Elmore shoulders load as PA moves to finals

Greenlee Elmore carried the offensive load for Pulaski Academy on Friday night, and it paid off in a big way in the semifinals of the 4A-East Regional Tournament.

The freshman scored 23 points to help the Lady Bruins beat Forrest City 49-31 and secure a spot in today’s championship game at Brookland’s Bearcat Arena.

Pulaski Academy (18-7) will face Brookland, which beat Clinton 64-45 in the other semifinal, at 6 p.m. in the finals. But it was the 4A-5 Conference’s No. 2-seeded Lady Bruins who provided an early surprise first.

Madison Sanders added eight points for Pulaski Academy, which trailed for just 19 seconds and never let the Lady Mustangs get comfortable offensively. The Lady Bruins held Forrest City (26-7), the top seed from the 4A-3 Conference, to 9-of-31 (29%) shooting and forced 26 turnovers. Sixteen of those mistakes occurred in the first half.

Pulaski Academy led 10-5 after one quarter, with Elmore scoring eight of those points, but went on an 8-0 run at the start of the second period to build a 13-point cushion. Despite its miscues and cold shooting, the Lady Mustangs managed to get within 20-12 by halftime.

Forrest City drew closer in the third quarter when Ayana Watson nailed a three-pointer with 5:58 to go that cut the Lady Bruins’ lead to 22-17 before Elmore responded with a driving layup to start a 9-0 flurry. Pulaski Academy, which shot 22 of 44 (50%) for the game, held a 3123 cushion at the beginning of the final quarter when another bucket from Elmore lit an 8-0 run that put her team comfortably ahead.

Charnelle Hoof scored 15 points for the Lady Mustangs.