The 2018-19 basketball season brought something very special to Pulaski County. A young group of talented freshmen and a handful of upperclassmen beat the odds, making it to the State Championship game in Richmond. They didn’t win that game. They also didn’t win a district or region title that season. What they did accomplish, however, was to revamp a program that hadn’t seen a district title since the 2010-11 season.
For the next four seasons, Pulaski County was the team to beat. They won four straight Region Championships, ruled the River Ridge District for three of those seasons, and finished as the State runners-up for three out of five years beginning in the 18-19 season. Over that five years, the Lady Cougars put together of 105-25.
This season, things were tougher. Several key players were lost to graduation. Immediately after their loss in the State Championship game to Hampton, a player went down with a knee injury. She slowly recovered, but there would be more. Another player missed the first few games with a foot injury, then another player injured her ankle. She recovered, only to suffer a wrist injury. Another key player was lost to a foot injury.
For a long stretch of the season, Pulaski County didn’t have the same starting lineup for well over a month. Younger players were called on to step into starting roles.
Meanwhile, the competition each game wasn’t dealing with the same issues. After five years of being on the losing end, the only thing they wanted was to beat Pulaski County. Teams like Patrick Henry, Salem, and Carroll County continued to build their programs up.
Pulaski County traveled to Hillsville Tuesday to take on the top ranked and two-time defending State Champions, the Cavaliers, on their home court. The Lady Cougars made a game of it getting to within four points with just over 26 seconds remaining in the game. With two starters on the bench fouled out, it was simply too much to overcome and Pulaski County fell 55-62.
The game started with the Cavaliers taking a 13-9 lead at the end of the first quarter. At halftime, they had expanded their lead by four more points, 31-23. Carroll County won the third quarter 19-11 to take a 50-34 lead into the final period.
Despite being in foul trouble, the Lady Cougars kept coming. Big three pointers from Taylor Goble and seven hard-earned points from Morgan Vest brought the team in range. Jaden Lawson scored a bucket before being called for her fifth foul with just over three minutes remaining. Andi Ratcliff was called for her fifth foul just a minute later. Carroll County player Alyssa Ervin hit six of her 44 points in the final period, including four of six free throws to ice the game.
Hannah Keefer led Pulaski County with 18 points, including two big three-pointers. Morgan Vest left fans with a preview of what she can be next season, scoring 15 very hard-earned points in the paint. Taylor Goble was good for 11 points. Kenzlee Jones, in her second game back from a wrist injury, added eight points. Jaden Lawson added three points, but her defensive efforts didn’t go unnoticed.
The Lady Cougars were called for 23 fouls. Carroll County had 11. The Lady Cougars hit six of 15 free throws. In the first half, they were only able to convert on three of 10 attempts. Carroll County made 15 of 27 free throw attempts. Ervin was good for 11 of 15 from the charity stripe and three from behind the three-point line.
Pulaski County ends the season with a final record of 13 wins and 11 losses. They were third in the River Ridge District at 7-5 behind Patrick Henry (23-4, 14-0) and Salem (23-3, 11-3). All three of the district losses for Salem were against Patrick Henry.
“Turnovers and missed free throws really hurt us tonight,” Lady Cougar Head Coach Scott Ratcliff said. “I don’t have the exact number of turnovers yet, but I’m going to guess it was a lot. You can’t do that and expect to win against a bunch like Carroll County. Credit to our girls for fighting through to the end. It hurts the seniors as much or more than anybody to see it all come to an end. I can’t say how much we all appreciate their hard work and efforts through the years. We’re going to miss them for sure.”
With the season now official over, Coach Ratcliff was very clear that this was not what fans should expect to see in the future.
“Hey, we caught some tough breaks, but I’d still put this team against anybody in the state,” he said. “We’re going to get a little rest, then get right back on it. How we end up at the end of next season will be determined by how much our girls buy into what we’re going to do during the off season. We’ve got a lot of work to do, but I think we’ve got a pretty good crew coming up to get things done. We’ll be back, you can count on it.”
The Lady Cougar future does seem bright. The JV squad finished the season with a perfect 21-0 record. The Pulaski County Middle School Lady Cougars finished their second straight 17-0 season. Teamwork and dedication to the mission will be the final deciding factor when Ratcliff and the Lady Cougars take the court next season.