Basketball Recap: Pope County Comes Up Short

Pope County was not able to break out of their rough patch on Monday as the team picked up their third straight loss. They received a blow as they fell 59-44 to the Hardin County Cougars. Unfortunately, that's the third time they've come up short against the Pirates this season, with their most recent defeat being a 53-37 loss last Friday.

Hardin County's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Xavier Whooper led the charge by going 7 for 14 en route to 16 points in addition to six rebounds and three steals. The dominant performance gave Whooper a new career-high in steals. The team also got some help courtesy of Christian Winters, who went 6 of 11 to rack up 15 points and five boards.

Pope County's defeat dropped their record down to 3-14. As for Hardin County, the victory was the third in a row for them, bringing their record for this year to 8-8.

Pope County didn't take long to hit the court again: they've already played their next matchup, a 62-47 loss against Gallatin County on the 30th. As for Hardin County, they have also already played their next game, a 59-55 defeat against Galatia on the 31st.