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HAMBLETON -- A determined rally by Tucker County in the second half came up just short in a 58-55 setback to Class A, No. 8 Pendleton County Tuesday night in Potomac Valley Conference play.
The Mountain Lions (2-13) trailed by as many as 17 points in the first half before mounting a second-half comeback.
Trailing by 14, at 37-23, at halftime, Tucker County cut the Wildcat lead to 40-38 with less than a minute remaining in the third quarter on a 3-pointer by Gus Mullennex.
Pendleton County, which is now 14-0 on the season, answered with a basket by Josh Alt before the frame ended and another score by Laird Sweet early into the final quarter to rebuild a 44-38 advantage.
A free throw by Mullennex, however, closed the gap to 47-46 with 5 minutes remaining in the game.
Tucker County was never able to any closer the rest of the way as the Wildcats' lead climbed to five, at 57-52, on a layup by Isaiah Gardiner.
Another trey by Mullennex cut the deficit to 57-55 and after Sweet hit 1 of 2 free throws with 20 seconds left, the Mountain Lions misfired on a potential game-tying 3-pointer as time expired.
Mullennex fired in 20 points for Tucker County, which fell behind 11-0 to start the game and 21-9 after one quarter.
Wyatt Betler just missed double figures with nine points.
Bailey Thompson tossed in a game-high 22 points for Pendleton County, followed by Sweet with 18 and Alt with 11.
Tucker County will travel to PVC foe East Hardy on Friday and will return home at 7:30 p.m. Saturday to face Tygarts Valley in a WVHIT matchup.
The Wildcats will visit Huntington St. Joseph on Friday and remain on the road Saturday at No. 3 Charleston Catholic in a battle of Class A ranked teams.
Pendleton County (14-0)
Colt Smith 2 0-0 5, Bailey Thompson 8 6-11 22, Laird Sweet 8 2-3 18, Isaiah Gardiner 1 0-5 2, Josh Alt 4 3-5 11. Totals 23 11-24 58
Tucker County (2-13)
Gus Mullennex 6 5-6 20, Wyatt Betler 4 1-1 9, Zach Colebank 2 1-2 5, Rudy Pennington 2 0-0 5, Holden Young 2 0-0 4, Trey Key 2 2-2 7, Haden Wamsley 1 2-2 5. Totals 19 11-12 55
Pendleton County 21 14 7 16 -- 58
Tucker County 9 14 15 17 -- 55
3-point goals: PC 1 (Smith), TC 6 (Mullenex 3, Pennington, Key and Wamsley)