HAMBLETON – Tucker County capped off a senior night Feb 18th at Tucker County High School with a victory over Trinity to give Head Coach Tom Gutshall his 500th career win 68-51.
The offense for both teams started the game in fine fashion as Tucker County scored 19 points compare to Trinity’s 13 points to give the Mt. Lions the early lead after one 19-13. Trinity responded in the second quarter as they began to cut into the Tucker County lead to trail at the half by 4 points 34-30. The Warriors came out strong in the third as they took the lead early in the period, but the Mt. Lions responded with a great run to outscore the visiting team in the third 19-11 to lead 53-41 after the three. Again the Mt. Lions outpaced Trinity in the fourth quarter and the game belonged to Tucker County as they got the victory 68-51. The win put Tom Gutshall into elite company among coaches. Coach Gutshall picked up win number 500 with the victory and after the game Principal Hamric presented a letter to Coach Gutshall from the WVSSAC and read it to the crowd that was still in attendance. He was also presented a plague signifying the accomplishment and as the veteran coach entered the locker room his team gave him a celebratory water cooler bath.
Austin Zirk paced the Mt. Lions with 24 points and Ian Nichols added 17 points, 8 rebounds. Mitchell Mason finished with 11 points in the win. The Mt. Lions JV team picked up the win also 72-25. Seniors recognized before the game were Austin Zirk, Ian Nichols, Mitchell Mason, Zach Armstrong, Kylie Moore and Courtney Poling.
CHARLESTON – The Mt. Lions traveled to Charleston to square off against Charleston Catholic on Friday Feb 21st. The Irish took advantage of the cold shooting by Tucker County to get the win over the Mt. Lions 60-26.
The first quarter could not start any worse for Tucker County as they were held scoreless through the first quarter as Charleston Catholic led after one 15-0. The score swelled to 19-0 before the Mt. Lions got on the scoreboard with 2 fouls shots by Ian Nichols with 5:44 left in the first half. The offense continued to struggle as the Mt. Lions missed their first 18 shots in the game and did not make a field goal until 2:44 left in the second quarter and trailed at the half 27-4.
The Mt. Lions came out in the third quarter and scored 10 points in the quarter, but was unable to hold down Catholic as they made 16 points in the quarter to lead after three 43-14. Charleston Catholic would outpace Tucker County in the fourth 17-12 to pick up the big victory 60-26.
Ian Nichols led Tucker County with 10 points and 8 rebounds. The Mt. Lions JV team picked up the win 51-38 in the first game.
BUFFALO – After a stay in Charleston Friday night the Mt. Lions traveled to Buffalo to face the Bison on Saturday afternoon Feb 22nd. The game was a battle as both teams played even, but Buffalo pulled out the close home victory 49-47.
Tucker County and Buffalo battled back and forth in the first quarter with each team putting up just 7 points each as the game was tied 7-7 after one. The second quarter showed more scoring by both teams as they scored 17 points each in the second and the score was tied at the half 24-24.
Neither team could pull away in the third quarter as the scoring continued to be even as once again both teams scored the same amount of points 10 in the third to keep the score tied 34-34. The final quarter was not much different than the other three quarters as both teams played close. Buffalo was able to get a slim lead late in the game and hold on for the close home victory 49-47.
Mitchell Mason led the Mt. Lions with 17 points and Ian Nichols added 14 points, 10 rebounds. Tucker County JV got the win over Buffalo 66-39.
Tucker County(14-4) was scheduled to host #1 Notre Dame on Monday Feb 24th and then they will travel to Petersburg tonight for the last game of the regular season, tip off scheduled for 7:30pm. For more sports info go to TuckerCountySports.Com.
