GOODY, Ky. – Bot0h Pirates teams were victorious Friday in a doubleheader of basketball games with the Lady Pirates defeating the Williamson Lady Wolfpack in the first game and the Belfry boys scoring their third victory in a row with a win over the Matewan Tigers.

Lady Pirates score win over Pack,

56-32

The Lady Pirates and the Lady Pack started their game very evenly in the opening minutes with deliberate and slow paced play from both teams. With the game tied 5-5, Belfry called a 60 second timeout 3:23 left in the 1st.

Lady Pirates J.J. Bevins and Amy McCoy came back from the timeout on a tear, scoring 13 points between and leaving Williamson scoreless for the remainder of the quarter.

From there, the Lady Pack couldn’t contain Belfry as they stretched their lead further as the game progressed.

McCoy was the leading scorer of the game with 18 points, 9 of those points coming the 1st quarter. Other scorers for Belfry were: Bethany Tackett and J.J. Bevins each with 8 points; Emily Baker scored 7 points; Jackelyn Stack scored 6 points; Caitlyn Woolum scored 4 points, going 4 for 4 from the free throw line; and Sydney Smith and Meghan Staten each scored 2 points for the Lady Pirates.

Mackenzie Stapleton and Devan Maynard led the Lady Pack in scoring with 8 points apiece. Stapleton sank all 8 of her free throws while Maynard netted 6 of 8 from the line, Taylor Elkins scored 5 points for the Lady Pack, and Jessica Sanger sank 4.

Jessica Fields scored 7 points for Williamson and is now only 9 points away from her breaking the 1,000-point barrier for her highs school career.

The Lady Pack will be playing four games in six days: Van at home Feb. 1, Tug Valley at Home Feb. 2, an away game against the Matewan Lady Tigers Feb. 4, and back home Feb. 6 against Buffalo.

WHS     5  8  8  11-32

BHS     18 14 17 7 -56

Belfry boys on

3-game winning streak

In the second game of the doubleheader, Belfry defeated the Matewan Tigers, 69 to 44.

With two straight wins over the Phelps Hornets and another over the Tigers, the Pirates improve to an 8-5 record for the season.

Matewan’s Head Coach Phillip Mitchell was happy with his team’s play.

“We’re a young team, but we’re getting better,” said Mitchell. “We played hard and the score didn’t reflect how close the game was.”

Belfry’s Head Coach Randy Casey, though happy with the win, still feels they didn’t completely live up to their potential.

“I’m happy with the effort we had in the second half, but we couldn’t match Matewan’s intensity,” said Casey. “We had some good looks, but we couldn’t get it locked down.”

Jordan Varney led the Pirates with the game high of 24 points, shooting 5 for 6 from the free throw line and sinking 5 three-pointers. Jordan Hairston scored 10 points, Gary Runyon scored 9 points, Tony Messer scored 8 points, Joey Pinson scored 6 points, Jeremy Maynard scored 5 points, Thomas Varney scored 3 points, and Jared Masters and Morgan Bentley each scored two points.

Micah Mahon scored the team high for the Tigers with 12 points. Grant Charles scored 10 points for Matewan, Nathaniel Mitchell scored 6 points, all on six free throws made in the 2nd quarter, Cory Lester and Chaz Clusky each scored 5 points, and John Bailey and Cory Daniels scored 3 points apiece.

Belfry will play in three district games next week: Pike County Central (7-9) at home Tuesday, Feb. 2, district leader Shelby Valley (16-3) in an away game Thursday, and Sheldon Clark in an away game Friday.

The Matewan Tigers will take on the Man Hillbillies Tuesday and Burch Thursday, both at home.

MHS     5  13 12 14-44

BHS     15 16 23 15-69