The Pulaski County Lady Cougar basketball program has been, and plans to remain, one of the top programs in the state. This year may be a slightly different version of what fans have come to expect, but the expectations for the coaching staff and players remains the same.
After finishing the regular season with a 7-16 record in the 2017-18 season, the Lady Cougars began to put together a record that any team would love to have. The 2018-19 season ended with a final record of 11-4 the River Ridge District, just good enough to take third place.
Then some magic happened. The Lady Cougars went into the region playoffs and won against LCA and William Byrd, moving them to the region title game. They fell to Carroll County 44-36, but advanced to the state playoffs as the region runners-up. A win over Loudoun Valley sent them into a fourth game with Carroll County, this time on neutral ground at Galax High School. The Lady Cougars were outsized and outmatched, but put together a plan and effort that earned them a shocking 63-58 win over the Cavaliers to move a group of largely freshmen to the big dance.
The Lady Cougars took the floor against a Lake Taylor team that looked like a bigger version of the Virginia Tech women’s squad, but put up a commendable effort before falling 61-29 and finishing as the state runners-up.
The 2019-20 squad earned a River Ridge District title, finishing that schedule 12-0. They defeated GW Danville in the first round of the region tournament, then took out Salem to advance to the Region title game, where they defeated EC Glass 70-57 to win the Class 4, Region D Championship. Despite falling to Millbrook 65-58 in the opening round of the state playoffs, the Lady Cougars knew they’d be back.
Covid hit, and despite many restrictions, the Lady Cougars were still able to earn another district title. After that, they earned a region title, their second in a row. Pulaski County defeated Loudoun Valley at the Cougar Den to earn the right to host the State Championship game against Louisa County days later. While things looked good early for Pulaski County, Louisa finished the game with a 59-50 victory. It was the only loss of the season for the Lady Cougars, who were again the state runners-up.
The 2021-22 season brought more excitement and hardware. Pulaski County earned their third straight district title, finishing 12-0. They earned their third straight region title by defeated EC Glass in a 54-43 road win. They took down Sherando to advance in the state playoffs, but came up just short against Millbrook, 68-59 in overtime, and missed the big dance. There final record was 24-4.
Last season came with big expectations again. Despite two early season losses to Carroll County, the Lady Cougars earned another district title with a perfect record against those opponents. For a change, the Lady Cougars hosted EC Glass to open the region playoffs, earning a convincing 63-20 win. They went on to win their fourth consecutive region title and advanced to the state playoffs. Wins over Louisa County and Sherando led to a state semifinal game at Christiansburg against Tuscarora. A last second shot topped off a second half of heroics by every member of the team to send Pulaski County back to the State Championship game, defeated Tuscarora 54-43.
For the third time in five years, the Lady Cougars found themselves on the biggest stage they could play on. Pulaski County started strong, but the Hampton Crabbers found a way to battle back and took the lead. The Lady Cougars continued to fight, but the end result was a 75-63 loss, leaving them again as the state runners-up.
Three trips to the big dance in the past five years is an impressive feat for any sport or any school, and one that very few schools can say they’ve reached. Four consecutive River Ridge District and Region Championships is another incredible statistic.
This season, expectations remain high. Through their first four games, things have gone about as expected. With all-time scoring leader Keslyn Secrist and fellow graduates Paige Huff and Tori Vest gone and three key starters slowly returning from injury, Head Coach Scott Ratcliff has had the chance to get many of his younger players key time on the court to grow.
The team will have five seniors … Andi Ratcliff, Jaden Lawson, Hannah Keefer, Destiney Duncan, and Kenzlee Jones. They’ll be backed up by seven juniors … Sydney Phibbs, Morgan Vest, Reese Nolen, Sophia Hanson, Morgan Price, Emma Ritter, and Taylor Goble.
Hannah Keefer, second team All-State selection last season, is getting back on the court after a tremendous volleyball season, but had to sit out the start of the season due to leg injury. She’s working her way back into the lineup now. Morgan Vest injured her knee immediately after the end of the high school season last year, and has worked her way back. Reese Nolan is also recovering from a knee injury she sustained last season and is back on the court.
“We’ve got a lot of girls with experience,” Coach Ratcliff said. “What we need is to find that one girl who is going to be our leader on the court and in the locker room. I see several candidates already, and it could end up being more than one. We need to find that one player who wants the ball when it matters most. We’ve got several that could be that player. I feel good about our team and our program overall. We need to smooth out some rough edges, but that’ll come as we go through the season. Our bottom line is we need to get better every day and stay healthy.”
The Lady Cougars currently have four games under their belts. They started with a 63-47 road loss at Carroll County. The Cavaliers will contend for the state title again. After a 55-46 road win over Floyd County, the Lady Cougars hosted Carroll County in a return match. They lost 57-42, but that game saw the return of Hannah Keefer in limited minutes to the lineup. Tuesday, Pulaski County defeated Cave Spring 60-40.
The last time Pulaski County lost a game to a River Ridge District opponent was February 8, 2019, when the Lady Cougars lost the final game of the River Ridge District tournament to Patrick Henry 68-60. The Patriots went on the play for their region title and eventually fell in the state playoffs.
“We don’t play many teams that don’t come into the game hoping to be the ones to knock us off,” Coach Ratcliff said. “Winning puts a target on your back. We’ve got to embrace that. We’ve got to understand that every single night we’re going to get the other teams absolute best shot. We’re the team they all want to beat. They want those bragging rights. If we take a night off or have a bad game, they’ll take advantage of that. The other teams don’t care if we graduated a bunch of good players. They don’t care that we’ve got players coming back from injuries. They just want to beat Pulaski County.”
The Lady Cougars are scheduled to play at Blacksburg Friday, December 15. That will be followed by a Saturday matchup with the Radford Bobcats in the Cougar Den. Hidden Valley is on the schedule for Wednesday, December 20. A home game with Floyd County will be the final game of December, taking place on the 21st.
For a quick look into the future, the Lady Cougar JV squad is currently 4-0 with wins over Carroll County twice, Floyd County and Cave Spring. The Pulaski County Middle School girls team is also shining brightly, with a perfect 13-0 record.
