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Cougars and close wins a heady mix

By Bob Madison - For the Chronicle | Jan 14, 2022

SHEPHERDSTOWN — Winning on neutral courts and winning close games has been the early-season theme for the Jefferson boys basketball team.

Opening the 2021-2022 season with a 74-71 win over Hurricane on a neutral court seems to have set the tone for the unbeaten (as of games through January 10) Cougars.

In its first five games, Jefferson has shown balanced scoring and a penchant for finding the ways to keep its record unblemished by any losses.

After edging the Redskins of Hurricane, the tough-to-beat Cougars got past Briar Woods (Virginia) in their only home game of the season, defeating the Loudoun County-based school, 70-65.

After a nearly two week break from competition, the Cougars blasted past Bridgeport, 77-39, in a game played at Martinsburg High in what was labeled as a Mixer event.

The next night in Martinsburg, Jefferson eased past Millbrook (Winchester), 62-56, as Jaiden Gladney (15 points), Daion Taylor (13 points) and Cameron Johnson (12 points) paced the Cougar scorers. That win over the Pioneers pushed Jefferson’s record to 4-0.

In its first game on any opponent’s home court, the Cougars faced Musselman, equally undefeated in three games.

Jamari Jenkins (10 points), Johnson (9 points), Gladney (8 points) and Bryson Fleming (8 points) divided the scoring in a 47-39 win over the Applemen. Musselman is in the same Class AAAA Sectional as Jefferson and Washington and that win will help decide the seeding for the postseason tournament.

The Cougars were scheduled to face Hedgesville (with its 7-0 record) in Shenandoah Junction last Tuesday. And the schedule calls for Washington High to be in Shenandoah Junction tonight for the first of the two scheduled games between the county rivals. On Saturday, the Cougars have Riverdale Baptist (Maryland) scheduled at home for a 2 p.m. game.

Those three straight home games will be interrupted by a road game at Spring Mills in Berkeley County on Tuesday, but then Greenbrier East visits Shenandoah Junction on Jan. 22 for a 1:30 p.m. game.

Statewide, high school basketball schedules and practices have been hampered by COVID-19 protocols, postponements and even cancellations. There appears to be no definitive solutions to the pandemic-caused problems that could claim future games in January, February and even March as possible victims.

But Jefferson has overcome or dodged the early-season pitfalls enough to move smartly out to its 5-0 record before facing equally undefeated Hedgesville.