Somerset — Just how bad are things going for Brian Miller and the Pulaski County Lady Maroons?

Well, to say adversity is staring PC squarely in the face would be an understatement of epic proportions.

Pulaski County limped (literally) into the Briar Patch last night for its 47th District game against home-standing Somerset, riding a nine-game losing streak, not having won a game since its own Christmas Tournament way back on December 30th.

On top of that, compounding matters for the Lady Maroons was the fact that PC had two starters, Shelbie Phelps and Mariah Meeks, diagnosed with mononucleosis earlier in the week, making last night’s game against the Lady Jumpers an even bigger challenge.

And, the Lady Maroons were up to that challenge early on, but in the end, Somerset had just too many weapons on this night.

Rolisa Jones led everybody with a game-high 23 points, while teammate Lori Thomas chipped in with 16 points, as Chris Adkins and crew improved to 15-6 on the season, with an 81-52 victory over Pulaski County.

So coach Adkins, was part of the game plan to try to wear down a young PC team with a roster depleted due to mono?

You bet.

“We’re playing 10, 11, 12 girls every night consistently, and that’s part of what we’re trying to do every night,” stated Adkins after his club’s impressive win.

“The more pressure we can put on teams the better off we’re going to be,” added the SHS coach.

Early on, PC hung with the Lady Jumpers for almost a half at least.

Brooke Cable tallied 10 of her team-high 14 points in the opening half, while eighth grader Virginia Scott scored six points in the opening frame, helping to keep the Lady Maroons close in the early going.

But, it was a late turnover to end the first half, and a quick start by Somerset at the beginning of the third period which enabled the Lady Jumpers to finally put this one away.

With PC trailing Somerset 33-26 with just :12 left to play in the first half, the Lady Maroons turned the ball over to Somerset against the Lady Jumpers press, and Somerset converted that miscue into a basket just before the half ended.

In the early seconds of the third quarter, Jones got the scoring underway with an old-fashioned three-point play, followed up by a three-point basket by Thomas on another PC turnover.

All of a sudden, in just a matter of seconds in actual game time, a 33-26 Somerset lead had ballooned out to a 41-26 Lady Jumper lead, as this one began slipping away from the Lady Maroons.

“That was a big swing when they went on that 8-0 run right there at the end of the first half and the start of the third quarter,” stated Miller.

“We were down seven late in the first half when they started that run, and that was a big run for them, and you have to give them credit,” Miller said. “You have to tip your cap to them, because they did a good job of executing when we made some mistakes there, and that’s what we have to do a better job of in taking care of the basketball. You simply can not make excuses. You just have to go out there every day and compete as hard as you can, and that’s what we’re going to do.”

With that very comfortable 15-point lead, Somerset was never really threatened by PC again in the second half of play, as Adkins’ club methodically began to pull away from Pulaski County.

Somerset outscored the Lady Maroons by a 46-26 margin in the second half, and it was a total team effort.

Mariko Krause tallied all 11 of her points after the intermission for the Lady Jumpers, while Tiarra Barnes scored seven of her 10 points in the second half as well.

Yes, things got ugly for PC in that decisive second half, with Somerset forcing Miller’s club into 22 turnovers for the game.

With the loss, PC has now dropped 10 consecutive games to fall to 10-13 on the year, but Miller is adamant that his club is not about to make excuses one bit for the current situation and adversity that his young team is having to deal with at this juncture of the season.

“Our kids stepped up tonight, and it’s just one of those things, when kids go down, it allows opportunities for other kids to step up,” Miller remarked.

“I feel like everything happens for a reason, and I told the kids before this game started that we’re missing a lot with who was out, but that it was a situation where some other kids had a chance to step up and get some minutes,” said the PC head coach. “Our kids played hard again, and that’s all we can ask them to do.”

With the win, Somerset improved to 15-6 on the year, and the Lady Jumpers have now solidified themselves as both a district and regional contender.

“We went through the adjustment period over the Christmas break when our two guard, Kelsey Meece, went out with a broken hand, and that took us a two to three game swing where we had a couple of losses in a row playing against some pretty good competition,” pointed out coach Adkins.

“We finally righted the ship, and got everybody’s roles re-settled,” added the Lady Jumper coach. “We’re going to give a good effort every night, night in and night out. And, these girls will guard some people, and when you’ve got a team that’s defensive minded, when you get into post season play and you’ve got that going for you, you’re always going to have a chance.”



PC 10 16 16 10 — 52

SHS 13 22 28 18 — 81



PULASKI CO. — Cable 14, Scott 8, H. Warren 7, B. Warren 6, Tilley 6, Wiles 3, Boatman 2, Hyden 2, Howard 2, Lorman 1, Correll 1

SOMERSET — Jones 23, Thomas 16, Krause 11, Barnes 10, Coffey 8, Dorsey 4, Edwards 4, Bray 3, Jackson 2