Hot-shooting Monticello downs Lady Maroons

By DOUG EADS, CJ Correspondent

Somerset — Both Monticello and Pulaski County came into Monday night’s game on the Lady Maroons home court flying high.

And for good reason.

Despite a 1-2 mark on the season, the Lady Trojans came into the PC game with a ton of momentum, fresh off of last week’s 58-54 victory over arch-rival Wayne County.

Pulaski County meanwhile came into Monday’s battle with a 3-2 mark overall, and were coming off a very impressive, 83-25 win over Campbellsville in the Banker’s Hardwood Classic at Russell County over the weekend.

When these two hooked up on Monday night, something had to give, and give it did.

Simply put, Monticello attempted to shoot the Lady Maroons out of their own building.

Marla Kelsch’s club shot a torrid, 64.2 percent from behind the arc in the first half of play, hitting nine treys, and quite simply never looked back.

The Lady Trojans, thanks to that red-hot shooting from downtown, scored the first 11 points of the game, raced out to a 20-point lead at the half, and withstood a PC rally in the third quarter, to turn back the Lady Maroons by a 75-59 margin.

“They hit nine three’s in the first half and they just shot lights out,” stated Pulaski County head coach Brian Miller, after watching his team fall to 3-3 on the year.

“We had scouting reports, and had watched them, and against Southwestern they were one for 20 in shooting the three,” pointed out the Lady Maroon coach. “Tonight, it was just like they couldn’t miss. It’s kind of funny, because coach Kelsch and myself were talking before the game, and I told her about how well teams have been shooting the ball against us. It seems like everybody makes shots against us. I tip my hat to them, because they shot it well early on.”

Monticello’s Autumn Bell, who paced the Lady Trojans with a game-high 20 points on the night, scored 11 of those points in the first quarter on the strength of three treys.

In all, the Lady Trojans drained nine of 14 three-point attempts in the opening half of play, allowing Monticello to stretch a 28-17 lead after one period of play out to a 20-point cushion, 46-26 at the half.

However, it was at that juncture Miller’s club attempted to dust itself off and get back in this one.

As hot as Monticello was shooting the ball from the floor in the first half of play, the Lady Trojans were about that cold in the third quarter, when Pulaski County made a serious run.

In the third stanza, the Lady Trojans made just one field goal attempt as PC turned up the defensive pressure.

Meanwhile, the Lady Maroons chipped away at the lead, whittling the deficit down to 53-42 headed into the final eight minutes of play.

“Our kids don’t quit,” said Miller, when talking about his club’s comeback attempt. “The other night at Casey County, we were down 16 going into the third quarter, and we cut it to three. Tonight, we cut it down to either seven or nine and we made a great run.”

“We told them at halftime that they couldn’t give any help defensively, but they had to stay with their girl and not give any help,” continued the PC head coach. “I can’t say enough about the way Monticello shot the ball tonight. We dug ourselves a hole early on, and then we had to try to fight our way back all night.”

Despite the struggles offensively in the third quarter of play, the Lady Trojans were able to keep PC at bay thanks to getting the job done at the charity stripe coming down the stretch.

In the fourth quarter, the Lady Trojans sank 14 free throws, enabling Monticello to maintain its double digit lead over Pulaski County, thwarting the Lady Maroons rally.

The loss dropped PC to 3-3 on the year, but Miller is very pleased with the progress his young team has made over a short period of time this season.

The Lady Maroons will play at Burgin tomorrow night, before opening up play on Friday night against Harlan in the first round of the Prestonsburg Invitational.

The Lady Maroons will return home after Christmas on Monday, December 28th, as Miller’s club will get set to host the Pulaski County Invitational, which will feature a total of eight teams playing a round-robin schedule over four days.

The PC coach says he realizes the next couple of weeks are going to be extremely important for his club as the Lady Maroons keep working toward getting better as a basketball team.

“We’ve come a long way — let’s just be totally honest,” stated coach Miller very matter of factly.

“I give my kids all the credit, because they have worked so very hard and they have bought in to what we are doing,” remarked the PC coach. “You know, 3-3 on the year is pretty good, but is it where we want to be — no it’s not. You have to sit back and look at where we are at, and how far we’ve come, and we just want to get better. These next two weeks are going to be very important for us, as we head into these two tournaments around Christmas.”

For the game, PC was led in scoring by Brooke Cable’s 16 points, while Mariah Meeks chipped in with 15 points, and Brittany Warren added 10.

For Monticello, the Lady Trojans placed five players in double figures in the victory that evened the Lady Trojans record to 2-2 on the young season.

Bell led the way with 20 points, while Lacey Alley added 16 points, Cortney Morrow tallied 13, Maggie Hopper came off the bench to score 11, and Malesha Hughes added 10 points.



M 28 18 7 22 — 75

PC 17 9 16 17 — 59

MONTICELLO — Bell 20, Alley 16, Morrow 13, Hopper 11, Hughes 10, Anderson 5, Duncan 3

PULASKI CO. — Cable 16, Meeks 15, B. Warren 10, Phelps 4, Tilley 4, Boatman 3, H. Warren 3, Howard 2, Correll 2.

•••

Pulaski 9 11 20 13 — 53

Casey 17 19 9 21 — 66

PULASKI — Cable 20, Tilley 3, Phelps 3, B.Warren 10, Burkett 2, H.Warren 3, Scott 12.



Pulaski 21 21 13 28 — 83

Campbellsville 4 9 8 4 — 25

PULASKI —  Cable 11, Tilley 3, B.Warren 5, Meeks 6, Wiles 5, Hatfield 6, Burkett 5, Boatman 6, Hyden 2, Correll 3, H.Warren 8, Brock 1, Scott 6, Jenkins 11, Howard 5.

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