With two weeks remaining in the regular season, the Columbia Academy Cougars are still hunting for consistency, as well as a spot in the playoffs.
The Cougars (11-9, 5-5) picked up a key home win Jan. 12 against Laurel Christian, beating their district foe 62-42 with a balanced offensive attack. Hays Carley produced an impressive double-double with 16 points and 10 assists, which was the first 10-plus assist performance of his career.
Carter Rowell and Jeffrey Pennington each added 13 points while Robert Johnson chipped in eight points and seven rebounds.
Head coach Dale Watts said it took the Cougars some time to adjust to Laurel Christian’s strategy, but eventually their defensive pressure started turning into transition offense and allowed them to build a lead.
“Then that transitioned into some half-court offense, which is what we’ve been wanting to do, so it went really well,” he said.
But at Bowling Green Jan. 14, the Cougars couldn’t keep pace in a 62-38 loss. Rowell was the only Cougar in double figures with 10 points, while Eli Beard had eight and Pennington seven.
Watts said CA had a plan to stick with Bowling Green and keep it close until the end, but the Buccaneers made some big shots and created some distance.
“We had a hard time covering them. They had several weapons there that hit several threes,” he said. "We did a pretty good job of getting back and that sort of thing, but they just had too many weapons. We couldn’t stop them all.”
At 5-5 in district play, the route to the No. 3 seed going into the district tournament is clear for the Cougars. They have to beat both Ben’s Ford Christian and Wayne Academy to finish the regular season in third place and give themselves a much easier path to the postseason.
“That’s our goal right now, to win those two games,” Watts said. "When you get to the playoffs, everything starts over."
Getting the third seed would give the Cougars a much easier opponent in the first round of the district tournament. One win in the tournament would clinch a playoff berth.
CA played at Ben’s Ford Tuesday night, but results were unavailable at press time. The Cougars will close out their district slate Saturday night against Wayne after first playing Parklane Academy on the road Thursday.
“We’ve got to work on being able to compete with teams that are better than us,” Watts said. "That’s been our big problem so far, being able to compete with teams that are better and more athletic.”
The Cougars have been without their leading scorer and rebounder in Cody Fortenberry recently, and Watts said he doesn’t need one particular player to fill the void but have everyone on the team provide 10% more in his absence. The veteran coach said he hopes to have Fortenberry back in about two weeks, in time for the district tournament during the first week of February. Until the return of Fortenberry, who is missing time following a surgery, Watts said Robert Johnson is the most logical choice to step up because of his ability to be effective in the paint with his size and athleticism.
“He’s going to have to step up in these next two games, and I think he will,” Watts said.
Watts added that Will Arinder can also serve as an extra post player if needed but that his game is best suited for the perimeter.
