The Cougar basketball team hosted the Graham G-Men Wednesday evening with the hopes of continuing the progress they showed Tuesday against Hidden Valley. Instead, the Cougars fell to the G-Men by a final score of 39-63.
Tuesday, the Cougars hosted the Hidden Valley Titans. The outcome was a much-needed win by a final score of 70-64. Pulaski County looked smooth in that game, moving the ball well and taking well planned shots from both the inside and outside. The Cougars hit eight three pointers, four from coming from senior Kyle O’Neal and three from junior Lane Nester. Senior Khalib Horton hit the final longshot.
The JV Cougars also put another notch in the win column, this time with a score of 55-46. Sophomore Will O’Neal was good for 12 points and freshman Silas Sweet added 10.
Wednesday, the JV squad continued their winning ways with an impressive 51-42 win over the G-Men. Pulaski County outscored Graham in each of the four quarters and looked confident throughout the matchup. Sophomore Johnny Anderson led the charge with 12 points. Freshmen Justus Hash and Sweet added nine points each. Freshman Bryant Nottingham added seven and Will O’Neal scored five. Freshmen Sammy Carrasco and Jalere Harlow, along with sophomores Chase Lawrence and Tanner Crawford, scored two each in the win to move the JV squad to 9-2 on the season.
The varsity contest was a much different story. The G-Men came out strong and led 14-1 at one point before a three-pointer left the score 19-4 at the end of the first quarter. The Cougars seemed to wake up somewhat in the second period but were still outscored 18-16 to trail 37-20 at the halftime break.
Graham continued to apply pressure on both ends of the floor. Each team added 11 points in the third quarter, but Graham outscored the Cougars 15-8 in the fourth to hand the Cougars a 39-63 loss that was never in question.
Tootie O’Dell led the Cougars with eight points. Kyle O’Neal scored six. Joel Burchett and Jele Green added five points each. Jeremiah Turner, Lane Nester, and Marcus Reed added four points each. Khalib Horton scored three points. The Cougars hit five-of-eight from the free-throw line and added two three-pointers to their season total.
Graham was led by Markel Ray with 21 points and Jamez Floyd with 17 points. The G-Men hit five-of-seven free throws and added six three-pointers.
The Cougars are scheduled to be back in action at 9 a.m. Saturday, January 7, as the opening game that day in the Chance Harmon Classic Memorial Basketball Tournament at Floyd County High School. The tournament raises awareness and research for the medical advancement of Pediatric Brain Cancer. The CHMF was formed in 2007 to honor Chance Harman, the son of Brian and Desirae Harman, and his battle with Atypical Teratoid Rhabdoid Tumor, a rare form of a medulloblastoma childhood brain tumor also known as ATRT. Through the strong support of a small community in Southwest Virginia, CHMF has grown into the premier regional prep basketball event in Virginia.