Columbia Academy is nearing the end of its regular season, and everything the Cougars are after is still within reach.
The Cougars (18-11, 3-1) tripled their District 4 win total last week and came within one shot of knocking off a talented AAAA squad.
CA picked up its second district win Jan. 31 at Laurel Christian in a convincing 66-44 contest, and the top scoring duo in Marion County, Tate Duncan (21.3 points per game) and Ras Pace (16.2), had their fingerprints all over it. Duncan poured in a game-high 23 points, while Pace was right behind him with 21 of his own. Cody Fortenberry rounded out the Cougars offense with 13 points.
The Cougars carried their momentum into their home gym Friday night, beating Wayne Academy by a nearly identical score, 64-44. But it was Ethan Stringer who stole the show as the junior guard scored a career-high 27 points to lead CA. Duncan added 24 points, and Pace chipped in nine.
Head coach Dale Watts said the Cougars made a switch from a man-to-man defense to a matchup zone the second time through the district schedule, and he believes it’s paying off for them. He said it allows CA to match up better with talented players because the Cougars are able to play help defense without sacrificing the weak side.
“Both of them (Laurel Christian and Wayne) had some perimeter shooters, and we were able to limit them yet defend inside pretty good, too,” he said. “It was a movement forward for us.”
Saturday night the Cougars tried to keep pace with Presbyterian Christian at home despite being outmanned in several spots and had a chance to win the game at the end but ultimately fell 33-32. The Cougars had the ball trailing by one with 24 seconds left and missed the shot to put them up then got another look at it with 12 seconds left and missed again.
Despite the loss Watts said it was very encouraging how hard his squad fought.
“As a team we managed to do extremely well to stay in the game, so that was a big deal for us. I thought we played hard and played well,” he said.
While Duncan, Pace and Stringer are the unquestioned leaders of the Cougars, Watts said rotation players Robert Johnson, Cody Fortenberry, Hays Carley and Jeffrey Pennington are playing well but still have a long way to go.
“They’re making adjustments and getting better,” he said. “Against a real talented team it becomes difficult.”
The Cougars played at Bowling Green Tuesday night, but results were unavailable at press time. Bowling Green beat CA the first time around and led District 4 at 4-0 heading into the matchup, but Watts said he believes the Cougars can beat the Buccaneers. He said they would have to play with the same energy they did against Wayne and Laurel Christian while limiting Bowling Green’s shooters.
“I believe that will be the district championship on the line right there in that game,” he said Monday.
There are no district tournaments in MAIS so the team with the best regular season district record claims the top seed from the district. In the event of a tie, which would likely be the case if CA beat Bowling Green, the tiebreaker would be points scored head to head. Bowling Green won the first matchup by seven points, 54-47, so the Cougars would need to beat the Buccaneers by more than seven to earn the District 4 No. 1 seed in the South State Tournament.
CA also has to win its regular season finale Thursday to win the district. The Cougars play host to Laurel Christian on Senior Night, but there are no seniors on the boys squad.
CA is hosting South State next week, beginning Tuesday and concluding Saturday.
Pictured Above: CA's Tate Duncan surveys the Wayne Academy defense Friday night. | Photo by Joshua Campbell
