The dominance of the Cougars is continuing to reach new heights as Columbia Academy’s winning streak is up to 22 games with two more wins over District 4 opponents.
It took Columbia Academy (22-1, 10-0) little time and effort to discard the first opponent with an 80-37 win over Laurel Christian Jan. 14. The senior duo of Ras Pace (24 points, six rebounds and four assists) and Tate Duncan (22 points, seven boards and six assists) dominated from start to finish in the victory.
However, Saturday’s 60-47 home win over Bowling Green was much harder to come by. The Cougars were up just four points with four minutes remaining but turned up the defensive effort and got some transition buckets to put the game away.
Pace led CA with 27 points, five rebounds and four assists while Duncan added 12 points, 12 rebounds and four assists for a double-double.
While the Cougars have faced zone defense this year, head coach Dale Watts said Bowling Green did a good job of denying passes to Duncan in the paint, which combined with not making shots from the outside, limited CA’s offense.
“We didn’t shoot the perimeter ball real well against Bowling Green, and we had to find another way to score. It took us a little while to get it done,” Watts said. “We needed someone to drive the gaps and pull up and make those short jumpers. Finally Ras started finding seams and gaps in the zone.”
One of the most impressive components to CA’s 22-game streak has been the Cougars’ ability to win in a variety of ways. It hasn’t mattered if their opponent has tried to shorten the game by possessing the ball or if they have gone cold from the perimeter or even if they haven’t been able to run out in transition — they just keep winning regardless.
“I think it’s critical we be able to win in multiple ways,” Watts said. “The further up the chain we get and the tougher the competition gets, in turn they’re going to find new ways to stop you. There’s also another factor that’s going to come into play. That’s that you’ve already played teams a couple of times. Every time you play them they’re going to make more adjustments.”
Watts added the Cougars will have to continue to capitalize when their opponents make mistakes and adjust when necessary themselves.
The biggest concern this year has been what happens if the trio of Duncan, Pace and Ethan Stringer all have an off night in the same game. Watts has said all year CA needs another scorer to step up, and he said he likes the progression Jeffrey Pennington and Hays Carley have made on that end of the floor. Pennington, in fact, made a clutch three against Bowling Green, and Watts said he’s hoping that will help Pennington’s confidence going forward.
CA actually has received some extra reinforcements as well. Cody Fortenberry, who is probably best suited to be that fourth option offensively, returned from a leg injury last week.
“He’s still not quite back there, but it’s certainly given us more depth with him and Robert (Johnson),” Watts said. “He’s not full speed yet. He’s pretty much full speed physically, but when you’re out like that your timing is off a little bit. That’s what he’s having to work on.”
Columbia Academy played host to Ben’s Ford Tuesday night, but results were unavailable at press time. The Cougars will stay at home Friday to play host to Brookhaven Academy, who has won the Class 4A state title several times in recent years and will provide quite the test for the Cougars’ streak.
Friday’s matchup will have quite the interesting subplot as well. Watts’ son, Josh, is the head coach at Brookhaven. They train horses together every day until lunch when Dale goes to CA and Josh to Brookhaven.
Pictured Above: Columbia Academy's Ethan Stringer defends a Lamar Christian player. | Photo by Joshua Campbell
