POCA - The roster just keeps getting leaner and leaner, forcing Poca to lean even more on Jason Cuffee. Fortunately for the Dots, the 6-foot-2 sophomore doesn't appear ready to back down.
Friday, Jan. 9, 2009 - Poca’s Jason Cuffee shoots over Charleston Catholic’s Matt Goolsby. The Dots earned a 61-47 victory over visiting Charleston Catholic.
POCA - The roster just keeps getting leaner and leaner, forcing Poca to lean even more on Jason Cuffee. Fortunately for the Dots, the 6-foot-2 sophomore doesn't appear ready to back down.
Cuffee fired in a career-best 31 points Friday night to spark the Dots to a 61-47 victory over visiting Charleston Catholic. It marked the fifth straight win for Poca (6-3), whose three losses have come by a total of 10 points.
Shooting from a variety of spots inside and outside the 3-point arc, Cuffee hit 12-of-16 field goals and all four of his free throws.
"I've been working on my shot since I didn't shoot well the last couple games,'' Cuffee said. "I got into the gym on the days off and coach helped me out with film of the other games, and showed me what I was doing wrong. And I tried to correct it.''
Poca coach Allen Osborne is glad Cuffee worked out of his shooting funk, because the Dots lost yet another key player Friday. Blake Smith, a 6-foot-3 senior and the team's tallest starter and No. 2 scorer, missed school and didn't play.
Osborne is unsure whether Smith, who's averaging 16 points per game, is coming back.
"That's a good question,'' Osborne said. "I had a meeting to go to [Friday], so I don't know the whole situation. I'll have to talk to him and his family and see what's going on. We'll see what happens from there.''
Poca started the season minus its two top scorers from last year. Junior guard Noah Cottrill, who led the state in scoring last season and has already committed to West Virginia University, left for Mountain State Academy, a prep school in Beckley. Senior forward Matt Orcutt transferred to South Charleston. Those two combined to average a shade under 43 points for the Dots last season.
By Rick Ryan
Staff writer
POCA - The roster just keeps getting leaner and leaner, forcing Poca to lean even more on Jason Cuffee. Fortunately for the Dots, the 6-foot-2 sophomore doesn't appear ready to back down.
Cuffee fired in a career-best 31 points Friday night to spark the Dots to a 61-47 victory over visiting Charleston Catholic. It marked the fifth straight win for Poca (6-3), whose three losses have come by a total of 10 points.
Shooting from a variety of spots inside and outside the 3-point arc, Cuffee hit 12-of-16 field goals and all four of his free throws.
"I've been working on my shot since I didn't shoot well the last couple games,'' Cuffee said. "I got into the gym on the days off and coach helped me out with film of the other games, and showed me what I was doing wrong. And I tried to correct it.''
Poca coach Allen Osborne is glad Cuffee worked out of his shooting funk, because the Dots lost yet another key player Friday. Blake Smith, a 6-foot-3 senior and the team's tallest starter and No. 2 scorer, missed school and didn't play.
Osborne is unsure whether Smith, who's averaging 16 points per game, is coming back.
"That's a good question,'' Osborne said. "I had a meeting to go to [Friday], so I don't know the whole situation. I'll have to talk to him and his family and see what's going on. We'll see what happens from there.''
Poca started the season minus its two top scorers from last year. Junior guard Noah Cottrill, who led the state in scoring last season and has already committed to West Virginia University, left for Mountain State Academy, a prep school in Beckley. Senior forward Matt Orcutt transferred to South Charleston. Those two combined to average a shade under 43 points for the Dots last season.
In addition to that, Osborne needed to blend in three first-year players and football standouts - Caleb Arthur, Forrest Mattox and Heath Barrett. Barrett had 10 points and three steals Friday.
Cuffee added team-highs of seven rebounds and five blocked shots. Point guard Brian Sigman turned in seven assists and seven rebounds as the Dots shot 60 percent.
"These kids have played so hard and worked so hard,'' Osborne said. "I'm so proud of them. They're coachable, and they really want to win. It's really been an enjoyable year for us, and an enjoyable year for me.''
Buoyed by 75 percent first-half shooting, Poca led 33-21 at the break and boosted the margin as high as 20 in the second half. The Dots did commit 18 turnovers against Catholic's calling card, its tough defense, but Poca wound up scoring more points than anyone has against the Irish since Wheeling Central dropped 71 on Catholic early in the 2006-07 season.
Poca's own defense also had its moments against the Irish (3-3), who shot just 36 percent, went 0-of-10 on 3-pointers and were saddled with 16 turnovers.
"We just got outplayed,'' said Irish coach Bill McClanahan. "They were prepared. They came out with good energy to start the game. They threw the first punch, and we didn't respond. It was uphill from the first three minutes.
"[We're] an inexperienced team and we panicked. We tried to do too much and we tried to get too much back at times. We wanted one of those 7-point baskets, and we just have to learn that can't happen. Credit Poca. It all started when they came out and set the tone at first and we didn't respond, and it affected everything we did.''
Catholic's Sam Wood, a 6-4 junior, exploited the smaller Poca lineup at times and finished with 22 points and nine rebounds despite sitting out nearly the entire second quarter after picking up his second foul. Matt Goolsby added 11 points and the Irish led 24-23 off the boards.
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