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HAMBLETON -- Single-A, No. 7 Tucker County held on for a 46-44 win over Potomac Valley Conference rival Moorefield on Wednesday night to finish the regular season at 15-7 while avenging an earlier loss to the Lady Yellow Jackets in triple overtime last week.
"I'm proud of the girls, they played good defense in the end to win it, and much better perimeter defense tonight," TCHS coach Dave Helmick said. "Sometimes winning a close game is a good building experience.
"I thought we played flat in the second half. We have some things to work on. The crowd was amazing from both schools, and the atmosphere had both teams amped up for this one."
Tucker County used an 8-2 run to finish the opening quarter with a 10-6 edge and never trailed in the contest that only had one lead change.
The Lady Mountain Lions swelled to their biggest advantage of the contest, 18-8, early in the second frame.
Posting big numbers in the first half for TCHS was senior Terra Kuhn with 18 points and freshman Kadie Colebank with 12 in the scoring column to help propel the hosts to a 30-21 lead at the intermission break.
Moorefield tightened up in the third canto with a 10-5 tally to cut the deficit back to 35-31 in the heated-rivalry battle. Senior Madison McGregor nailed back to back treys in that stanza to tie the game at 31-all before Tucker County got back out in front.
Senior guard Lindsey Rinker carried the Lady Jackets in the fourth with all 13 of Moorefield's points in the period to pull the visitors to within one point, at 45-44, before TCHS junior Gracie Rapp's free throw rounded out the scoring.
Kuhn finished with a game-high 24 points and 14 boards for a double-double, while also shooting a perfect 10 of 10 from the charity stripe.
Colebank also netted a double-double via 12 points, 12 rebounds, six blocks and knocking down 6 of 6 from the foul line.
London Hood managed five rebounds, four points and dimed out three assists. Rapp garnered five boards, four points and three assists for the black and gold.
Rinker inked a team-high 20 points for Moorefield.
"She (Rinker) is an all-state senior, and one heck of a competitor," Helmick said.
"It's good to see her compete like that, and I told her that after the game."
As the postseason ensues, Tucker County will be in search of a 16th straight appearance in the state tournament in Charleston.
As the top seed in the Single-A, Region II, Section 2 bracket, the Mountain Lions received a first-round bye and await the winner between No. 5 East Hardy and No. 4 Union at 7 p.m. Tuesday at home.
Second-seed Moorefield hosts No. 7 Paw Paw at 7 p.m. Saturday.