Oriole hoops split against Indians, build towards Dublin game

By Cody Dalton
sports@southwesttimes.com

PULASKI – Both the Pulaski Middle Schools boy’s and girl’s basketball teams impressed on Monday, as they prepare for the annual rivalry game against Dublin Middle School. The boy’s would win their fame, 50-23, while the girl’s lost in a close contest, 36-33.

Despite getting off to an extremely hot start and leading for most of the game, the Lady Orioles would get into some late foul trouble, losing three of their starters in the process. That helped contribute to a tough 36-33 loss.

“We played really, really well,” said Orioles coach Teresa Taylor. “I was very proud of the girls. I know that the score showed that we did not win the game, but I really think that we played well. We had a lot of girls foul out of the game, but they gave a lot of heart tonight and that’s all I can ask as a coach.”

The Lady Orioles game opened with a bang, as the team scored six straight points. Shuby Shumate and Eric Hamric all have lay ups in the early going. The Indians would mount their own run to follow, as they scored seven straight to take a 7-6 lead.

Pulaski would finish strong in the first though and scored four points to close the quarter. Hamric and Erica Nash would score the late buckets for the Orioles. They would take a 10-7 lead heading into the second.

That late first quarter run continued into the early part of the second for Pulaski, as Kennedi Hart scored an opening lay up and Nash had two straight scores via lay up and a jump shot. That took the Pulaski lead to 16-7.

Pulaski would fall into foul trouble and reached the double bonus in the middle of the second, allowing every foul by Pulaski to turn into free throw chances for the Indians.

The Orioles led 19-10 towards the end of the quarter before Rural Retreat made a huge run. Using their full court press to create turnovers, the Indians would score eight points to close the quarter and tightened the game to 19-18 heading into halftime.

Both teams remained as close as their halftime score all the way through the second half. The third quarter for Pulaski would be all Tyra Redd, as she scored six of the Orioles eight points in the quarter.

The scoring by Redd, accompanied by the Indian’s 1-for-6 shooting on their free throws during the quarter, allowed Pulaski to extend their lead from one to four, 27-23.

Foul trouble would be an issue for the Orioles all game, as the Indians were in the bonus for both the first and second half. That amount of fouls though led to three of the Orioles key players, Kennedi Hart, Tyra Redd, and Eric Hamric, being disqualified after reaching five fouls early in the fourth quarter. That loss of star power would have a huge effect on Pulaski in the quarter.

Poor free throw shooting by the Indians though in the quarter and all game long though would allow the Lady Orioles to stay in the ball game. They would shoot 2-for-12 on their free throws during the fourth and 5-for-29 in the game.

After losing Redd and Hamric, several players for the Orioles would take bigger roles and help out their team. Morgan Midkiff and Courtney Beville both played strong in the final quarter. Midkiff would score on a jumper in the middle of the quarter, tying the game at 33-33. Beville would get a steal on the in-bounds following Midkiff’s basket.

“I think when they all come off the bench, they give us 110 percent,” Taylor said. “That’s all we can ask for. I think they played as a team tonight. I think they did very well and I’m proud of them. So I look forward to Thursday’s game against Dublin.”

However, the great effort put together by Pulaski wouldn’t be enough, as Rural Retreat continued the pressure. They would add a late free throw and a lay up to seal the tough 36-33 win for Rural Retreat.

Eric Hamric, Tyra Redd, and Erica Nash all scored six points for the Orioles in the game.

In the second game of the night, it was the Oriole boy’s using their press and defense to impressively knock off Rural Retreat, 50-23.

The opening half of the contest saw the Orioles work together like a well oiled machine. Logan Alley and Lonnie Maddox had early scores, but the game remained close at 4-2. That would be as close as the Indians would get though, as the Orioles went on a scoring barrage.

Pulaski would create defensive pressure and turnovers from both their full court press and their half court attack. A hand in the passing lane or a steal off of the press would lead to many baskets and helped the Oriole lead grow.

“Once we got in a half court defense, the guys smelled blood,” Goff said. “They went after every steal they could get their hands on and get it and go. We really showed our speed tonight. We don’t have one fast person or two fast people, but we have four or five fast people on the floor at all times for the most part. We are a quick team. We want it to be a track meet when we get on the floor. We’ve conditioned all year for that.”

Towards the end of the quarter, it would be Tyler Blevins working well with teammate Lonnie Mattox, as he dished out two assists for baskets. Mattox would have 10 points in the opening quarter, as the Orioles led 20-8.
The second quarter would see more of the same, as the Orioles had seven players score in the quarter. Blevins would score to open the quarter off of a Mattox miss. Marcus Burks also got a lay up early on, as the Pulaski lead was 22-8.

Mattox would add to his point total, scoring two early baskets off of steals. He would finish the quarter with eight points. The Oriole lead would grow to 40-12 at halftime.

The Pulaski lead would be too big in the second half, as the Indians would only score 11 points, while the Orioles score 10. That 28 point lead held up, as Pulaski picked up another win, 50-23.

Lonnie Mattox led the Orioles with 18 points. Tyler Blevins scored 10 points as well, while Logan Alley added seven points.

Coach Goff was pleased with the victory against Rural Retreat, but looked ahead to the always interesting Dublin-Pulaski rivalry game on Thursday.

“This win gives us some momentum going into Thursday obviously, but we’ve got two big days of practice,” Goff said. “I know this Dublin team isn’t the same team we faced in the tournament early in the year. This is a totally different Dublin team. They’ve improved a lot. I’ve been keeping up with who they’ve been playing and who they’ve beating. It is an impressive list right now. We have go to step our game up or we will lose on Thursday. We have to really step up.”

(12-14-09)