12/10/2021: The Cottage School Cougars have now won three games in a row with a 53-13 win on the road at the Howard School. From the jump the Cougars controlled all phases of the contest in the rout.
Cottage came out focused and ready to prove they are the top team in the AAC. Five different teammates scored in the first frame to take a 17-6 edge. Just like yesterday’s defensive performance in the second quarter, TCS did it again.
The Cougars held the Hawks to just one point through the next eight minutes and put in another sixteen to go ahead comfortably 33-7 at halftime.
The second half was more of the same as Cottage cruised to the 53-13 victory. Matter of fact, the Cougars included some cross-sport curriculum in the fourth period. Their defense put up the soccer term “clean slate,” outscoring Howard 9-0 in the shortened six-minute fourth quarter.
TCS moves to 9-3 (3-0 in AAC) and will play their final game of 2021 next Wednesday at Atlanta Jewish Academy but versus Atlanta Classical Academy. This will be a rematch from an earlier blowout loss at home versus ACA.
Games Notes
Aidan Briggs once again proved his status as the best player in the AAC. In the third quarter he had a moment where he connected on four straight shots from outside fifteen feet. All four went through the hoop with the pure sound of string music. One pictured below was his last; a nasty step-back crossover from NBA range. One cannot tell from the still, but the kid guarding him is not pictured because of the degree of separation Aidan faked him out with the move. Aidan led all scorers with 15 points and added another double-double to his resume with 11 rebounds while adding 5 assists, 3 steals, and 3 blocked shots. His 15 points also put Aidan in second all-time at TCS breaking AJ Farrar (1, 159). Aidan now has 1, 165 career points and is just 20 points from tying record holder, Omari Anderson (2010 Alumni).
Alex Hogg finished with 11 points, 7 boards, 2 steals, and 4 blocked shots. Alex also had two dunks and one was historic. Hogg timed his jump and caught a missed layup off the rim for the jam on top of a Howard kid. He becomes only the second player in TCS history to dunk off a missed shot (AJ Farrar in 2012). It is grainy but had to include it for others to see.
Daniel Byman scored 8 points and added 7 steals, 4 boards, and 4 assists.
Braden Kramer scored 11 points and added 3 steals, 3 assists, and 3 rebounds.
Matthew Placide put in 6 points and snagged 3 balls off the glass.
Ben Johnson was all over the floor gathering small stats in each category, but his best moment was a perfect alley-oop to Daniel Byman. Byman caught it clean, floated through the air, and finished with a kiss off the glass.
Jack Kane pulled down 8 rebounds!
The Cougars dished out a total of 19 assists which is top five in school history. The record is 25 in 2010.
