With a bench that looked more like an emergency room waiting room, the Lady Cougar basketball team took a tough 26-42 loss Friday against the 14-4 Patrick Henry Patriots. The loss moves Pulaski County to 9-8 on the season.
The game started with the two teams scoring 10 points each in the opening quarter, but by the halftime break Patrick Henry held an 18-14 lead. The Patriots put on the pressure to open the third quarter, outscoring the Lady Cougars 18-3 to open up their lead to 36-17. Senior Hannah Keefer scored all 12 of the Pulaski County second half points, nine of those in the fourth quarter.
Keefer led the Lady Cougars with 18 points. Reese Nolan added six and Morgan Price scored two points in the loss. Patrick Henry was led by Murray State commit Jada Cook with 18 points.
The junior varsity contest was a completely different situation, with Pulaski County pounding the Patriots by a final score of 55-6. The Patriots went scoreless in the first half and didn’t score their first basket of the game until near the end of the third quarter.
The Lady Cougars scored 17 in the first quarter, 18 in the second, 14 in the third, and six in the fourth with the bench cleared early and all players involved. Peyton Harper led the Lady Cougars with 12 points. Ellie Russell added 11 points. Kaliyah Green scored eight. Brooke Millirons and Dayonna Lewis added seven points each. Ellie MacDonald scored six. Lylah Minnick and Palyn Sweet scored two points each.
With the win, the JV Lady Cougars move to 16-0 on the season. They've actually only been able to play 15 games due to a forfeit win over Radford earlier.
The Lady Cougars will now prepare for a rematch with Princeton, West Virginia, set for Tuesday at the Cougar Den. Thursday, the Lady Cougars will travel to Christiansburg. JV action for those games will begin at 5:30 p.m. followed by the varsity matchups. Saturday will be an early game with the Lady Cougars hosting Blacksburg. JV action for those games will begin at noon, followed by the varsity matchups.