HAMBLETON – Tucker County made up a canceled game with a contest against Harman on Monday February 23rd at Tucker County. The Mt. Lions turned up the defense and cruised to victory over Harman 81-40.
The first quarter showed Tucker County had the defense to slow down the hot Panthers as the Mt. Lions led after one quarter 16-6. Tucker County then extended their lead in the second stanza as they took a 39-18 lead into the locker room at the half.
Harman could not get their offense moving enough to make a run and the Mt. Lions picked up the win at home over Harman by the final score of 81-40. Tucker County shot 54 percent from the field as they connected on 33 of 61 shots in the victory.
Derek Zirk led the Mt. Lions with 20 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists, 4 steals and Landon Dillard had 12 points, 6 assists. Mikhail Lewis added 10 points and Seth Evans chipped in 10 points, 8 rebounds.
HAMBLETON – The Mt. Lions hosted longtime “AA” rival Petersburg on Tuesday February 24th. Tucker County trailed by 2 points at the half, but ran by the Vikings in the second half to pick up the 68-53 win.
Petersburg came out strong in the first quarter as they took the lead after one 13-10. Tucker County would keep pace in the second quarter, but still trailed the visiting Vikings by 2 points at the half 31-29.
The Mt. Lions outscored Petersburg 23-12 in the third quarter to take a 9 point lead after three 52-43. Tucker County turned up the defensive pressure in the fourth and outpaced the Vikings again to capture the win by the final score of 68-53.
Derek Zirk had a big game for the Mt. Lions with 23 points, 19 rebounds and Mikhail Lewis added 15 points, 4 assists. Seth Evans and Ethan Crosten chipped in 10 points each for Tucker County in the win. The Mt. Lions JV team won their contest in overtime 62-55.
Before the Varsity game the Tucker County coaches honored the Girls’ and Boys’ Basketball Seniors and Cheerleaders. Those Seniors honored were as follows: Girls’- Madison Mullenax, Olivia Miller and Aiyana Kachmarek; Boys’ – Landon Dillard, Derek Zirk, Owen Evans, Mikhail Lewis, Wes Knotts and Andrew Hauser; Cheer – Kelsie Kyle, Morgan Moss and Summer Snyder.
HAMBLETON – Tucker County finished out the regular season with a big game against Notre Dame on Saturday February 28th. In an instant high school basketball game classic the Irish pulled out a late game shot to steal the victory at Tucker County 68-66.
The Mt. Lions came out focused in the first quarter as they led Notre Dame after one quarter 18-16. Both teams battled in the second quarter and neither team could gain an advantage and the halftime score was all tied up at 33-33.
In the third quarter the game continued as advertised, intense and close. Tucker County held a slim advantage after three 53-51. Notre Dame would not back down on the road as they answered every time the Mt. Lions would gain a slight advantage. Tucker County then got 2 big free throws from Derek Zirk with less than 30 seconds to play that put the Mt. Lions up 66-65. The Irish then hit a 3 point basket with 13.8 seconds remaining to put Notre Dame ahead 68-66. Tucker County then would turn the ball over and Notre Dame ran out the last few seconds to take home the road victory 68-66.
The Mt. Lions had their chances in the fourth quarter as they struggled from the foul line. At one point in the final period the Mt. Lions missed 6 straight foul shots and Tucker County finished 12 of 22 from the charity stripe.
Seth Evans led Tucker County in scoring with 19 points, 15 rebounds and Derek Zirk had 16 points, 8 rebounds. Ethan Crosten reached double figures with 10 points off the bench for the Mt. Lions and Owen Evans chipped in with 9 points, 7 rebounds in the Tucker County loss. The Tucker County JV team picked up the win against Notre Dame to finish the season with a 14-3 record.
The Mt. Lions(16-5) will start postseason play tonight at Elkins High School against Harman at 7:45pm. The winner will then play in the Sectional Final on Friday night against the Notre Dame/Tygarts Valley winner. For more info or news go to TuckerCountySports.Com.
