Columbia Academy had its Nov. 29 road matchup with Sumrall cancelled, but the Cougars remained undefeated with a 74-37 road victory over Centreville Academy Saturday night.
The Cougars (7-0) were led by Tate Duncan’s 24 points and Ras Pace’s 22 as they doubled up the Tigers.
Although it was a relatively easy win for Columbia Academy, head coach Dale Watts said he is still trying to have his team understand they need to be an “extreme team.” He said in some moments the pace needs to be extremely fast and in other moments, particularly when the Cougars have a lead, they need to operate extremely slowly and protect the ball.
“We’re slowly coming together more. We’re trying to develop a transition game,” he said. “Our transition game against Centreville, we were working real hard at speed and transition. From offense to defense and defense to offense. That’s how we got those points.”
Watts also said there are several player who need to step up to compliment Duncan and Pace as opposing teams begin to key on the Cougars’ leading scorers.
Duncan is averaging 24.7 points per game, and Pace is up to 18.4.
“Right now I’m trying to groom these guys to be able to do that,” he said. “I’m talking about some freshmen (Hays Carley, Jeffrey Pennington and Cody Fortenberry) and Ethan (Stringer). Robert Johnson is a big deal. It’s been hard for him, but he’s got to come on. Those four guys have really got to step up.”
It is Johnson’s first year with the team, along with Carley, Pennington and Fortenberry.
The most experienced of the group is Stringer, who was in the rotation the past two season. While the 6-foot-3 guard didn’t see the court a ton as a freshman, he did knock down some crucial three-pointers down the stretch of the Cougars’ 2016-17 South State champion squad. Then, as a sophomore last season, he served as the team’s sixth man.
The Cougars played at Jackson Academy Tuesday, but results were unavailable at press time. They will play host to Parklane Academy Friday night.
