By STEVE CORNELIUS, CJ Sports Editor
Commonwealth Journal
Somerset —
If you ever wondered just how good our local basketball teams are going to be in the future, a talented group of local youth ballers recently gave noticed that basketball is ‘alive and well’ in the Pulaski County area.
The Pulaski Thunder — a select AAU 10 & under basketball team — recently took an undefeated 37-0 record into the AAU National Youth Basketball Tournament, and came away with a fifth place national finish.
“This group of young players have played hard all year long and have won every tournament they have played, including the Kentucky State AAU Tournament,” Thunder coach Jeff Cothron said. “We were undefeated going into the national tournament and we finished with a 6-1 record in the national tournament, which was the third best record in the tourney.”
Besides a fifth place finish in the AAU Nationals, the Thunder had a total of eight tournament titles throughout the year.
In January, the Thunder won the Generation Next Winter Shootout, which was locally hosted.
In February, the Thunder won the Winter Blaze Clash in Richmond, the Stateline Showdown in Monroe County, the the Thunder Invitational in Somerset and the Georgetown Stampede.
In March, the Thunder traveled to Lexington and walked away with the AAU Kentucky State Championship, which qualified the local team for the AAU Nationals.
In preparation for the national tournament, the Thunder picked up a couple more tournament titles. In June, they won the MTBA Challenge of Champions in Murfreesboro, Tenn., and the National Challenge in Louisville.
The local team extended their winning streak to 41 straight games before finally falling to the New York Riverside Hawks in the AAU National Tournament Elite Eight.
In the National Tournament, the Thunder won all three of their pool play games — Carolina Tide 51-38, Illinois Speed 34-32, and Terre Haute Jr. Hoopers 58-45.
By winning all three pool play games, the Thunder advanced to the national elimination tourney. The local team opened up with a 55-53 win over Fastbreak Dreams of New York. The Thunder fell to the Riverside Hawks in the quarterfinals. Then in their two consolation games, Pulaski Thunder downed Northern KY Tarheels/KY Select 44-34, and Illinois Speed 49-31.
“This group of players have been together for three years, but they have always had to play against older players before,” Cothron stated.
The Thunder is coached by Jeff Cothron and Shannon Fraley. The local team is sponsored by Toyota of Somerset, Ikerd Companies, Southern Petroleum, Martin Hatfield Law Office, Alton Blakley Ford, Don Franklin Chevrolet, Mac Metal, Eagle Realty and Development, Steve & Beth Sloan, Rodney & Christy Oakes, and TTAI.
