By Rob Potter
ROSCOE — January 18, 2011 — Jakki Pugh established a new scoring record for Tri-Valley girls’ basketball players on Saturday afternoon while helping her team win its opening round game against the Chapel Field Lady Lions in the Livingston Manor/Roscoe Mid-Winter Girls’ Basketball Tournament played at Roscoe Central School.
With 1:47 remaining in the game, Pugh rebounded a missed free throw and scored. The basket gave the senior guard 915 points in her career, which broke the T-V all-time record of 913 points held by April Nash, who graduated in 2000.
Pugh finished the game with a team-high 19 points as the Lady Bears defeated the Lady Lions, 48-29.
Pugh and teammate Kaitlynn Greffrath each scored six points in the first quarter to help T-V (8-0) grab a 14-8 advantage at the end of those eight minutes.
After holding a 20-14 lead at the half, the Lady Bears pushed their lead into double digits in the third quarter.
In the fourth period, T-V gradually extended its advantage to as much as 20 points.
Greffrath finished with 11 points and Erin Smith netted nine points as the Lady Bears employed a balanced offense to earn the victory.
After the game, Pugh said she knew before the contest began that she would have an opportunity to set the T-V career scoring record.
But was she thinking about it during the game?
“Not at all,” Pugh replied to that question. “I just wanted us to win the game.
“We did a great job in the second half,” she added. “Everybody played well.”
Now that she is only 85 points away from the 1,000-point milestone, Pugh said she is looking forward to the achievement but her top priority is for the Lady Bears to keep on winning games.
T-V Coach John Tenbus is not surprised by Pugh’s team-first mentality.
“She never forces to get her points, she wants her teammates to be involved,” Tenbus said. “She doesn’t want to score points at the expense of team goals.”
As for Saturday’s game, Tenbus was pleased with how his team played.
“We played great defense,” he said. “And our defense really starts our offense.
“You have to give credit to Chapel Field,” Tenbus added. “They played good defense, especially in the first half.”
Kristin Baker led Chapel Field (1-6) with 13 points, while teammate Chloe Solomon had seven points.
Chapel Field Coach Mike Bonagura was happy with his team’s performance.
“When we played Tri-Valley earlier this season, they were ahead by 30 points at halftime,” he said. “Today, were only down by six points at halftime. That’s a nice 24-point improvement.
“These girls are working very hard this season,” he added.
Bonagura noted that his team’s focus for the rest of the season is to keep improving and win at least one of its remaining Orange County Interscholastic Athletic Association (OCIAA) Division VI games to earn a berth in the sectional tournament.