eir first game of calendar year 2009, the Pulaski County Maroons had won their fourth straight game and improved their record to 8-5. A week later that momentum has been slowed.

After an 11-point loss on Friday night at Rockcastle County, the Maroons looked to bounce back against a suddenly surging squad from Wayne County. Coach Rodney Woods’ Cardinals rolled into town with an 11-5 record, winning seven of their last eight.

Unfortunately for the Pulaski County faithful, the Cardinals continued to fly high, beating the Maroons 59-48.

“I thought we competed hard and had good energy,” said Pulaski County Head Coach Mark Flynn. “There is just no margin for error when you play a team that’s playing as well as Wayne County is. They’re smart, they have good athletes, they have good shooters, and they’ll take advantage of your mistakes.”

The rivalry is being rekindled this season after a hiatus of several seasons. Allegations of recruiting violations had led to the Cardinals refusing to schedule the Maroons for regular season match ups. But this is already the second time they’ve paired up this season. The Cardinals took the first game 61-53 in the Arby’s/KFC Classic held in McCreary County. The second time around, however, looked at first like it would be no contest.

Gavin Dunagan came into the game as the center of focus for Wayne County. The talented 6’3” sophomore led the Cardinals in scoring and rebounding by wide margins. But the Cardinals let it be known right out of the gate that they were not a one man team.

After baskets by Austin Shearer and Kyle Hopper, and 3-pointers from Ryan Hopper and Levi Cravens, Flynn was forced to call a quick time out to stop the bleeding. PC trailed 10-2 and Wayne County’s best player had yet to take a shot.

“Our 2-3 zone wasn’t effective to start out with,” said Flynn. “They hit a couple of shots and got a lot of confidence.”

But thanks to the play of Tyler Jenkins the Maroons were able to stem the tide. Jenkins scored seven of the team’s first 12 points and had 11 for the half. After trailing 16-9 at the end of the first quarter, it was Jenkins who scored and converted the free throw to give PC a three point trip on the first possession of the second quarter.

As Wayne adjusted to the inside presence of Jenkins, Pulaski countered with the sharp shooting of Winston Hines. After draining a three to pull the Maroons within one, he later scored on a nice assist from Chris Muse. When Hines hit his second long range bomb at the 2:32 mark of the second quarter, the Maroons had fully erased the Cardinals 10-point lead and tied the game at 22.

“I was glad to see Winston Hines shoot the ball like that,” said Flynn. “It helped us get back in the game.

“I thought we played well in the second quarter. I was proud of the way we chipped back against them.”

After the Hines three, Austin Tarter also connected on a three and Jenkins scored the final basket of the half, propelling Pulaski County to a 27-26 halftime lead.

Pulaski continued to play well coming out of the locker room. They opened the second half on a 7-2 run, and when Hines connected on his third trey of the game at the six minute mark, Pulaski had their biggest lead of the game at 34-28.

For Wayne County, Dunagan, who been relatively quiet in the first half, began to assert himself more. He eventually scored seven in the quarter and led all scorers in the game with 21 points. His amazing ability to drive to the bucket almost at will prevented Pulaski from lengthening their lead.

There was one other thing holding PC back: their own foul shooting. With a 4-point lead, PC hit only 1 of 5 free throws in back-to-back trips down the court, and an opportunity to lengthen the lead turned on a dime, and Wayne Co. went on an 18-2 run of their own.

“I don’t think those missed free throws necessarily changed the momentum,” said Flynn. “It was more of a gradual thing. We were doing several things that allowed them to take control. Along with the foul shots there was also an inability to stop their dribble penetration. And there was a stretch in the second half where we just didn’t take care of the basketball. You can’t get away with that stuff against Wayne County.

“Dunagan is just a nightmare to try and defend. He can score in the post, he can hit the open three, he hits his free throws, he finishes well, and he’s excellent with both hands.”

With PC leading 37-32, Wayne County really went to work. An old-fashioned three-point play by Dunagan started the streak. Then Shearer canned a three to give the Cardinals the lead. Then Shearer added another old school three-point play. Three trips down the court, nine points. It was a punch to the gut that the Maroons never recovered from. When reserve Lucas Guinn mad a wild drive and flipped up a left-handed shot that went in at the buzzer, Wayne led 44-39.

Wayne County scored the first six points of the fourth quarter to up their lead to 11. Hines answered with a Maroon basket to cut it to single digits, but the Maroons would never be that close again. Wayne County converted six of eight fourth quarter free throws to hold off any chance of a Maroon run. The PC foul shooters, on the other hand, were only 1-9 from the charity stripe in the second half before Josh Bray hit four straight after the deal had been sealed.

The Maroon loss dropped them to 8-7 on the season. Flynn’s squad has their work cut out for them again on Tuesday night as they host another 12th Region favorite in Lincoln County. In the Patriots fourth game of the season they won at home over Wayne County 58-37.



WC 16 10 18 15 — 59

PC 9 18 12 9 — 48

Wayne Co. (59) – Dunagan 21, Shearer 13, R. Hopper 8, Cravens 7, K. Hopper 4, Guinn 3.

Pulaski Co. (48) – Jenkins 13, Hines 13, Bray 8, Tarter 5, Dixon 3, Muse 3, Adams 3.

FG shooting – WC 22-46, 46.1 %; PC 18-41, 43.9 %.

Free Throws – WC 11-17, 64.7 %; PC 7-16, 43.8 %.

3-point FG – WC 4-13, 30.8 %; PC 5-14, 35.7 %.

Turnovers – WC 12; PC 20.