It took some time, but the Columbia Academy Cougars (17-10, 4-0) have found their identity and have an eight-game winning streak to show for it.
Head coach Dale Watts said his players have come to accept their strengths and weaknesses as a team and alter their strategy each game as the opponent dictates.
“We have a couple of different things we can do depending upon the opponent. That’s where we are, and the boys know that,” he said. “They understand according to who we’re playing what we have to do.”
Columbia Academy once again asserted itself as the premier team in the district with a 70-45 win on its home court last Tuesday night over Laurel Christian.
The Cougars had four players in double figures with Tate Duncan leading the way with 17 points. Owen Harper controlled the action down low with 16 points, Ras Pace picked his spots to get to the rim both in transition and in the half-court offense to finish with 15 points and Jay Stringer added 11 with an inside-outside approach.
Columbia Academy continued its dominance over district opponents Friday night at Wayne Academy, besting the Jaguars 60-33 in an impressive showing.
Duncan has found some offensive consistency as of late and led the Cougars with a game-high 21 points. Harper added 16 points again, and Pace contributed 11 points to round out the scoring for Columbia Academy.
Saturday night the Cougars needed every last point they could muster in Hattiesburg. Presbyterian Christian took them to the edge, but the Cougars prevailed 33-32 in overtime.
Both Columbia Academy and PCS spread the floor and shortened the game, especially the Bobcats in the fourth quarter. With a little more than two minutes to play in the game and the score tied at 29-29, PCS held the ball for the last shot, taking a timeout with 15 seconds to go to set up the final play.
“We were able to guard them and didn’t give them a clean look. They almost got a second opportunity off of a rebound, but they didn’t make that either,” Watts said. “We did a good job defensively, and I felt like that was going to be our strength going into overtime.”
PCS took a 32-31 lead in overtime with 32 seconds left, and Watts decided to hold the ball for the last shot as well.
“I called out a play with about 15 seconds to go, and Ras scored right under the goal to put us up one. Then (PCS) called timeout and had six seconds left on the clock,” Watts said. “I said to myself, ‘I shot it too quick.’ But they had to go the full length of the court and we made them work for it. We managed to defend them, they made two passes and their guy shot it at the high post. We contested it and he missed it as the buzzer went off.”
Harper paced the Cougars with 13 points, while Pace and Stringer each had seven.
The Cougars played host to Bowling Green Tuesday on senior night, but results were unavailable at press time. They will close out the regular season Friday night on the road at Laurel Christian with tipoff scheduled for 7:30.
With no district tournament to be played, the Cougars postseason will begin Tuesday as Columbia Academy will host the South State AAA Tournament, which will conclude Saturday, Feb. 17.
Pictured Above: Ethan Stringer sinks a three over a defender. | Photo by Joshua Campbell
