Columbia Academy's basketball teams earned a pair of big wins over Tri-County Academy on their final night of competition before Thanksgiving break. The Cougars (4-3) earned a 47-31 victory while the Lady Cougars (5-3) pulled away early for to win 60-31.
Entering last Friday's contest, CA boys head coach Dale Watts said his team's primary focus was playing with solid fundamentals and avoiding costly turnovers. They succeeded in that mission early in the game, which allowed them to create a sizable lead right out of the gate. Five Cougars scored in the opening period, and they held the Rebels to only one make from the field and a free throw, creating a 12-4 advantage entering the second quarter of action.
Although the Rebels' offense found more success in the second and third quarters, the Cougars matched them stride for stride, never surrendering the lead. CA put the game away with yet another strong defensive performance in the fourth, holding the Rebels scoreless and putting up 13 points of their own to pull away for the 47-31 victory.
Sophomore Nick Reagan led all scorers with 13 points in the contest, followed closely by the trio of Caleb King, Joseph Hasselvander and Reed Duncan, who finished with eight points apiece in what Watts believes was the most complete performance to date for the young team.
"It was a game we should've won, so we can't get too carried away with the result," Watts said, "but I thought our guys did a great job on both sides of the floor. We dictated the pace of the game, we played good defense and we didn't allow the game to get away from us by turning the ball over. We've still got a ways to go and a lot to learn, but hopefully we can build off this performance as we move into December."
A for the Lady Cougars, their contest was put away with even greater ease. They held the Lady Rebels to only 13 points through the first half of action while scoring 33 of their own, led by Maggie Wilks with 12 with 12 points. She finished the contest with a game high 16 points as the Lady Cougars continued to pull away for the lopsided 60-31 victory.
Similarly to Watts, however, CA girls head coach Reid McKay said this was the result his team was expecting against a lesser opponent, and they'll need to bring the same intensity to the floor against tougher competition in order to continue stacking wins in non-district play.
"Nothing against Tri-County, but it was one of the lesser challenges we've faced so far this season," McKay said. "So I'm not sure that I'd say we played great, rather we just did the things we were supposed to do to win the ball game. I think it was great for us to get that momentum boost after losing our previous two, but moving forward, we've got to focus on playing with more grit. We're going to face a lot of bigger challenges throughout the season, and we can't be afraid to play aggressively on both ends of the court."
The Cougars and Lady Cougars hosted a pair of games against Centreville Academy on Tuesday, but results were unavailable at press time. They'll travel to Jones County on Thursday to take on Laurel Christian, and they'll be back on the road Saturday for a weekend showdown with Wayne Academy.
