Pulaski County (Va.) took a 68-66 nail-biter over Shelby Valley (Ky.), highlighted by three of the best offensive performances of the tournament to date.
Pulaski’s Keslyn Secrist poured in 29 points to lead the winners, while point guard Cassidy Rowe (28) and post Alyssa Elswick (24) combined for 52 of the points for Shady Valley.
The Lady Cougars of Pulaski held the lead most of the way, and they seemed to be in control with a 41-30 halftime edge and still maintained around a 10-point advantage into the fourth quarter.
But the Cats came roaring back, and when Rowe dropped in a layup with 1: 22 left to play, the deficit had been trimmed to 65-63. Ally Fleenor made a free throw for Pulaski, but Zoee Johnson answered that foul shot for Shelby Valley to make it 66-64.
Pulaski spread the floor and was able to burn the clock down to seven seconds before being fouled, and Paige Huff converted both charity tosses to improve the lead to 68-64. Rowe’s layup just before the final horn provided the final scoring margin.
In addition to the 29 points registered by Secrist, Huff scored 12 and Hannah Keefer put in 11 for the Cougars. Shelby Valley’s Johnson added 12 points to the 28 by Rowe and the 24 by Elswick to provide most of the scoring attack in a losing effort.
PULASKI (68): Ally Fleenor 3-7 3-5 9, Russell 1-1 2-2 5, Hannah Keefer 5-6 1-2 11, Paige Huff 4-9 3-3 12, Lawson 0-2 0-0 0, Vest 1-3 0-1 2, Keslyn Secrist 10-13 5-5 29. TOTALS: 24-41 14-18 68.
SHELBY VALLEY (66): Alvin 0-2 0-0 0, Meade 1-3 0-0 2, Alyssa Elswick 10-15 4-7 24, Cassidy Rowe 11-21 4-7 28, Johnson 4-6 4-6 12. TOTALS: 26-47 12-20 66.
3-Point Goals: PC—6 (Secrist 4, Russell, Huff). SV—2 (Rowe 2)
PULASKI 19 22 13 14—68
SHELBY VALLEY 12 18 14 22—66
