get No. 9 Class 4A ranking

By STEVEN G. WATSON

Sports Editor

Pike County Lady Bulldogs’ head coach Leroy Bryant and his squad woke up Friday morning and found out that they are now the No. 9 team in the class 4A state rankings.

With an undefeated record many might say it’s about time, but Bryant and his girls weren’t as concerned with that as getting past the Louisville Lady Devils Friday night.

"Rankings really don’t mean that much to us," Bryant said. "The only thing we worry about is really just trying to get better every game.

"A ranking doesn’t make you play ball," he continued. "Those guys who sit in an office all day making a decision on who’s No. 1 and so on really don’t mean a whole lot. It’s how you play."

Bryant’s point was well made and proved to be true Friday. They didn’t have an easy time, even with the No. 9 before their name, putting Louisville away 37-35.

The Lady Devils had numerous shots to win the game down the stretch and missed a wide-open 3-pointer just before the buzzer. Pike County’s Andrea Bailey came down with the rebound to seal the victory, but it was his team’s determination to win that impressed Bryant.

"They continue to play hard and as a team and they realize that the game is never over until the final whistle blows," Bryant said. "No matter what the score is we’re going to play hard the entire ball game.

"Some of our girls got in foul trouble early, but we had some others step up," he continued. "That’s what kind of team I try to build. If somebody goes down with an injury or gets in foul trouble somebody has to be ready to step in and replace them. We’ve got 14 girls on the team with the capability to step up and play. We don’t just have five girls we’ve got 14 ball players."

The Lady Devils took a 33-29 lead midway through the fourth quarter, but the Lady Bulldogs 8-0 run from that point and held Louisville to only two more points the rest of the way.

The win improves the Lady Bulldogs to 11-0 on the season and hold a 3-0 record in Area play as they head into a huge matchup with No. 4 Geneva on Tuesday.

In the boys’ game, after picking up their fifth win of the season and first Area win Tuesday over Dale County, the Bulldogs dropped a 53-44 decision to Louisville Friday night.

The game itself was slow starting with only two points being scored by both teams in the first four minutes. The Red Devils took a 19-16 lead at the break thanks to a flurry of baskets before the end of the second quarter then broke out the defense to start the second half.

Pike County took a 26-25 lead with 5:13 left in the third, but went ice cold from the field allowing Louisville to rattle off 13-straight points and take a comfortable 38-26 lead into the final quarter.

The Bulldogs were able to cut the lead down to only five on a 3-pointer by Torrie Brown with under a minute left. They whittled it down even more on a free throw by Sam Diggs, but the Red Devils were able to hit their charity shots the rest of the way as they held on to win.