After playing a few tough schools to begin the season, Columbia Academy got the chance to work out the kinks and begin to define roles on the team with a pair of easy wins over Pontchartrain Christian and Centreville Academy.
After eight days between games, the Cougars (3-3) cruised to a 59-24 win last Thursday over Pontchartrain at home, playing more as the baby Cougars as head coach Dale Watts rested his three seniors — Owen Harper, Aaron Thomas and Jay Stringer, who played in the MAIS All-Star football game on Saturday.
“It was a good game for us. I really played it with my last year’s junior high team,” Watts said. “Ras (Pace), Tate (Duncan), Ethan (Stringer), Peyton (Rowell), Dustin Thornhill and Jacob Bain. I know that Pontchartrain had a 6-foot-8 kid, and they had to suspend him for one game, so he wasn’t there. I thought Ras played extremely well. He did a great job at point guard. He either scored or got an assist every time down. They had some athletes, but it looked like they weren’t quite ready.”
Duncan led the Cougars with 20 points, while Pace added 17 and Stringer and Rowell each had nine. Pontchartrain got eight points from Joshua Singletary and six from Collin Pertuit.
Saturday’s matchup with Centreville was a similar story as Watts got to rest his regulars the entire second half in a 62-31 win.
The Cougars raced out to a 7-0 lead less than 30 seconds into the game and carried a 52-10 lead into halftime. Columbia Academy overwhelmed Centreville with their size and athleticism, forcing turnover after turnover and getting to the rim with ease.
“We were really going to try to press them and up the tempo early. We felt like this was a game that we had to work on ourselves,” Watts said. “I also felt Centreville couldn’t really run with us. We wanted a hard-nosed defense and full-court press right off the bat to create some turnovers. That was the plan.”
Watts added that while the matchup wasn’t very competitive, it was imperative for the Cougars to get some live action in before their upcoming schedule that sets up like a murderer’s row.
“I coached at Centreville my first two years to coach in 1975-76 and 1976-77. They’re a football school. It was an overmatch. Coach (Russell) Cruise and I are good friends,” Watts said. “For us, with the way football has been for us with three of them playing in the All-Star game, we kind of needed to get our feet under us. We have five hard games in a row coming up — Jackson Academy, Parklane Academy, East Rankin Academy, Simpson Academy and PCS — all before Christmas. So we needed this game for the guys to get the football out of them.”
Harper led the way with a game-high 23 points, while Duncan, Pace and Stringer each added 10.
While Watts liked what he saw last week in the Cougars’ two-game stretch, there is still a lot to be learned, not only by the players, but by himself in regards to understanding how to best utilize their skills.
“I feel pretty good, but I’m still searching for the identity on this team,” he said. “I have about six guys right now, and that’s my depth chart. We tried to work on some things in the first half. Hopefully, we’ll be able to utilize some of that.”
The Cougars hosted Jackson Academy Tuesday night, but results were unavailable at press time. They will be on the road against Parklane in McComb Friday and in Pelahatchie to take on East Rankin Saturday night.
Pictured Above: Owen Harper hangs in the air to convert a layup. | Photo by Joshua Campbell
