Last weekend, the Pinewood Prep boy’s basketball team played against some of the best competition West Virginia has to offer.
The Panthers traveled to Logan, W. Va. Jan. 21 to play in the King Coal Shoot-out. On Thursday, Pinewood played the Logan Wildcats, the No. 2 ranked team in the state. The Panthers were defeated 80-69 by Logan, which featured senior Noah Cottrill, who will play for Bob Huggins at West Virginia University next year.
Cottrill scored 32 to lead the Wildcats while Bruce Haynes led the Panthers with 27. Steve Chase added 22 for Pinewood and pulled down 10 rebounds.
Pinewood opened the game with a 12-0 lead to silence the 4,000 stunned Logan fans.  The Panthers led 20-14 at the end of the first quarter and 32-30 at halftime. Pinewood stayed close, scoring 21 in the third, but trailed by 5 going into the final quarter.
Logan went 10-11 in the fourth quarter to seal the win. Overall the Wildcats were 21-25 from the line while the Panthers only got to the line 12 times. Pinewood was phenomenal from the 3-point line, going 10 for 15.
On Friday, the Panthers played George Washington High School, the Charleston, W. Va. team that came into the tournament as the No. 1 ranked team in the state.
The Patriots defeated Pinewood 75-56 behind 26 points from Shawny Badger.  George Washington did not play in the shoot-out on Thursday night and simply outrun the tired Panthers from the beginning. Drew Williams came off the bench and had a spectacular game, scoring 17 to lead Pinewood. Steve Chase had 15 points while Bruce Haynes added 11 points and pulled down 11 rebounds.
Coach Pat Eidson was proud of the way his team competed against the stiff competition.  “We didn’t back down from a very tough challenge and really got after it in both games,” Eidson said. “Our point guard Brett Alexander played against extreme defensive pressure and had limited turnovers while handing out 13 assists in two games.”
Coach Eidson was also pleased his team got to experience the culture of a West Virginia coalmining town and tour a coalmine.
Pinewood remains the No.1 ranked team in the SCISA AAA coaches poll in spite of a 12-13 record, which is an indication the coaches realize what a difficult schedule the Panthers have played.  Pinewood travels to Columbia today to compete against Hammond School.  
On Friday, all four Pinewood basketball teams travel to Hilton Head Prep to play in a region showdown.