The Shadow
HOT SPRINGS – The Bath County Chargers defeated Covington three out of four times a year ago, including a nailbiter in the Pioneer District tournament semifinals.
Thursday night, the Cougars gained some revenge.
Sa’Mone Moore scored a game-high 22 points, and the Cougars used an 11-0 run in the third quarter to propel them to a 58-45 win over the Chargers in the Pioneer District opener for both teams.
Autumn Phillips added 11 points for the Cougars, while Leteashia Clarke contributed eight points and nine rebounds in the victory.
“Bath County is not an easy place to play,” said Covington coach Mark Pifer, whose Cougars improved to 6-6 on the season. “They are always going to play extremely hard. It’s nice to get out of here and open the district schedule with a victory.”
The loss dropped the Chargers to 5-6 on the year.
“I can sleep a little better, but we’re not there yet,” said Bath County coach Keith Lindsay. “We’ve got to take something from this game and build on it.”
The Cougars saw their lead cut to 31-27 midway through the third quarter after a Mikayla Colaw bucket, but they countered with 11 points in a row to break it open.
Brittany Keyser’s old-fashioned three-point play started the run. She stole the ball, scored on a layup at the other end, drew the foul and converted the subsequent free throw to give Covington a 34-27 lead.
Phillips continued the Covington run when she cleaned up underneath, and a Moore steal and layup increased the lead to 38-27.
Clarke hit a free throw, and Moore finished what Keyser started with another conventional three-point play that gave the Cougars a 42-27 lead.
Alexa Faraone ended the Covington spurt when she banked in a 3-ball, but Montanna Hall’s 15-footer closed the third quarter, giving the Cougars a 44-30 lead entering the fourth.
“The key for us was to get out in transition and make it an up-and-down game,” Pifer added. “We were able to do that tonight in spurts.
“Our bench gave us a big lift,” he added. “Bailey (Hall), Daylin (Tyree) and Briana (Moore) especially gave us some real good minutes.”
In addition to her 22 points, Moore had eight boards for the Cougars.
“Sa’Mone is our rock,” Pifer said. “She’s a coach on the floor. She’s always able to settle us down.”
Faraone scored Bath County’s first eight points of the fourth quarter, and her 3-ball at the 5:30 mark cut Covington’s lead to 47-38, but the Chargers could get no closer.
Faraone finished with 18 points for the Chargers, while Colaw added 14. Jessie O’Conner added six points and pulled down 13 boards for Bath County.
The Cougars enjoyed a 27-23 lead at the half.
“We’ve got some younger players, but we got tired,” Lindsay added. “That third quarter – that one stretch there – that’s where they jumped on us.
“A better effort tonight, but we’ve got a ways to go,” the Bath coach added. “Hopefully, we can work some of the kinks out.”
Both the Chargers and Cougars return to action Tuesday.
Bath County travels to James River for a date with the Knights, while Covington hosts Highland County in the Cougar Den.
The Cougars made it a sweep of the evening’s festivities with a tight 29-27 win in the jayvee preliminary.
Kathy Tyson led the Cougars with nine points, while Abbie Zamara and Syndall Moats scored six apiece.
Shalia Notice and Kourtney Tyson rounded out the Covington scoring with four points each.
Kendal Woodzell scored a game-high 18 points for the Chargers, while Whitney Shifflet added five.
Mikayla McMullen and Megan Brown added two points each for the Chargers.
Bath County enjoyed a 15-14 lead at the half.
