Another week is in the books and the wins keep on piling up for Columbia Academy. The Cougars pushed their winning streak to 20 games, a school record, with a trio of impressive victories and are embarking on a season for the ages.
Columbia Academy (20-1, 8-0) remains No. 1 in the coaches’ poll in Class 3A, followed by Lee Academy, Clinton Christian, Oak Hill and Carrol Academy. In the overall rankings, provided by Mississippi Gridiron, the Cougars sit behind MRA (Class 5A) at No. 2 and are trailed by a trio of 4A schools in Simpson Academy, Hillcrest Christian and Heritage Academy.
While head coach Dale Watts doesn’t want to take away from what the Cougars have done so far this year, he doesn’t want them to lose sight of what it takes to win game in and game out.
“It speaks volumes about our program and what we’re trying to accomplish,” he said. “The thing we’re trying to consider, though, is we beat Parklane (Nov. 26) by 18 points, and then we played them last week and got away from there with a six-point win. We hit a couple free throws down the stretch, but it was a dogfight. We were behind the whole way. From that standpoint, I’m telling the guys you can’t worry about those 20 games. You have to play every game just like it’s the first game and play to win and not play to not get beat.”
Watts added the Cougars do have some holes and better teams in the playoffs will have the ability to find and exploit those holes.
Of the 10 state championship teams Watts has coached, he had three he believes were really, really good and were the best team in the state. The other seven teams he said weren’t unquestionably the best team and that he’s had teams that didn’t win it all that were better than some of the teams that did. Through his 40 years of coaching, Watts said he has learned that being the best doesn’t guarantee anything.
“The best team doesn’t always win the state championship,” he said. “Things have to go your way at the right time. There will be some defining moments, and that will decide how far we go.”
Senior shooting guard Ethan Stringer jumpstarted CA’s latest impressive run Jan. 7 against Lamar Christian with a barrage of
3-pointers to lead the Cougars to victory. Stringer caught fire from deep, draining 8-of-9 from behind the arc, scoring a career-high 34 points and leading CA to a 67-34 win on its home court.
“That basket got real big for him, and I’m excited for him. It was fantastic,” Watts said of Stringer’s performance. “As players there’s just some night where you feel you have the touch. I told the guys, ‘When we have a player on our team that is in that frame of mind with that kind of touch, let’s get him the ball.’ I felt like we did. No doubt that will be in his high school highlights all his life.”
The leader in getting him the ball was point guard Ras Pace, who had a career-high 12 assists to go along with eight points and eight rebounds in a near triple=double. Tate Duncan provided his customary mastery in the paint with 18 points, 10 rebounds and a pair of late-game dunks that lifted the energetic crowd.
While the win over Lamar showcased CA’s best, there was a bit of a hangover Jan. 9 as the Cougars trailed Simpson Academy on the road by as much as 11 points before rallying to take the lead with 2:30 left in the fourth quarter in a 41-35 win. Duncan again posted 18 points and 10 boards, while Pace had 10 points and seven boards.
Watts said Parklane’s strength is its two post players, and it spread the Cougars out on the perimeter and got the ball down low for one-on-one opportunities.
“They spread the floor on us and made us have to work really hard defensively. It took us a little while to adjust to that, and they kept trying to make it a possession game,” he said. “That’s what most coaches will try to do, and I’m sure we’re going to run into a lot of that come playoff time.”
The Cougars bounced back Saturday night on their home court with a 52-point beat down of Centreville Academy. Duncan had one of his better games of the year with 26 points, 12 rebounds and five assists in an 86-34 decision. Pace added 14 points and six assists, while Robert Johnson chipped in 11 points.
CA went on the road Tuesday night to take on Laurel Christian, but results were unavailable at press time. The Cougars will return home Saturday to play host to Bowling Green.
Following those two District 4 contests, CA will close out its district schedule next week with games against Ben’s Ford Christian and Wayne Academy before closing out the regular season with a trio of non-district games.
“We have to finish out the district strong. We need to be the No. 1 seed,” Watts said. “But I have those games that last week — there ain’t no doubt Simpson and Copiah are really good. Those are prep games to prepare for us the playoffs.”
Simpson, who is ranked No. 1 in 4A, and Copiah, No. 5 in the rankings in 5A, will unquestionably keep the Cougars engaged going into the postseason. CA previously beat Simpson on the road Dec. 20 by a slim margin of 43-41.
The district tournament will be hosted by whichever girls team finishes the regular season first in the District 4 standings. Currently Bowling Green sits atop the district with a one-game lead over Columbia Academy’s girls team, but Bowling Green beat CA twice and owns the tiebreaker.
The district tournament will begin Feb. 4 and conclude Feb. 8.
Pictured Above: Columbia Academy's Tate Duncan finishes through traffic at the rim. | Photo by Joshua Campbell
