HAMBLETON – The Tucker County Boys’ Basketball team hosted East Hardy on February 4th. The Mt. Lions fought off a slow start to pull away from the visiting Cougars and pick up the PVC conference win 71-43.
The game got off to a slow start for both teams as the offense struggled, but the Mt. Lions built a slim lead after one 11-5. Tucker County then struggled with their transition defense and allowed East Hardy to outpace the Mt. Lions in the second quarter 17-16 to cut the Tucker County lead to 27-22 at the half.
The Mt. Lions defense then stiffened in the third and the offense put the ball in the basket to outscored the Cougars 22-10 in the third quarter to build a 49-32 advantage after three. In the fourth quarter Tucker County continued the defense and pulled away for the win by the final score of 71-43 over East Hardy.
Derek Zirk led Tucker County with 18 points, 8 rebounds and Owen Evans added 13 points, 7 rebounds. Seth Evans finished with 12 points for the Mt. Lions and Landon Dillard had 6 assists, 3 steals. The Tucker JV team won 60-41.
OAKLAND – The Mt. Lions traveled to Southern, MD on Friday February 6th for a rivalry game. Southern got 31 points from Clay Todd and outscored Tucker County 28-15 in the second quarter to pull ahead and get the win 68-57.
Tucker County got off to quick start in the first quarter and outscored the host Rams to lead 17-14 after one. Southern caught fire in the second quarter and scored 28 points in the quarter compared to just 15 points for the Mt. Lions to give the Rams the lead at the half 42-32.
The Mt. Lions would fight back in the third quarter, but they could only cut the Southern lead to 8 after three 56-48. The Rams held off the comeback attempt by Tucker County and outpaced the Mt. Lions 12-9 in the final quarter to pick up the victory 68-57.
Seth Evans finished with 17 points, 5 rebounds to lead Tucker County and Derek Zirk added 9 points, 9 rebounds. Landon Dillard and Marcus Mason added 9 points each for the Mt. Lions, Mikhail Lewis had 4 assists and Ethan Crosten gathered 4 steals in the loss for Tucker County. The Mt. Lions JV team also lost their contest 44-34.
The Mt. Lions(13-4) will travel to Pendleton County on Friday February 13th for a JV and Varsity contest. For more info or complete schedules go to TuckerCountySports.Com.
