11/18/2021: The Cottage School Cougars hosted the Atlanta Classical Academy Cavaliers on Wednesday night. ACA competes in GHSA A and are a very aggressive and talented team. It marked just the second time these two schools have played. Last year, TCS lost by nine points but added a talented freshman and their whole team came back a year older and much improved. The Cavaliers speed and full court press caused issues in the first half setting the momentum for multiple runs. ACA finished Cottage off with an 82-52 defeat.
The Cougars did well to match the Cavaliers and by periods’ end they trailed just 14-16. It was the second stanza that proved to be a nightmare. Cottage was outscored 28-6 as they turned the ball over leading to several layups and three pointers. Down 44-20 TCS seemed finished, but they did battle back.
After a break, the home team came out more focused and determined to fix their ways. Cottage won the third quarter 17-12. TCS continued to slowly cut the lead down to 14 points, 50-36, but ran out of time. Cottage had to gamble in the fourth period to catchup as ACA began to clock manage with 4 minutes remaining. The Cavaliers kept their poise, handled the pressure and found open teammates to jump back over the twenty-point early lead. The final couple of minutes even got worse for the home team as ACA began to rain three-pointers for the 82-52 final.
TCS will practice tomorrow but will be out for the Thanksgiving week. Their next game will be on 12/1 when they will host an old AAC rival, Brandon Hall.
Games Notes
Aidan Briggs put in 27 points and pulled down 7 rebounds. He also added 3 steals and 2 blocks.
Alex Hogg knotted 14 points with 8 boards, 3 assists, and 4 blocked shots.
Daniel Byman just scored a basket, but his defensive pressure was outstanding. He gathered 6 steals and snagged 6 rebounds to go with 3 assists.
