Lady Cougar Basketball News > Varsity

HILLSVILLE -- Question No. 1 on Kayla Osborne's pop quiz came minutes after Hidden Valley's semifinal game Wednesday night in the Region IV Division 4 girls basketball tournament:

Kayla, how many points were you trailing by with 5:33 left in the fourth quarter?

"Thirteen?" she said.

Osborne aced it.

So did Hidden Valley. The Titans -- winners of the last two VHSL Group AA championships -- kept their season alive as they made up the deficit and pulled out a 55-54 overtime victory over Pulaski County.

Hidden Valley (15-11) will face Blacksburg -- a 44-41 winner over host Carroll County -- for the regional title at 6 p.m. Friday at Pulaski County High School. Both teams have qualified for the Division 4 quarterfinals next week.

"I think we just came to the point where we said, 'We can't lose this game because it's our last game.' We worked too hard to lose this game."

Pulaski (15-12) led 43-29 with 5:33 left in regulation before the Cougars committed a turnover on seven straight possessions.

Meanwhile, Hidden Valley got its comeback started on a 3-pointer by Rachel Singleton. The Titans, who still trailed 43-34 with 2:26 to go, ultimately sent the game to overtime on a bucket by Abby Redick with 47 seconds left.

Redick, a Virginia Tech signee playing in her second game after offseason knee surgery, finished with eight points in plenty of minutes.

"I guess I went from a baby step to a frog leap tonight," Redick said.

The lead changed hands four times in overtime. Pulaski's Hannah Davidson had a four-point play and another 3-pointer to put the Cougars up 50-48. Four free throws by Osborne, who finished with a game-high 21 points, put Hidden Valley back up 52-50.

Osborne hit two more FTs for a 55-52 lead with 15.2 seconds left. Pulaski tried to set up Davidson, who hit five 3-pointers en route to 20 points. However, her 3-pointer was off target and the buzzer sounded as Raiven Patterson hit a stickback.

"Our defensive intensity went up the last three minutes," Hidden Valley interim coach Randy Bush said.

Pulaski owned a 2-1 lead in the series heading into the game, but the rash of late turnovers doomed the Cougars.

"We couldn't take care of it," Pulaski coach Jason Grubb said. "The kids played a very good game for three quarters. I can't imagine them playing that well or any better.

"The fourth quarter hurt us.."

Patterson, whose dribble penetration keyed Pulaski's second-half surge, finished with 13 points.

Blacksburg's victory over Carroll County in the second game was fueled by another player returning from a knee injury.

Sophomore forward Mallory Jones, who missed the final four regular-season games after tweaking a knee that she hurt severely three years ago, scored on a post move with 40 seconds left that gave the Bruins a 42-41 lead.

Lacey McMahan and Jones each hit a free throw for a 44-41 lead. Carroll County got two shots in the last 10 seconds, including a 3-pointer by star guard Kayla Goins that bounced away at the buzzer.

When the horn sounded, Blacksburg had clinched its first state quarterfinal berth since winning the 2002 fall Group AA title.

"We knew this crowd was going to be a factor," Jones said. "We knew if they got riled up, their team was going to rally.

Jones led Blacksburg with 17 points, combining with fellow post player Katy Kipps for 26.

"We haven't seen two post players of that magnitude all year on the same team," Carroll County coach Marc Motley said. "I thought we did a good job defensively. The story of the game was we couldn't get our shots to fall."

Blacksburg (19-7) led 24-14 in the first half, but the Cavaliers (17-9) gradually cut the margin and finally took the lead 41-40 on a free throw by Cyndie Cornell with 2:16 to play.

Neither team scored until McMahan fed Jones, who used her size advantage against Audrey Dickens for an easy hoop.

"I realized that, Lacey realized that, Katy realized that," Jones said. "We went five-out and got lucky and got the ball in there. We just reversed the ball and I re-posted."

Dickens led Carroll County with 12 points, while Goins was limited to nine as Blacksburg played some box-and-one.

"We've had eight different kids score in double figures this year -- in key games, too," Motley said. "We just couldn't get that right combination."

BLACKSBURG (19-7)

Priest 3 1-4 7, Jones 7 1-2 17, Kipps 4 1-2 9, Henderson 1 0-0 3, McMahan 1 3-4 6, Houston 0 2-2 2, Long 0 0-0 0, Burks 0 0-0 0. Totals 16 8-14 44.

CARROLL COUNTY (17-9)

Hill 0 0-2 0, Goins 2 5-6 9, Viars 2 0-0 4, Cornell 3 3-4 9, Dickens 4 2-2 12, Dalton 0 0-0 0, Martin 2 0-0 5, Neely 1 0-1 2. Totals 14 10-15 41.

Blacksburg 17 7 9 11--44

Carroll County 9 11 11 10--41

3-point-goals -- Blacksburg 4 (Jones 2, Henderson, McMahan), Carroll County 3 (Dickens 2, Martin). Total fouls -- Blacksburg 15, Carroll County 14.

PULASKI COUNTY (15-12)

Davidson 7 1-1 20, Long 0 0-0 0, Ball 2 1-1 7, Patterson 6 1-4 13, Holcomb 2 2-3 6, Samuelson 2 0-0 4, Riegert 0 0-0 0, Dean 1 2-2 4, Shay 0 0-0 0. Totals 21 7-11 54.

HIDDEN VALLEY (15-11)

Singleton 2 0-0 6, Divers 1 3-4 5, McDonald 0 1-2 1, Osborne 6 7-7 21, Crotty 2 2-4 6, Redick 4 0-3 8, Evans 2 2-2 6, Hamrick 1 0-0 2. Totals 18 15-22 55.

Pulaski County 13 10 16 4 11--54

Hidden Valley 15 6 7 15 12--55

3-point goals -- Pulaski County 5 (Davidson 5), Hidden Valley 4 (Singleton 2, Osborne 2). Total fouls -- Pulaski County 18, Hidden Valley 14. Fouled out -- none.