The Blacksburg Bruins showed signs of improvement since the last time the two teams played, but in the end the Pulaski County Lady Cougars simply overpowered the Bruins in the JV and varsity contests Tuesday evening in the Cougar Den.
“We didn’t look bad, but we’ve still got plenty of work to do,” Lady Cougar Head Coach Scott Ratcliff said. “It’s hard to find a lot of negatives when you see five of your six players that are dressed score and three of those are in double figures. Blacksburg is getting better and they’re doing the right things. They’re going to keep improving as their young players learn and grow. A lot of the teams on our schedule are in that same position. We need to focus on competing against ourselves every night. We need to focus on being fundamentally sound and eliminating as many little mistakes as we can.”
Blacksburg hung tough at the start of the game, but by the end of the first quarter Pulaski County led 24-12. The Lady Cougars continued to score but applied more defensive pressure as the game went on. They outscored Blacksburg 15-10 in the second quarter to lead 39-22 at halftime.
The third quarter the Bruins were held to just five points, but the Lady Cougars scored 28 to take their lead to 67-27. A running clock in the fourth saw Blacksburg outscore the Lady Cougars 7-4, but Pulaski County finished with the 71-34 victory.
Paige Huff led all scorers with 23 points. Keslyn Secrist backed her up with 18 points and Hannah Keefer added 14 points. Andi Ratcliff and Jaden Lawson added five points each. Tori Vest scored four points and Kenzlee Jones scored two. With the win, the Lady Cougars move to 17-3 on the season.
Blacksburg was led by Riley Price with 12 points and Kalyn Brawley with eight.
The junior varsity squad also earned another win, 55-46, to improve their record to 16-2 on the season. Palyn Sweet was the leading Pulaski County scorer with 13 points. Emma Ritter and Sarah Ritter added 10 points each. Sophia Hanson scored nine points. Taylor Goble added six. Sydney Phibbs scored four points and Ellie MacDonald scored three.
“We’re in a pretty good place right now, but we can always get better,” Coach Ratcliff said. “If we ever want to get a ring, we can’t ever be satisfied. Our coaches are going to keep yelling and pushing. We need to get the absolute best out of every player every time we take the court.”
Pulaski County will host Cave Spring Friday, February 3, in the final home game of the regular season. It will also be senior night. Tuesday, February 7, the Lady Cougars will close out the regular season with a road trip to Salem. JV action begins each night at 5:30 p.m. followed by the varsity contests at approximately 7 p.m.