Cougars lose Catfight with Panthers 64-40

12/9/22: The Cottage School Cougars travelled down an exit to face old time AAC rival the Brandon Hall School Panthers. After a short stint in the GHSA, BH is now back in the GIAA (old GISA). Their athleticism and size posed a problem but TCS kept it close. It was not until the third period before the Panthers pulled away for the 64-40 victory.

Both teams wrestled back and forth evenly early on. With just four minutes left in the first half the Cougars were tied with the Panthers at 19 apiece. In the final four minutes of the second quarter Cottage lost focus and Brandon Hall took advantage. BH capitalized off careless TCS passes and raced for a 12-0 run as the Cougars found themselves down 31-19 at the break. Coach Briggs spoke at intermission; “We did a nice job coming back from early BH hot shooting (#3 had 13 first quarter points from beyond 16 feet). We made a quick change defensively and were able to tie the game. We lost focus in those final four minutes, but we should be confident for playing them even for most of the first half. We just can’t have mental lapses like at the end there and we’ll be okay.”

The Cougars must not have been as optimistic as their coach because the poor passing continued and the Panthers all but put the game away in the third period. A 20-8 quarter run saw Brandon Hall take a 51-27 lead. TCS did clean it up in the fourth, but the damage was done. Even though each team tied with 13 points each in the final frame the Panthers took the 64-40 win.

The Cougars will practice one more time on Tuesday and play back-to-back days at Al Falah Academy and home versus The New School before the winter break.

Game Notes:

Braden Kramer led the team with 17 points and added 2 steals.

Andrew Dorsey finished with 7 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists.

Jack Kane put in 6 points and pulled down 3 boards with 2 steals.

Jason Donaldson added 6 points and 4 rebounds.

Jackson Barnes snagged 6 boards to go with 2 assists and 4 points.