Cougars’ comeback downs Titans
By RODNEY YOUNG
Patriot Publishing
Down 14 with under two minutes left in the third quarter and down 31-43 going into the final quarter, the Pulaski County Cougars outscored the Hidden Valley Titans 31-9 to win the game, 62-52.
It wasn’t the best game the Cougars had played, but it definitely was the best fourth and best quarter they had played all season.
Justus Hash led the Cougars in scoring with 20 points. Senior Lane Nester tallied 19 and Jalere Harlow tossed in seven.
The Titans got 13 points from Riley Phillips, eight from Wynn Womeldorf and eight from Braxton Nichols.
The fourth quarter saw the Cougars score six points to cut the deficit to six at 37-43. The Titans hit one of two foul shots to go up, 44-37 with 6:20 left.
Pulaski County senior Nester would hit a three and then hit a jumper to bring them to within two, 44-42.
After a couple Cougar misses, Hidden Valley’s Phillips hit a jumper and Steele Torrence hit one of two foul shots to put them up 47-42, with 4:09 to go.
Pulaski County kept battling and scrapping as Tootie O’Dell hit a huge three and then Hash hit two shots from the foul line to tie the game at 47-all with 3:30 remaining.
After another Titan missed shot, Hash hit a three to finally put the home team up 50-47 with 2:50 to go. Nester would then hit two jumpers on their next two possessions for a seven point lead at 54-47.
The Titans’ Wyatt Clarke would get fouled and he hit one of two from the charity strip to make it, 54-48
The Cougars would then get fouled as Hash hit both foul shots. Another Hidden Valley miss and foul would send Chandler Hollins to the line. He hit both, putting the Cougars up 58-48 with the clock showing 33.1 seconds left.
Phillips would hit two jumpers making it 58-52 and once again the Titans would foul, sending Nester to the line as he sank both freebies. The Titans would miss a jumper and would foul sending Hash to the line and he calmly sank both, for the final 62-52 score.
“This was a huge win for this team, this program and this community, and a much-needed win,” said a happy Cougar head coach Anthony Akers.
The Cougars were down 16-13 after the first quarter and 27-24 at intermission. They were behind for the game until Hash’s three with 2:50 left in the contest.
PC – 13 11 7 31- 62
HV – 16 11 16 9 – 52
Scoring- PC – Hash 20, Nester 19, Harlow 7, Hollins 5, Reed 5, 0’Dell 5, Anderson 1, HV – Phillips 13, Nichols 8, W. Womeldorf 9, N. Womeldorf 4, Clarke 7, Torrence 5, Getz 4, Bartlett 2
3-PT. Goals – PC – 7 ( Hash 4, Nester , O’Dell, Harlow), HV – 3 ( Nichols 2, W. Womeldorf )
Total FG’s – PC – 20, HV – 21
FT’s – PC – 15-22, HV – 7-11
Fouls – PC – 12, HV – 21
Fouled Out- None
Technicals – None
JV – PC – 60 , HV – 29