(Lady Cougar Head Coach Scott Ratcliff explains things to the JV squad during their game)
The Lady Cougar basketball program hosted the Princeton Tigers Thursday evening. The JV Lady Cougars found themselves in an unfamiliar position, falling in overtime, and despite a win by the varsity squad, no one was pleased with the overall effort.
“It was disappointing,” Lady Cougar Head Coach Scott Ratcliff said. “Our JV squad went up there back in December and we beat them by 21 points. Princeton got better for sure, but we just plain stunk it up tonight. We had too many turnovers, poor free throw shooting. Three key players fouled out. It was just sloppy and that’s not what we do.”
The game started with the younger Lady Cougars ahead 20-13 at the end of the first quarter. Pulaski County only outscored the Tigers 9-7 in the second quarter, leaving them up 29-20 at the halftime break.
“Our girls came out like a different team in the second half,” Coach Ratcliff said. “We got outscored and outhustled. Princeton played smarter than we did and they wanted it more. Our body language showed that the entire time.”
After the Tigers outscored the Lady Cougars 12-6 in the third, they rebounded to outhustle the Lady Cougars 17-14 in the fourth quarter to send the game into a three-minute overtime period. Unfortunately for Pulaski County, the Tigers won that period 8-4 as well to earn the 57-57 overtime win.
Emma Ritter scored 14 points but fouled out. Palyn Sweet and Taylor Goble added 13 points each. Caroline Bishop added four points. Morgan Price added three. Sydney Phibbs, Sophia Hanson, and Victoria Hale added two points each in the loss, with Phibbs and Hanson fouling out.
“It was tough to watch at times,” Ratcliff added. “This team has so much talent and potential, but they seem like they have been really off the past few games. I’m hoping they can pull themselves together and get back on track soon. They’ve only got four games left and if they play those like they did tonight, it might not be a lot of fun.”
In the varsity contest things were different, but still not up to the standard Ratcliff was expecting. Pulaski County came away with the 52-27 win, but only scored 16 points in the second half. Fortunately, the Lady Cougars had built up a quick 17-2 lead after one quarter and led 36-11 at halftime.
Paige Huff led the charge for Pulaski County with 13 points, including three three-pointers. Tori Vest and Keslyn Secrist added nine points each. Jaden Lawson added eight points. Morgan Vest, Andi Ratcliff, and Hannah Keefer scored four points each. Destiny Duncan added one point in the win.
Maddie Stull led the Tigers with 10 points.
With the loss, the JV Lady Cougars are now 14-2 on the season. The varsity squad moves to 15-3 with their win.
“We’ve got four games left in the regular season,” Ratcliff said. “We need to get things back on the right path and get ready for the playoffs. We’ve got Hidden Valley Friday night, then Blacksburg Tuesday. Cave Spring is our final home game of the season next Friday. We close out the regular season at Salem Tuesday the seventh. It’s time to tighten things up and get our minds right. We’re going to get everyone’s absolute best from here on out. We better be ready for that or we’re going to get our feeling hurt real quick.”