The Shadow
In the final meeting between the Alleghany Mountaineers and Covington Cougars in varsity boys basketball, the Mountaineers bested the Cougars 80-50 at Mountaineer Arena Saturday night.
With a packed house in Low Moor on Saturday, the Cougars led by Purcel Turner and J’yon Smith got off to a quick start on the Mountaineers and held onto a three point lead through the first few minutes of the first quarter.
Trailing 10-7, the Mountaineers reversed the tide and scored 10 straight points to take a 17-10 lead. Ryan Cole was at the center of the scoring run with five points.
As the Mountaineers built momentum towards the end of the first period, Desmond Jordan would bank in a three-pointer at the buzzer for the Cougars to cut the deficit down to four points.
The second quarter would be the games turning point.
Despite the three-pointer from Jordan to end the first quarter, the Mountaineers dropped in the first nine points of the second quarter to build a 26-13 lead. Kole Caldwell jump started the scoring run with five straight points including a three-pointer.
After falling behind three points in the first period, the Mountaineers had outscored the Cougars 19-3 from the end of the first to the beginning on the second quarter.
The Mountaineers lead would only continue to grow. By the first half’s end, the Mountaineers would lead by 22 points as they outscored the Cougars 29-11 in the second period. The 29 points from the Mountaineers was a quarters season-high for the team this year.
As if the home crowd couldn’t be more fired up, as the first half came to an end, Chase DePriest on a fast break slam dunked the ball and fired up the crowd even more.
In the second half, the Mountaineers would be their lead to as much as 32 points and grabbed two more highlight slam dunks from Hunter DePriest and Siemien Brown.
The Mountaineers were led by Halen Lowman who a had a team-high 15 points. Lowman was one of three Mountaineers in double figures. C. DePriest had 13, while Cole added 11.
For the Cougars, Smith led all scorers with a game-high 18 points, while Turner had 14.
The Mountaineers swept the season series with the Cougars winning all three meetings (at AHS, at CHS, Holiday Tournament).
The Cougars got off to a busy week on Monday as they started a three-game home stand starting with Craig County. They were back on the court last night against Glenvar, and they’ll host Parry McCluer tomorrow.
After nine straight losses, the Mountaineers are surging with four straight wins and it comes at the right time heading towards regional playoffs. The Mountaineers have one last stop before then as their regular season wraps up Thursday on the road against Floyd County.
Editors Note: Be sure to pick up a print copy of the 2/8/23 print edition or E-Edition on our website for exclusive photos from the game.
Team 1 2 3 4 Ttl
CHS 13 11 9 17 50
AHS 17 29 15 19 80
Cougars Scoring: Smith 18, Turner 14, Jayden Sammons 8, Ayden Weinger 4, Desmond Jordan 4, Hayden Rodgers 2
Mountaineers Scoring: Lowman 15, C. Depriest 13, Cole 11, Tyler Jackson 8, Cole Caldwell 7, H. DePriest 6, Chris Harden 6, Garrett Via 5, Brown 4, Anthony Webb 3, Eli Entsminger 2
