Cougars lose Heartbreaker to Blacksburg

By RODNEY YOUNG

Patriot Publishing

    The Pulaski County boys basketball  team seems to have trouble finishing games. That was the case Friday against the visiting  Bruins of Blacksburg, losing 56-52 

     Up 52-50 with 2:10 left the Cougars took a three point shot that missed badly and the Bruins rebounded. The Bruins’ Caden Byrd would then  hit a short jumper to tie the game at 52 with 1:56 showing on the clock.

      The Cougars would then commit a turnover and the Bruins would also commit a turnover

       Once again with a chance to take the lead the Cougars would miss another shot and the Bruins would bring the ball up to halfcourt before Justus Hash would make a steal and had a break away layup. He would miss the layup, however he got the rebound for a stickback. That shot would also be missed. The two teams would battle for a loose ball and the officials called a jump ball  with the possession arrow going to Blacksburg. 

   The Bruins would get fouled with Aidan Grafsky going to the charity stripe. He  would miss both free throws with :56 seconds to go.

   Pulaski County would commit a huge turnover with 42 seconds left and the Bruins  would get the ball. They worked the ball around and found Rylan McGinnis open on the wing for a three to put them up 55-52 with 14.5 seconds showing on the clock.

   The Cougars would get the ball inbounds and would call a timeout at midcourt with just under 10 seconds to go. After the timeout was over,  play resumed and  the Cougars would commit one last turnover throwing the ball out of bounds right in front of the Cougar bench.

    “We set up a play but we committed a turnover and didn’t get a shot off,”  said Cougar head coach Anthony Akers. He then remarked , “We made too many crucial mistakes  and this one stings.”

     The Cougars went the last 2:10 of the game without scoring a single point. They committed 16 turnovers for the game  and got outrebounded 47-25.  They hit just  19 of 61 shots and made only eight of 29 shots from behind the three-point arc. 

     The Bruins (1-5) were led in scoring by Jose Sanchez with 13 points. Joshua Byun came off the bench to tally 11. McGinnis finished with nine as did Grafsky. 

    Pulaski Co. (2 -4, 1-1)  got 17 points from Braxton Merchant. Jalere Harlow had 11 and Boone Blevins chipped in with 10. 

  The Cougar JV (4-2)  won going away by defeating the young Bruins, 55-33. Braylen Anderson and Ade Jackson both scored 13 points each. Chris Trueheart scored nine and Abijah Hendricks scored six.

   Both of the Cougar teams will play in the First Community Bank Christmas Tournament being held at Fort Chiswell High School. The JV will play Galax at 11 a.m. Saturday, December 27, while the varsity will  also play Galax with that game tipping off at 4 p.m. 

Pulaski Co. 12  13  16  11- 52

Blacksburg  11  18  9  18- 56

Scoring – PC – Merchant 17, Harlow 11, Blevins 10, Bolden 7, Hash 6, Sweet 1, B-burg – Sanchez 13, Byun 11, Grafsky 9, McGinnis 9, West 8, Byrd 6

3-PT. Goals – PC – 8 ( Blevins 2, Hash 2, Merchant 2, Bolden, Harlow), B-burg – 6 ( McGinnis 2, West 2, Byun, Grafsky)

Total FG’s – PC – 19, B-burg – 21

Total FT’s – PC – 6-8, B-burg – 8-20

Total Fouls – PC – 22, B-burg – 13

Fouled Out- None

Technicals- PC – Hash