Logan's Bam Mosby (34) shoots over East Fairmont's Tarayn Myers (4) during the first half of the Lady Wildcats loss to East Fairmont last Saturday (Boothe Davis/Captured by the Moment Photography).
Bill Lusk | WVOW Sports
LOGAN Class AAA No. 2 Logan got a double-double from sophomore Peyton Butcher Tuesday night to defeat Herbert Hoover 34-30 at Willie Akers Arena.
Butcher had 11 points and 11 rebounds as the Lady Wildcats used a 12-0 run spanning the end of the third quarter and lasting to the midway point of the fourth to seize control and hold off a determined Lady Huskies squad.
Butcher and sophomore Bam Mosby came up with two key plays in the Lady Wildcats 12-point run.
Mosby, who scored just one points and hauled down seven rebounds, set a pick for Halle Crouse, who drained a 3-pointer with 0:08 remaining in the third quarter to give Logan a 24-23 lead.
Crouse’s 3-pointer ended a Herbert Hoover 7-0 run and gave Logan a lead they wouldn’t relinquish.
With 6:51 to play in the fourth, Butcher scored off a Mosby miss and was fouled, and sank the free throw to complete the 3-point play giving Logan a 27-23 lead.
“Peyton and Bam played well with the high-low game,” Logan coach Kevin Gertz said. “Peyton led us in scoring with 11, Bam only had one, but there are going to be games where Bam leads us in scoring.”
Logan got a steal and layup from Addyson Amick and one free throw each from Natalie Blankenship and Mosby to take a 31-23 with just under four and half minutes to play.
Breanna Buckley ended the Lady Wildcats run and brought the Lady Huskies to within five, 30-25, after her layup with 4:12 to play.
Regan Geary’s 3-pointer with 0:37 remaining cut the deficit to 33-30, but Logan got a free throw from Blankenship, and Herbert Hoover was unable to convert on its final three shot attempts as the clock hit zeros.
Following the loss, coach Scott Garretson said it all came down to doing the little things especially the Crouse 3 at the end of the third quarter and the Butcher and-one off a missed shot.
“Anytime you give up an offensive rebound it hurts,” Garretson said. “They got a lot of inside offensive rebounds and with the stats being equal that might have been the difference in the game.”
“We talk about the little things, and you got to clean up the little things before you have a chance to win,” Garretson said. “What if we didn’t do this? What if we didn’t do that? (Those) four or five possessions went one way or the other, and we didn’t come out on top.”
Herbert Hoover led by as many as seven points, 10-3, on Brooklyn Huffman’s jumper with 4:04 to play in the opening quarter.
Logan trimmed the deficit to three, 12-9, at the end of the first quarter and trailed 16-15 at halftime, before scoring the first four points of the third quarter to take a 19-16 lead.
“Over a quarter and a half, you hold a team to six points you are playing good defense,” Gertz said.
The Lady Huskies responded with a 7-0 run and led 23-19 on Geary’s jumper with 1:46 to play in the third quarter.
For Herbert Hoover, it was the second four-point loss to a Logan County school. The Lady Huskies lost 54-50 at Class AA co-No. 7 Chapmanville last Thursday.
“Sometimes a 20-point loss is better than a four-point loss,” Garretson said. “Eventually we are going to win one of these close ones.”
Geary led the Lady Huskies with a game-high 15 points. She was the only player to crack the double-digit scoring column for Herbert Hoover, who shot 11 for 44 from the field and was 5 of 23 from 3-point range.
“We need three or four kids in double figures,” Garretson said. “Tonight, I felt like some of the kids were hesitant.”
“If you are open let it fly, I don’t mind it, and as a coach I am never going to tell you to shoot or not shoot,” Garretson said. “I think they may not be used to that, and we are going to change that mentality, and we need to look inside to our post players to get some closer baskets.”
Logan, who shot a little better than its season opening 7 of 42 performance Saturday against Class AAA No. 9 East Fairmont, knocked down 12 of 42 shots and was 4 of 22 from behind the arc.
“We are better shooters than what we are showing, and we are so flat,” Gertz said. “We do have to shoot 3’s, and the second half we made a big effort to get inside, but we have to knock down shots to make it easier to get the ball inside.”
Most importantly the Lady Wildcats only turned the ball over nine times, which was significantly better than the 35 turnovers in the loss to East Fairmont.
“We are still young, and we got so much to learn, but we got a win,” Gertz said. “We will get better I know we will and defensively we will get better.”
“I was impressed with our intensity tonight,” Gertz said. “I saw big time improvement from Saturday to today.”
Herbert Hoover (0-3) looks for win number one Thursday night at home against Cardinal Conference rival Poca.
“As much as it hurts (losing), nothing matters until February,” Garretson said. “Learn from the mistakes, take what we learn from this loss, get better from it and learn from it.”
“I don’t know a lot about Poca and I don’t base anything on the past because players mature from a sophomore to a junior and a junior to senior,” Garretson said. “Until I see them, I don’t know anything, but in order to have a chance to win we got to make shots.”
Logan even its record at 1-1 on the year, but for Gertz he is not worried about the record, he wants to see improvement and being the best when tournament play starts.
“We are here to get better every day, I don’t care about wins and losses,” Gertz said. “I know everyone else in this town does, but I care about being the best we can be come late January through February and hopefully into March.”
The Lady Wildcats will hit the road for the first time this season on Saturday as they travel to Class AAA co-No. 3 Robert C. Byrd, a team Gertz had penciled into last season’s Class AAA state tournament.
“It is a tough road game, but if we play well, we will right there with a chance to win,” Gertz said. “We are not going to lay down for anybody, we are going down there to play hard and hopefully come back home with a W.”
Logan 34, Herbert Hoover 30
Herbert Hoover (0-3)
Geary 5-13 2-2 15, Buckley 2-4 0-0 4, Huffman 2-7 0-0 4, Veltri 1-6 0-0 3,
Ray 1-10 0-0 3, Canterbury 0-1 1-2 1, Kee 0-3 0-0 0. Totals: 11-44 3-4 30.
Logan (1-1)
Butcher 4-8 3-5 11, Blankenship 2-10 2-5 8, Adkins 2-9 0-0 5,
Crouse 2-6 0-0 5, Amick 2-5 0-0 4, Mosby 0-2 1-2 1, Conn 0-2 0-0 0.
Totals: 12-42 6-12 34.
Hoover 12 4 7 7- 30
Logan 9 6 9 10- 34
3-point field goals- Herbert Hoover 5-23 (Geary 3-7, Buckley 0-1, Huffman 0-1, Veltri 1-5, Ray 1-8, Kee 0-1), Logan 4-22 (Butcher 0-1, Blankenship 2-7, Adkins 1-8, Crouse 1-5, Amick 0-1). Rebounds- Herbert Hoover 29 (Buckley 7), Logan 30 (Butcher 11). Assists- Herbert Hoover 8 (Geary 2, Ray 2, Veltri 2), Logan 6 (Blankenship 2, Mosby 2). Total fouls- Herbert Hoover 15, Logan 11.