By Cody Dalton
sports@southwestttimes.com
DUBLIN – 0 wins and 7 losses? Raiven Patterson and the Lady Cougar basketball team have quickly forgotten about that.
Patterson, who had recently returned to the Cougars team after a nagging back injury, made up for lost time by throwing up a last second lay up from the left wing as time expired, giving the Cougars the first ever “Cougar Clash” championship, 39-38, over Fairfax on Wednesday.
Pulaski (4-7) is now a former shell of that 0-7 squad and has now won four straight games since winning on December 23 against George Wythe.
“Just like we have talked about, we are taking steps in the right direction,” said Cougars coach Jason Grubb. “To win a championship is great. To win tonight is great. What we are preparing for is playing well in our district and getting ready for district tournament and region tournament. At the beginning of the season, we talked about this team having aspirations to be champions. I told them that they have the ability to be champions. What is going to determine what level of champions they are is how well they play as a team and how well they condition as an individual. So far, we’ve played well enough to be the “Cougar Clash” Holiday Tournament Champions.”
The Cougars got a much needed boost early in the first from both guard Kasey Holcomb and sizzling sophomore Sydney Anderson. Holcomb and Anderson combined for nine of the Cougars 15 first quarter points.
Lauren Burford, who has committed to Villanova, would be the early power for Fairfax (5-4). She scored six early points in the first quarter and set the tone for her team. Holcomb would continue to play well and got a steal and lay up. She followed that up with a three point shot, as her team led 15-11 after one.
The offensive chess game continued into second quarter. Pulaski would score two quick baskets from Patterson and Anderson, giving them an eight point lead. A key strategy by Coach Jason Grubb though would help keep his players fresh and out of foul trouble by utilizing quick substitutions.
“If we are going to be a full court defensive team, we are going to need to play more kids because we need to be more fresh than the other guys,” Grubb said. “I think we do have a deep team. We do have kids who can come off the bench and play, like Marlena Morrison. We threw her in the game at the end for a purpose and that was to play tough defense on Burford. She was ready to go when she got in the game. Luckily, everyone on this team can contribute, so we’d like to keep it that way.”
Burford remained the Rebels main attack in the second, scoring six more points in the second and 13 of Fairfax’s 22 points at halftime. The Rebels cut the deficit, but Pulaski would take a 24-22 lead into the break.
The great first half play by Burford would continue into the second half. After a Patterson jumper, Burford would score four straight points and tied the game in the process, 26-26. Also impressive in the quarter were Pulaski’s Shaniqua Banks, who made a lay up and three pointer, and Fairfax’s Amanda Gladney, who had two lay ups. That scoring kept things close, 33-30, in favor of Pulaski, as the two teams were headed for a fourth quarter showdown that the crowd and players attending won’t soon forget.
Patterson would score the quarter’s first bucket, but Fairfax stormed back with three straight scores. Lauren Burford, Amanda Gladney, Brianna Gladney, and Liz McNaugton all scored lay ups, which gave the Rebels a 38-35 lead.
The Cougars would get another basket from Patterson, but time started to become a factor. They would attempt to tie up the game after getting a loose ball and timeout with 1:39 remaining. Patterson would find Anderson underneath the basket, but a lay up attempt failed. The two teams would tie up and the possession arrow favored Fairfax.
Fairfax would reach mid-court, take timeout, and regroup. The Cougars would foul out of that timeout and put Caleigh Patterson, who hadn’t even attempted a shot, on the free throw line. She would miss the front of a one-in-one and Pulaski drove down court and took a timeout of their own with just 5.3 seconds remaining. Coach Grubb already had an game plan in place for the attempt to win the game.
“It was all about drawing up a play,” Grubb said. “We wanted to get our kids in scoring position. We looked at the kids on the court and we had to think of their strengths. Kasey Holcomb is our best passer and we had her throwing the ball in. She has been a leader out there offensively and defensively. I said ‘Kasey, we have one timeout left’. I knew she would use it if we needed it. Raiven is a great penetrator for us, so we wanted to get the ball in her hands. We were running Elizabeth [Thacker], who is our top shooter, into the corner. We had Daisy close to the block. If they had collapsed harder on Raiven, then we had a favorable shot in the corner or a favorable post up on the block too.”
The play would work to perfection, as Holcomb found Patterson, who would drive from the top of the key to the bottom left wing. Both Thacker and Ball were covered, so Patterson would throw up a miracle shot that bounced one time and fell into the cylinder as the buzzer sounded. The crowd erupted, as Raiven’s teammates surrounded her with hugs. Quote the Raiven, after the shot.
“He set up a play,” Patterson said. “He said ‘Elizabeth, you screen Raiven. Raiven, go get the ball, drive it, and dish it to Daisy or Elizabeth in the corner’. I thought the time was over, so I shot it real quick. I did like I do every day in practice.”
“I think Raiven never lost confidence in her ability, but I think she is building her confidence in her physical condition,” Grubb said. “You see sometimes when she falls down or gets bumped around, she winces a little bit. She is worried that her back is going to start hurting her again. I think she has done real well.”
Patterson finished with 14 points, three steals, and two assists in the game, the most of any Cougar. She also scored all six points for Pulaski in the fourth. Sydney Anderson added nine points and Shaniqua Banks had seven points for Pulaski. Burford finished with a game-high 21 points and was named Tournament MVP.
Both Kasey Holcomb and Daisy Ball were named to the Tournament First Team for Pulaski. Joining them on the first team were Alexis Lewis of Kerndon, Tiasia McGeorge and Ryjae Anderson from William Fleming, and Lauren Burford of Fairfax.
The Second Team was Chelsea Gallinger and Maegan Henry of Graham, Shannon Lackey of Pathway Christian, Carlon Chambers of Herndon, Amanda Gladney of Fairfax, and Sarah Williams of Patrick Henry.
In the winner’s bracket third place game, two very good teams in Graham and William Fleming squared off. William Fleming played with their nose to the grindstone and built up a huge lead. The G-Men would play all the way until the end though, falling just short, 62-55.
Herndon faced off against Patrick Henry in a match up of size against speed. Herndon would pull away in this game and take the consolation portion of the bracket, 72-45, in the second game on Wednesday. Also in a consolation game, Tallwood defeated Pathway Christian, 66-23, behind 15 points from Shara Fuller.
The Cougars next challenge will begin with district play, as they travel to play the Cave Spring Knights in a week. The Knights are 0-8 on the season. The action kicks off at 6 p.m. with the junior varsity game with the varsity contest slated for 7:30 p.m.
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