TOP 8 advances to playoffs – based on winning percentage

BOYS

1. GW -Danville 15-4
2. E C Glass 13-4
3. Jefferson Forest 12-6
4. Bassett 11-7
5. Pulaski Co. 10-7
6. Amherst Co. 10-9
7. Charlottesville 9-9
8. Wm. Byrd 6-12
9. LCA 5-11
10. Blacksburg 5-12
11. Salem 5-13
12. Carroll Co. 2-15

Roanoke…You knew it was going to be a tough night at Patrick Henry when you try to get into the school but all the doors are locked and the ticket lady had to buzz you into the hallway leading to the Patriot gym. Later it was overheard that there had been a fight at the pep rally earlier in the day resulting in all the security!

The Cougars led most of the game playing perhaps their best defensive game, but during the last two (2) minutes things went against them as they lost to Patrick Henry 48-44. Down 42-39 and with the ball the Cougars got called for an offensive foul, giving the Patriots the ball with 1:35 to go. They were then called for a foul on defense, and the next thing you know, the Cougars bench was called for a technical and three points later the game was basically over with just under a minute to go.

The technical was very questionable at best. All the coaches were in the coach’s box, no foul language was used but the Cougar bench was still called for a technical.

The Cougars led after the first quarter, at halftime and also going into the fourth quarter. They shot just eight (8) foul shots as the homesteading Patriots shot 21. The Cougars were called for 17 fouls to the Patriots 10.

Patrick Henry (9-7, 6-2) got 15 points and 13 rebounds from forward Tee Bryan. Noah Woody bulled his way for 13 points and John Stockstill finished with 10 and of those coming in the last 4:30 of the game, half of the points coming from the charity stripe. The Patriots shot 14 free throws in the last three and half minutes of the closely contested game.

Senior forward Braeden Blevins led Pulaski Co. as he scored 13 points and grabbed eight rebounds. CC Grubb and Logan Robertson both knocked in 11 points apiece. “We played well enough to win the game defensively,” said a very disappointed Cougar head coach Andrew Hart. “Patrick Henry got some plays down the stretch and we didn’t. We needed to rebound better against them and we didn’t make enough shots late. I’m proud of how we battled tonight.”

The Cougars lead 11-7 after opening quarter as Logan Robertson had five of those points. They would take a 22-17 advantage into intermission as Robertson had eight points at halftime.

The third quarter shows the Patriots take a 26-24 lead but the Cougars battled back on a couple shot-in-shots from Blevins to help the Cougars to a 30-27 lead.

Up 34-32 at the 5:15 mark of the fourth quarter, the Cougars committed a couple turnovers by the press that was being applied by the Patriots. Stockstill would hit a jumper and a couple free throws to put them into the lead.

The Cougars were without a couple of their players due to injury and sickness.

The Cougar junior varsity lost their third consecutive game to the Patriots 58-36. The junior team was missing three players due to illness as well and never was in the game. The Patriots got 13 points from Capone Otey and Alex Faulkner. Dillon Porter led the Cougars and Hayden Gray with nine points apiece. Luke Russell scored six. The interesting thing about the Patrick Henry junior varsity squad as they had five or six different players on their roster than the first time the two teams met, back just three weeks ago at Pulaski Co.

 

Patrick Henry (48) – Bryan 15, Stockstill 10, Woody 13, Hamlet 4, Hicks 4, Caldwell 2

 

Pulaski Co. (44) – Grubb 11, Blevins 13, Robertson 11, Akers 7, Jackson 2

 

PH – 9 8 10 21 – 48

PC – 11 11 8 14 – 44

 

 

3 PT. Goals – PH – 4- (Stockstill, Hicks, Bryan, Woody) , PC – 4 – Robertson 2, Grubb, Akers)

 

Total FGs – PH – 15, PC – 17

 

FTs – PH – 14 of 21, PC – 6 of 8

 

Total Fouls – PH – 10, PC – 17

 

Fouled Out-None

 

Technicals – Cougar Bench

Dublin…Well, there’s a big difference between day and night. So it was with the Pulaski Co. Cougars boy’s basketball team in this game versus William Byrd.

The Cougars offense almost became null and void in the second half as they scored only 20 points the whole half and only four points the last 5:20 of the game as they lost to William Byrd 62-54. It was the lowest point output for the Cougars since their game at Radford back on December 22, 2017. It was the third lowest points scored in the16 games they have played.

Beside the Cougars futility on offense, the Terriers (6-11) were a lot better as they scored almost one-third of their second half points from the free throw line. Terrell Smith led the Terriers with 26 points as he hit 13 of 14 free throws. The only other scorer in double figures for them was Landon Johnson as he hit four three-pointers for 12 points.

The Cougars (10-6) put four players into double figures as Dre Grubb had 12, Braeden Blevins, C C Grubb and James Jackson all had 10 points apiece.

“We were selfish the second half. We didn’t take good shots and we didn’t take care of the basketball,” said a very disappointed Cougar head coach Andrew Hart. “We scored what, 26 points in the second quarter and then we only score 20 the entire second half. Byrd’s defense was the same the second half as they started the game with. We made them come out of that in the second quarter, but we just struggled the whole second half.” When told the score was 52-50 Byrd with 5:20 left in the game after Kade Akers three-pointer and you only scored four points rest of the game, Coach Hart remarked, “We were just terrible on shot selection. We had three or four possessions to tie or go ahead and didn’t get the job done. Just terrible on offense the whole second half! “

The Cougars found themselves down 16-8 after the first quarter as they started extremely slow. They found themselves down by 11 points early in the second quarter put fought their way back to take a 34-32 lead into intermission. They had their biggest lead of the game 40-32 with 3:45 to go in the third quarter only to see Byrd go on a 9-1 run to tie the game at 41 all and Byrd went up 44-43 going into final stanza.

The Terriers outscored the Cougars 18-9 from the charity stripe in the game with most of that coming late to salt the game away. As the Cougars just couldn’t put the ball in the basket. The Cougars also saw starting forward Benjamin Poe go down early in the first quarter with a badly sprained ankle. He was seen with a walking boot and crutches leaving the gym after the game. The loss also hurt the Cougars in Region D of the playoffs standings.

The Cougar junior varsity lost their second straight game as the young Terriers 44-41 defeated them. Jeffrey Williams led Wm. Byrd with 12 points. The Cougars got 16 from Hayden Gray. Luke Russell finished with nine. The Cougar junior varsity record is now 11-4.

Pulaski Co. now will travel to Roanoke to take on the Patriots of Patrick Henry Friday night. Junior varsity starts at 5:30 and varsity around 7:00 pm.

 

 

Wm. Byrd 16 16 12 18-62

Pul. Co. 8 26 9 11-54

 

 

WB – T. Smith 26, Johnson 12, Livingstone 4, Adams 5, Seymour 9, C. Smith 2, Cruff 4

 

PC – D. Grubb 12, Jackson 10, Blevins 10, C. Grubb 10, Robertson 3, Poe 2, Akers 6, Reinhardt 1

 

 

3 PT. Goals – WB – 6-(Johnson 4, Seymore, T. Smith), PC – 7- ( D. Grubb 3, Akers 2, Blevins, C. Grubb)

 

 

Total FGs – WB- 19, PC – 19

 

FTs – WB – 18-23, PC – 9 of 16

 

Total Fouls – WB – 18, PC – 18

 

Fouled Out – WB – Adams, C. Smith

 

Technicals- None

BOYS

Wm. Byrd 62 Pul Co. 54

Geo. Wythe 76 Carroll Co. 60

Grayson Co. 51 Alleghany (NC) 30

Chilhowie 79 Tazewell 66

Blacksburg 59 Auburn 56 – 3 OT’s

Graham 78 Va. High 43

Bath Co. 67 Stuart Hall 63

Patrick Henry 54 Wm. Fleming 34

GIRLS

Wm. Byrd 46 Pulaski Co. 38