crowd at TCHS and picked up the home win over Elkins 76-54.
The first quarter was an electric atmosphere at Tucker County High School as the Mt. Lions made 11 of 19 shots and held the Tigers to just 2 field goals to lead after one quarter 24-7. Tucker County continued to score the ball in the second as they collected steals and ran their fast break to perfection and they outscored Elkins 18-8 in the second to lead 42-15 at the half.
The Tigers made a run at the Tucker County lead in the third as they cut into the lead, but the Mt. Lions finished the quarter strong to maintain a 54-29 advantage after three. Elkins would fight back again in the fourth to try to get back into the game, but again the Mt. Lions responded to finish the game to bring home the victory 76-54.
Ethan Crosten led Tucker County with 23 points, 10 steals, 4 assists and Kordell Fulton added 16 points. Josh Kincaid contributed 15 points, 9 rebounds for the Mt. Lions and Wesley Snyder reached double figures with 13 points. Jakob Cousin led Tucker County in rebounding again with a commanding 17 rebounds. The Tucker County JV team got the win as well in the first contest 42-39.
Tucker County(7-4) will host Pendleton County on Thursday January 19th. The Mt. Lions will then travel to Notre Dame on Saturday January 21st for a JV/Varsity contest. The JV contest will start at 5:45pm. For more info or complete schedules go to TuckerCountySports.Com.