Cougars Return to the Courts with Two Tough Losses
Cougars lose tough battle with Cavaliers; 51-42
1/22/21: The Cottage School Cougars played host to a GHSA member, the Atlanta Classical Academy Cavaliers. Both teams seemed evenly matched and therefore it made for a close contest throughout. The Cavalier defense made it a struggle for the Cougars on offense. If not for the Cottage intensity to match ACA, the 51-42 victory would have been much larger.
No excuses but their own for not shooting over a two week Covid-19 quarantine layoff; the Cougars first day back they had to suit up and play. They did have virtual practice and worked out so stayed in shape, but the lack of shooting showed. TCS shot below 30% from the field and were just 11-31 on the charity stripe. Coach Briggs spoke of the shooting woes, “This great game respects those that put time into it. You abandon the pumpkin, it will hold you accountable. Now that we are back in session we hope to get as much shooting at practice but the issue is we have more games than practice at this point so the boys will need to find that time on their own. Hopefully they learned this hard lesson.”
The Cougars are now 8-3 on the season and turn around tomorrow for a road match up with a GISA member; Dominion Christian High School.
Game Notes:
Alex Hogg led the team with 10 rebounds and 6 blocked shots. He also added 13 points.
Aidan Briggs finished with 16 points, 6 boards, and 4 assists.
Welcome back Kyle Kimble. A key piece to the Cougars title run last season, Kyle broke his wrist in two places less than three months ago in the first game of the season. He is now back and battled on the glass and on defense; adding 5 rebounds and 3 blocked shots. More importantly the team is happy to have the junior back in the lineup and look forward to adding him in the mix more and more each game down the stretch.
Cottage loses two in a row with 61-41 outcome at Dominion Christian
1/23/21: The Cottage School Cougars traveled to GISA AAA member, the Dominion Christian High School Knights. DCHS plays in a strong AAA division so does not have a great record but is still a competitive team. Their size provided a tough matchup for the smaller Cougars, which did aid in holding the Cougars under 50 points. The 61-41 victory does not due justice on how close this contest was for all but the final few minutes.
The Cougars trailed just 42-37 early in the fourth period but four straight empty trips, countered by three made baskets for the Knights all but stopped any Cottage plans for a comeback. DCHS went ahead 49-37 and now the Cougars found themselves in desperation mode with less than four minutes to play. Dominion did a nice job spreading the floor and managed the clock. A TCS run never came, ending the game in the 61-41 loss.
The Cougars found themselves down between two to five points on several occasions throughout the first three frames showing how close of a battle they were in. Unfortunately for them that hopeful momentum shift never materialized as the Knights were the ones to make the last scoring surge.
TCS falls to 8-4 and will host Atlanta Jewish Academy on Tuesday night at 5:30 PM.
Game Notes:
Aidan Briggs did a great job holding the team together throughout. He only had one turnover, and it was in the final two minutes. Briggs scored 10 points, pulled down 9 boards, dished out 4 assists, had 2 steals, a block, and took two charges.
In just his second game in uniform Howard transfer and sophomore, Braden Kramer, led the team with 13 points and added 4 rebounds.
Alex Hogg added 9 rebounds, 6 boards, and 2 blocks.
Daniel Byman continues to be a nemesis on defense, gathering 6 steals and put in 6 points.
Kyle Kimble blocked 3 shots and scored his first points since his injury back in November.