The win streak for the Columbia Academy Lady Cougars is approaching double digits after picking up their ninth consecutive win Tuesday night.
The Lady Cougars (12-7, 7-0) went on the road and controlled Lamar Christian from start to finish in a 49-37 victory. Macey Jones registered a double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds, while Lauren McDaniel added 10 points and six boards and Maggie Wilks chipped in eight points.
Head coach Dale Watts said the Lady Cougars played much better in the win than they did against PCS Saturday, but if he were nitpicking he would have liked to see them hold onto the 20-point lead they had built.
“We did a good job, but I wasn’t exactly happy with how we finished,” he said. “But I thought they really did a good job overall. I was pleased with their effort, and they were trying to run the scheme like we had it planned out defensively and offensively.”
So many times before when Watts has had good teams at a smaller school, he said when they get to the overall tournament they get worn down by bigger schools’ depth. With this iteration of the Lady Cougars, that won’t be an issue as they consistently have a nine-girl rotation with all of them capable of leading the squad, making them like one of those larger schools.
He said when you have five or six players playing, you only get 25 to 30 fouls to play with, limiting the team’s ability to be aggressive. With nine players in the rotation, they can all afford to be aggressive on both ends because they don’t have to worry about potentially fouling out. Watts can simply take a player out in foul trouble and replace her with another quality option. It also allows them to play with maximum effort because they don’t have to play extended minutes at a given time.
“We got more ammo when we have more fouls, so it’s huge. Right now I’m playing up to nine girls, and we have depth at every position,” he said.
The Lady Cougars will play host to Centreville Academy Saturday then Laurel Christian in a district contest Tuesday.
