Cougars down Lord Botetourt for first win of season

By RODNEY YOUNG

Patriot Publishing

Going on the road sometimes is an adventure. Such was the case for the Pulaski County Cougars on Wednesday as they traveled to Daleville to play Lord Botetourt.

With multiple accidents on Interstate 81,  getting to Lord Botetourt became a three-hour jaunt. It delayed the junior varsity and varsity games by over an hour.

The wait was worth it for the varsity Cougars, however, as they defeated the Cavaliers, 51-47.

Led by junior Jalere Harlow’s game high 19 points the Cougars finally won. They played four quarters and finished the game in the fourth quarter. They led at the end of each quarter, a first for the season … 15-10 after one and 24-23 at intermission. The third quarter saw Pulaski County outscore the Cavaliers 15-8 and Lord Botetourt had to use a timeout. The end of quarter saw the Cougars up 39-36 after the Cavaliers scored the last five points of the quarter.

Up 43-40 in the fourth, Justus Hash hit a huge three with 3:30 to go.

Lord Botetourt, however, would battle back to tie the game at 46 with 1:53 left.

The Cougars (1-6) then missed an open layup, but Botetourt missed a jumper.

Harlow then with 29 seconds remaining in the game hit a driving layup and-one. He made the foul shot to put Pulaski County up, 49-46.

Botetourt then would miss another short jumper and Harlow would be fouled with seven seconds showing. He calmly sank both free throws to ice the game, and the Cougar losing streak had come to an end.

Head coach Anthony Akers in a happy locker room said, “We played four quarters tonight. I’m thrilled for our team to get our first win. It’s tough to lose several games when you are in them in the fourth quarter. Perhaps we’ve learned how to play a full four quarters.”

The Cougars enjoyed this one, and the players had smiles on their faces after the game.

Besides Harlow’s 19 points, Hash had 10 points, Tootie O’Dell had eight and Silas Sweet came off the bench to throw in six.

Lord Botetourt got 14 points from Landon Hayes and 10 from Blake Lovern. Lovern had tossed in 30 last week in a winning effort against the Cougars, but O’Dell helped shut him down in this one.

Pulaski County will be back in action after Christmas as they play in the Fort Chiswell First Community Bank Christmas Tournament. They will play Friday, December 27 versus East Wilkes High School of Ronda, North Carolina.

 

PC – 15     15   12 – 51

LB – 10   13 13   11 – 47

 

Scoring – PC – Harlow 19, Hash 10, O’Dell 8, Sweet 6, Lawrence 4, O’Neal 4, LB – Hayes 14, Lovern 10, Dowdy 6, Edwards 6, Whorley 6, Lisle 2, Kish 3

 

3 PT. Goals – PC -5 (Harlow 3, Hash 2), LB -3 (Hayes 2, Whorley)

 

Total Goals – PC – 20, LB – 21

 

FT’s – PC – 6-6, LB – 2-6

 

Fouls – PC – 12, LB –  11

Fouled Out- None

Technicals – None