Bluefield Daily Telegraph, Bluefield, WV

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February 4, 2012

Cooper leads Hurley to third straight Black Diamond District championship

By LLOYD COMBS for the Daily Telegraph

PILGRIM’S KNOB, Va. — Little things add up to big wins and Austin Cooper probably does more things, little and big, than anyone else in the Black Diamond District.

Cooper’s double-double helped Hurley to its third BDD regular season crown in a row as the Rebels earned a 63-47 win in front of a huge crowd at arch-rival Twin Valley Friday night.

A 6-foot-3 senior, Cooper posted a double-double with game-high totals of 19 points and 11 rebounds, but a handful of both points and boards — combined with a couple of big defensive plays — helped Hurley pull away from the upset-minded Panthers.

Cooper scored seven points and grabbed seven rebounds in the second quarter, including four offensive boards as Hurley took its biggest lead of the first half, 27-18, just before the halftime break.

His 3-point play off another offensive rebound keyed a 14-2 run that staked the Rebels (16-3, 9-0) to a 44-28 lead in the third period.

“We hadn’t been rebounding very well, so I knew I had to crash the boards and make something happen,” Cooper said. “Our offense wasn’t clicking, but we started playing better defense and rebounding better.”

The Hurley offense got a huge lift from its fourth and fifth-leading scorers. Thomas Allen gave the Rebels an early lead with four 3-pointers in the first half, while Wesley Peck scored seven of his eight points in the second half.

“We came out a little flat tonight and Thomas Allen went crazy,” Hurley coach Mark Cooper said. “That was his best offensive game he’s played all year, and Peck packed us offensively in the second half.

“We played (last night at River View, West Virginia) and we had some breakdowns. But anytime you come into Twin Valley it’s tough.

“They play hard, they’re scrappy and coach Brian Moore does a good job with them. We’re fortunate to get a win.”

Tyler Cooper added 14 points and Dustin Waynick fouled out with 10 points and four blocks for Hurley.

Daniel Hobbs scored 17 points and Chance Moore fouled out with 10 points and seven boards for Twin Valley (8-12, 2-6). The Panthers did a respectable job on Hurley’s top three scorers much of the night, but could not overcome the combined six treys from Allen and Peck.

“We focused on their big three and when their role players step up and shoot like that it makes it very difficult,” Twin Valley coach Brian Moore said. “We tried to hang around, but Hurley did what they had to do and pulled away from us. Bit I’m proud of the way our kids played tonight.”

Winning the BDD is a lot tougher, added Mark Cooper, than people think. Hurley won a playoff for a BDD title two years ago and has won it outright the last two years.

“I’ll match our district up with anyone in the region, top to bottom,” Cooper said. “Let these other clubs come to Twin Valley or Honaker or anywhere else in the BDD and try and win on a regular basis.

“We have some good teams and good coaches, and look at the game here tonight. We had good fans on both sides.”



HURLEY (63)

Peck 3 0-0 8, A. Cooper 8 1-1 19, Waynick 2 6-6 10, T. Cooper 6 1-1 14, Allen 4 0-0 12, Berglowe 0 0-0 0, Stacy 0 0-0 0. Totals – 23 8-8 63.

TWIN VALLEY (47)

Adams 2 0-0 4, Hobbs 8 1-2 17, Moore 6 0-0 12, Cantrell 1 2-4 4, Case 0 4-6 4, Elswick 0 0-0 0, Harris 0 0-0 0, Smith 2 0-0 6, Lowe 0 0-0 0, Viars 0 0-0 0. Totals – 19 7-12 47.

Hurley...............................14   13   17   19 — 63

Twin Valley.......................10     8   12   17 — 47

3-point goals: Hur 9 (Allen 4, A. Cooper 2, Peck 2, T. Cooper), TV 2 (Smith 2). Total fouls-Hur 11, TV 11. Fouled out-Moore, Waynick. Technicals-none. JV Game-Hurley won.



Girls

Twin Valley 68 Hurley 45

Twin Valley kept at least a share of the top spot among the BDD girls clubs with a convincing win Friday.

The Panthers (13-7, 8-1) ended each of the first three quarters with impressive runs, of 11-4, 12-1 and 8-0, respectively, to break eventually  open a close game.

Freshman guard Katelyn Jackson scored a game-high 22 points, Rachel Horn added a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds and freshman post Kara Goodman added 13 points and eight board for Twin Valley.

Shanice Justus posted a double-double for Hurley with 18 points and 11 rebounds. The Rebels (8-11, 1-8) got 10 points from freshman guard Kourtney Cook.  

 

 

Girls’ game

HURLEY (45)

D. Mullins 3 1-3 9, Cline 1 0-0 2, Justus 8 2-4 18, Stacy 1 0-0 2, Cook 4 0-0 10, S. Mullins 2 0-0 4. Totals – 19 3-7 45.

TWIN VALLEY (68)

Rose 3 0-0 7, Jackson 8 3-4 22, Horn 6 0-0 12, McClanahan 2 0-0 4, Goodman 6 0-0 13, Keene 4 0-0 8, Hurley 0 0-0 0, Puckett 0 0-0 0, Pack 1 0-0 2. Totals – 30 3-4 68.

Hurley..............................15     5   12   13 — 45

Twin Valley........................22   15   16   15 — 68

3-point goals: Hur 4 (D. Mullins 2, Cook 2), TV 5 (Jackson 3, Rose, Goodman). Total fouls-Hur 3, TV 8. Fouled out-none. Technicals-none. JV Game-Twin Valley won.

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