The Potomac Highlands Dispatch - the online newspaper

Hancock boys, girls deal WVSD Lions dish of doubleheader defeat
* Souders, Heller lead Panthers boys
* Hull and M. Leavy combine for 35 points

By Kevin Spradlin
The Potomac Highlands Dispatch
HANCOCK Feb. 15 - On a day of pageantry and celebration to recognize the seniors student-athletes at Hancock involved in winter sports, all West Virginia School for the Deaf and Blind Lions could do was their level best.

And they did, but still suffered a series of setbacks Tuesday night in western Washington County.

The boys team endured a 90-48 loss to the Panthers while host Hancock set a season scoring record in its 82-33 win over the Lions.

Both games were over relatively quickly. In the boys' varsity matchup, the Panthers led 28-9 after the first quarter and 39-22 at halftime.

Eli Souders scored 24 points to pace Hancock and Spencer Heller added 21 points. Jared McCoy was the third Panther to score in double figures. He finished with 11 points - including eight in the second half.

If the 17-point lead at intermission wasn't enough, the Panthers put the game away before five minutes were up in the third quarter. Heller opened the scoring with a field goal and Garrett Wiles hit a 3-pointer for a 44-22 lead.

The teams traded baskets back and forth over the next 47 seconds. After a layup by Ethan Bolyard for the Lions, Jared McCoy answered with a jumper with 5:33 to go in the third period. DeSean Thomas countered with a layup and, fouled, completed the three-point play by nailing the free throw with 4:47 to go.

Then Hancock went on a 10-0 run and increased its lead to 29 points. The Lions, led by Jonathan Stokes, pulled to within 21 points over the final three minutes of the third quarter. Bolyard hit two free throws and Stokes hit three field goals, including two 3-pointers just 41 seconds apart.

If there was a glimmer of hope after 24 minutes of play, the next 2:32 wiped it out for the team from Romney, W.Va. Hancock opened up the final quarter with a 10-2 run, including four points each by Souders and Heller.

Leading 78-46 with 3:08 to play, the Panthers finished out the scoring with a 12-2 run.

Girls basketball

For at least the first 11 minutes, it seemed that just about every time Hancock was to put the game away, the Lions' Amber Williams hit a shot big enough to keep WVSD competitive.

But Williams couldn't do it alone and Hancock proved too tall, using its size advantage to overwhelm the Lions on rebounding on both ends of the court. WVSD lost by being outmaneuvered on rebound attempts and transitions.

Hancock opened up with a 10-0 spurt, led by Jenna Hull. But Williams answered with a 3-pointer just soon enough so that the game wouldn't get away from the visiting Lions.

With 2:57 to play in the first quarter, Williams scored again to pull WVSD within 10-5. Other than a single free throw, however, even Williams couldn't prevent the Panthers from closing out the quarter on a 13-1 run. Hull scored four of those points, as did Maureen Leavy. Kelly Edgerton also had a 3-pointer in the drive.

In the first three minutes of the second period, Hancock scored just three field goals to the Lions' two field goals. The Panthers led 29-11. Unfortunately for WVSD, the team couldn't hang and the Panthers scored the next 23 points over the next four minutes.