Lady Maroons knock off defending region champs Danville Christian

The Pulaski County Lady Maroons kicked off the beginning, or the beginning part two that is, of the Brian Miller era as their old coach from 2008-2013 returned to the court. It was a tough task in game one however, as the Maroons would welcome in the defending 12th Region champions in Danville Christian.

On a night that the Maroons honored long time sports journalist Doug Eads after his passing over the Spring, the Lady Maroons used a furious full court press on defense to frustrate the Lady Warriors, eventually winning by a final score of 65-47.

Despite falling behind by two early on in the first, the Maroons wouldn’t trail for the remainder of the contest after a 10-0 run that saw Hannah Murray, Brooklyn Thomas, Madeline Butcher, Lilee Todd and Caroline Heist all score. Due to some stellar three-point shooting from Murray and Bella Stevens, as well as a buzzer-beating three from Murray, Pulaski held a 23-10 advantage after the first.

Danville Christian sophomore Achan Deng used her size to score in bunches during the second quarter. However, the size advantage she had against the Maroons meant little as Thomas still challenged her in the post with physicality. Following a steal and two from Murray, the Maroons held a 15-point lead at the break at 40-25.

Both offenses couldn’t get much going in the third quarter, as there was a lot of fouling between both teams in what was becoming an extremely physical game. Thomas went to work in this period, scoring 10 of the Maroons’ 11 points to give her team a 51-32 lead heading into the final quarter.

The teams traded baskets early on in the fourth, but after a pair of threes from Stevens and Todd, Pulaski was on top 63-40 and was fully in control of the ball game. Danville Christian scored seven of the final nine points, but the only thing that ended up changing was the final margin as the Maroons won 65-47. Head coach Brian Miller stated after the game that while there is still work to do, he was pleased with his group’s effort.

“From day one they’ve bought in, and I’m extremely proud of how hard they played. We still have a lot of work to do, had a lot of turnovers that we need to fix. Every day is a new day and we are going to get better every single day,” he explained.

Thomas led the Maroons in scoring with 24 points. Other scorers included Murray with 14, Stevens with nine, and the trio of Butcher, Todd and Heist with six apiece. Deng led Danville Christian with 18 points.

Pulaski County starts the season 1-0 and will next travel to Cumberland County on Friday to take on the Lady Panthers.