Cougar girls blast Titans, 72-24

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Paige Huff scored 13 points Tuesday night against Hidden Valley. (Brian Bishop/PC Patriot)

The Pulaski County girls pushed their record to 9-0 in River Ridge District play, and 14-5 overall with a dominating, 72-24 victory over Hidden Valley Tuesday evening at PCHS. The Titans fell to 1-8, and 1-17 with the defeat.

     There was only 2:56 left in the first quarter when Hidden Valley finally got its first basket, and by then Pulaski Co. was on top, 20-0. The Cougars dominated the backboards all night, intimidated the Titan offense with defensive pressure on the ball, and forced the Titans into 30 turnovers. So dominating was the PCHS defense that HV only got six shots the first quarter, was one for 11 in the third quarter, and only got six shots up again in the fourth quarter.
     “We made some good things happen early with our pressure defense. We got everybody involved, and when you force turnovers you get some easy baskets and it makes the game easy to play,” said Cougar coach Brad Sutphin. “We dressed 12 players and played 12, they all got shots, and 10 of them scored. That makes it fun for everybody. We just got to keep it rolling.”
     The Cougar gals are certainly rolling. They have not lost since a holiday game at Spotswood on January 2, and have now won 10 games in a row. The team plays at Blacksburg Friday, and returns home next Tuesday to face Cave Spring as the regular season is winding down.
     The score was 31-6 at the end of the first quarter, 47-14 at the half, and 68-20 after three quarters. PCHS ran its half court offense and ran the clock down by moving the ball, and took just four shots in the fourth quarter and scored only four points.
     The Cougars hit 28  of 60 shots for the game, 47%. Hidden Valley finished nine of 35, 26%. The Titans made only three baskets the second half, all three by Bailey Parker who led the Titans with 12 points.
     Pulaski Co. got outstanding balance. Paige Huff finished with 13 points on five of 12 shooting. Courtney Cregger finished with 11 hitting five of eight, and one of two from the free throw line. Maddie Ratcliff was four of eight from the field for nine points, and Ally Fleenor four of nine and one for one at the line for nine points. Keslyn Secrist hit every shot she took, three of three from the field and two of two from the line for eight points. Erin Russell scored seven, Taryn Blankenship six, Hanna Walson four, Kassidy Secrist three, and Alaina Akers two. The Cougars made 10 of 13 free throws.
Special Moment:
    The Pulaski County girls basketball team requested a special moment before the game with Hidden Valley to honor their number one fan Ronnie Kemp who passed away Sunday. A moment of silence was observed in Kemp’s memory who battled illness, but still managed to get to every home game to watch the girls play. His last game was the dramatic overtime win over Patrick Henry last Friday.
By DAN CALLAHAN, The Patriot