Cougars end slide with 64-53 victory over the Terriers

12/7/2021: The Cottage School Cougars hosted their final home game of 2021 versus the Lyndon Academy Terriers. Lyndon plays in the mixed private/home school league (GAAPS) and have already defeated two GISA schools. They average just over 60 points per game and Coach Richie Briggs showed concern. “We play Lyndon each year and I have heard they transferred in three new kids that are pretty decent players. If we give up 60 points tonight, we will lose four games in a row. Our focus will be to make their dynamic guards as uncomfortable as possible. Two of them score about twenty-five points per game each.”

From the get-go the Cougar defense agitated the Lydon guards on each bounce. The combination of Daniel Byman, Blake Lackey, and Ben Johnson were like gnats on a hot South Georgia summer day. Despite the effort #1 (Teasley) was crafty and still found ways to score. Cottage held a slim 16-10 edge after the first period.

TCS moved the ball well as a team in the next two stanzas and as a result were able to have five different teammates score. Cottage outscored Lyndon 37-22 during these sixteen minutes and held a comfortable 53-32 lead going into the final frame.

After the first four minutes, TCS kept their twenty-point advantage and all but packed the Terriers’ bags for home. Lyndon never gave up and had one last gasp to make the score appear close, but the Cougars were never in jeopardy of losing. Cottage went on to win 64-53 and moved to 7-3 on the season. They will travel to Mill Springs Thursday and Howard on Friday for back-to-back conference games.

Games Notes

Aidan Briggs hauled in another double-double with 24 points and 10 boards to go with 6 assists and drew 3 more charges.

Alex Hogg was right behind him with 23 points and 9 rebounds.

Braden Kramer benefited from the fast break and put in 11 points and added 4 rebounds.

Daniel Byman was a thorn in the small dogs’ back all night. He corralled 8 boards and had 3 assists, but more importantly he shut their best player down. #10 (Hughes) only had 10 points going into the meaningless fourth quarter. He did finish with 23 points but again, it was all in garbage time.

Ben Johnson and Blake Lackey drew #1 (Teasley) on defense. He ended with 22 points and 20 of that kept his team in the game over the first three periods. It just proves how tough those guards were to defend.

Jackson Barnes played some good minutes. He added 3 rebounds and a nice post bucket.