Dublin… Pulaski Co. held their men’s basketball banquet and said good-bye to three seniors. Head Coach Andrew Hart handed out the varsity players’ letters, bars, certificates and t-shirts. He also gave the seniors, Isaac Poe, Miguel Garcia and Kevin Smith, their personalized duffel bags and a fleece pullover. The varsity finished the season with a 15-9 record led by the three seniors. Poe averaged 13.3 points, 3.0 assists per game. He also shot 41% from the floor, 32% from behind the three-point line and hit 80% of his foul shots. He made 1st team All Conference 24 and was the Southwest Times Player of the Year. Miguel Garcia averaged 9.1 points, 5.7 rebounds and 2.4 steals per game. He shot 36% from the floor and was 2nd Team All Conference 24. Kevin Smith was hurt for the most of the season. Coach Hart and Assistant Coach Brandon Smith agreed, ”Kevin never complained about playing time and was always very supportive of all his teammates. He lead by example and made the commitment to the team.” Kevin was voted the Coaches Award winner. CC Grubb was also recognized as he led the team in scoring at 15.3 points a game. He averaged 4.0 rebounds, 2.5 assists and shot 41% from the floor. He shot 33% from behind the three-point line and shot 66% from the foul line. Grubb was voted 1st team All Conference 24 and Honorable Mention All Region 4A North.
Coach Hart said, ”We played well defensively this past season. Twice we held teams under 30 points and seven times under 40. We weren’t the tallest team but we stayed close on the glass with most teams. We got out-rebounded on the season by just a few boards.” Coach then added, ”We basically played with 10 players until we called Alex Akers and Kellen Dalton. We have a very good group. I’m proud of how we came together as a team. The guys accepted their roles on and off the floor. They enjoyed being around each other. We were only out of two or three games all season. We found ways to win some games.”
The Cougars did have some huge wins such as beating Conference 24 champions William Bryd at Byrd. They defeated 6A Franklin Co., Salem, Cave Spring, Hidden Valley and Bassett.
Coach Hart thanked the Fastbreak Booster Club led by Tim Kirtner and the Poe family for all their efforts. He thanked Becky Blevins for organizing the parents that helped during the season and for the support from the AAU. Hart also thanked Caleb Kirtner for his filing of the games while he was hurt and couldn’t play for the junior varsity. Coach thanked his assistant coaches Brandon Smith, CJ Burgis, Phil Mallery and part-time coach Harry Talmadge.
The Cougar varsity consisted of:
Seniors – Isaac Poe, Miguel Garcia, and Kevin Smith
Junior – Bryan Roberson
Sophomores – CC Grubb, Logan Robertson, Sean Spencer, Trent
Blankenship, Braeden Blevins and Noah Bradley.
The junior varsity was recognized by head coach CJ Burgis and his assistant Phil Mallery. Coach Burgis said, ”We had a very young group, nine freshmen and two eight graders. We ended up with a 9-13 mark. We were something like 2-7 at the Christmas break. We played a lot better after the first of the year.” Coach then said, ”We battled and were in most of the games. Our biggest win was against Patrick Henry. They had beaten us the worst of anybody, and we beat them by three at home.“
The junior varsity got certificates and t-shirts. The junior varsity consisted of: Alex Akers, Kellen Dalton, Cole Duncan, Jaylin Nowlin, Benjamin Poe, Julian Black, Alex Dalton, Caleb Kirtner, Kohl Hedge, Noah O’Dell, Justin Roberson, Austin Reinhardt, Jairus Miller, Gage Mannon and Dre Grubb.