Two dominant guards in Olivia Vandevender and Brooklynn Tinnell are getting ready to go toe-to-toe. The Pocahontas County Warriors 's road trip will continue as they head out to face the East Hardy Cougars at 6:00 p.m. on February 6th. Hopefully Pocahontas County focused on turnovers this week since the team gave up 24 on Saturday.
A well-balanced attack led Pocahontas County over the Tide in every quarter on their way to victory. Given that consistent dominance, it should come as no surprise that Pocahontas County blew the Tide out of the water with a 60-22 final score. 60 seems to be a good number for Pocahontas County as the team scooped up a victory with the same number of points in their previous game.
Vandevender and Allyson Taylor were among the main playmakers for Pocahontas County as the former scored 12 points along with five steals and two blocks and the latter scored six points along with 12 rebounds and six steals. Taylor has been hot recently, having posted 11 or more rebounds the last five times she's played. The team also got some help courtesy of Riley Pollack, who scored 13 points along with five rebounds and two blocks.
Meanwhile, East Hardy's recent rough patch got a bit rougher on Tuesday after their third straight loss. They were dealt a 78-41 defeat at the hands of Tucker County. East Hardy found out winning isn't easy when you don't work as a unit and post 12 fewer assists than your opponent.
East Hardy might have lost, but man, Tinnell was a machine: she scored 25 points along with five rebounds and three steals. Tinnell hasn't dropped below 16 points for nine straight games. Chloe Miller was another key contributor, scoring nine points.
Pocahontas County is on a roll lately: they've won four of their last five matchups, which provided a massive bump to their 7-8 record this season. As for East Hardy, they have not been sharp recently as the team's lost four of their last five contests, which put a noticeable dent in their 5-12 record this season.
Tuesday's game is one where the number of possessions is likely to be a big factor: Pocahontas County have been smashing the glass this season, having averaged 42.9 rebounds per game. However, it's not like East Hardy struggles in that department as they've been averaging 29.9 rebounds per game. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Pocahontas County strolled past the Cougars in their previous matchup back in November of 2023 by a score of 48-33. The rematch might be a little tougher for Pocahontas County since the team won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
