The Cougar basketball team traveled to Montgomery County to take on the Blacksburg Bruins Tuesday. The end result was a win for the JV squad and a loss for the varsity.
The varsity squad struggled early but mounted a solid comeback effort to bring the game much closer in the final minutes. The Cougars trailed 17-6 at the end of the first quarter and 34-18 at the end of the second. Pulaski County continued to work hard, but were still outscored 18-17 in the third quarter to trail 52-35 heading into the fourth.
The Cougars saw an offensive explosion in the fourth quarter, outscoring the Bruins 26-19. Kyle O’Neal hit three big three-pointers in that time. Tootie O’Dell scored five and Lane Nester added seven to help the Cougar cause. Unfortunately, it was too little, too late and Pulaski County fell by a final score of 61-71.
Lane Nester led Pulaski County with a team and game high 22 points. Kyle O’Neal added 16 points. Tootie O’Dell scored seven. Jeremiah Turner and Khalib Horton scored six points each. Joel Burchett added the final four points.
Wade Bland and Chandler Montgomery led the Bruins with 16 points each. Spencer Campbell added 15 points and Xavier Bland scored 14.
With the loss, the Cougars fall to 5-14 on the season.
The junior varsity Cougars won their second in a row and moved to 13-5 on the season with a 61-43 win over the younger Bruins. The Cougars outscored Blacksburg in three of the four quarters to bring home the victory.
Jalere Harlow led the way with 24 points. Justus Hash backed him up with 21 points. Johnny Anderson, Tanner Crawford, and Braxton Merchant added four points each. Silas Sweet scored three points and Bryant Nottingham scored one.
The Cougars will be back on the road Thursday in Roanoke taking on the Cave Spring Knights. Tuesday, February 7, the Cougars will host the Salem Spartans. Thursday, February 9, will be the final home game of the regular season as the Cougars host the Radford Bobcats. JV action begins at 5:30 p.m. and the varsity contests begin at approximately 7 p.m.