Cougars Upend Fort Chiswell, to face Radford in Fort Chiswell tourney
By RODNEY YOUNG
Patriot Publishing
The second round of the First Community Bank/ Fort Chiswell Christmas Tournament saw the Pulaski County Cougars defeat the host school Fort Chiswell Pioneers 80-72.
The win sends the Cougars into the championship game Tuesday night against Radford. They were led in scoring by Jalere Harlow with 31 points. Braxton Merchant had a double-double as he tossed in 18 points and grabbed 10 rebounds. Boone Blevins knocked down four-threes and finished with 16, while Silas Sweet chipped in with 11 points.
Fort Chiswell got 31 points from Owen Jackson and Kenton Sutphin scored 21 in a losing effort.
The Cougars (4-4) came out on fire scoring 26 points in the opening quarter, hitting the bottom of the net four times from downtown.
Blevins hit three of those and Harllow one. They led 26-12 at the end of the quarter and took a 44-34 advantage into intermission. Harlow had scored 17 first half points on a number of drives and knocking down three -threes. Blevins finished the first half with 14 points.
The third quarter saw the Cougars score 19 more points and gave up 14 to the Pioneers for a 63-48 score going into the final stanza.
Fort Chiswell would keep battling and would cut into the Cougar lead as they cut it just five, 73-68 with three minutes left. Merchant would score a big bucket and hit four consecutive free throws to put the game on ice down the stretch.
“This was a complete team win,” said Cougar head coach Anthony Akers, in a jubilant locker room. He then added, “I’m so proud of how we played here tonight. We played hard and played as a team. Everybody played their role.”
Fort Chiswell head coach Derrick Jackson said, “We got down early and had to battle to try to get back into the game. We got it to five points but the Cougars made plays. Jackson (Owen) and Kenton (Sutphin) had to earn their points. I like how we battled, but we fell too far behind early.” The Cougars shot 35 percent from behind the three-point line and 58 percent for the game from the field.
Pulaski County will face Radford for the tourney championship with the game tipping at 8:30 p.m. Tuesday at Fort Chiswell High School.
The Cougar junior varsity (6-2) defeated the Cardinals of East Wilkes (NC) 63-32. The win puts the junior varsity into the championship games versus Radford. Tip time will be Tuesday afternoon at 2:45 pm.
The JV team got 17 points from Ade Jackson, 14 from Abijah Hendricks and nine from Braylen Anderson and Landon Matney.
In other varsity second round games, East Wilkes was victorious over Galax, 70-59. East Wilkes got 18 points from Brooks Henderson and 13 from Holden Spicer. Galax was led by Sean Lundy’s 26 points and Tommy Jones’ 13.
Carroll County routed the Bland County Bears 80-47. The Cavaliers got a game-high 27 points from Isaiah Easter and 16 from Colton Gravley. Bland County was paced by Gavin Lance with 17 and Elijah May with 12 points.
The nightcap contest saw the Radford Bobcats outlast the Green Wave of Narrows, 71-58. Radford was paced by Jaden Hendricks with a game-high 25 points and Keymoni Kimbrough tossed in 10. Narrows was led by Elijah Knoetze with 24 points and Hayden Ferrell with 14.
Narrows head coach Patrick Bailey said, “Radford shot the heck out of it. I’m proud of my team and how we battled and fought. We made runs to get their lead down to three a couple times but didn’t get the big bucket.”
PC – 26 18 19 17-80
FC – 12 22 14 24-72
Scoring- PC – Harlow 31, Merchant 18, Blevins 16, Sweet 11, Hash 4, Fort Chiswell – Jackson 31, Sutphin 21, L.Eversole 6, E. Eversole 6, Armbrister 5, Crockett 3
3 Pt. Goals- PC – 7 ( Blevins 4,Harlow 3), FC – 8 (Sutphin 5, Jackson, Armbrister, Crockett)
Total FG’s – PC – 32, FC – 23
FT’s – PC – 9 of 11, FC – 18-24
Total Fouls – PC – 20, FC – 14
Fouled Out- None
Technicals- None
