Cougars suffer 45-31 defeat to Eagles in first game of 2024
1/11/24: The Cottage School Cougars played host to the Riverside Military Academy Eagles on Wednesday night. These two played just over four weeks ago at Riverside in a TCS victory but tonight the Military Academy came to get revenge. Their aggressive physical energy wreaked havoc all night for the Cougars and the Eagles cruised to a 45-31 win.
Cottage came out moving the ball with precision to begin the contest, jumping on Riverside 11-1 in the first six minutes. The Eagles battled back to make it 11-6 to end the frame but it was not until late in the second stanza that the game shifted in favor of the road team.
The Eagles coach called three timeouts in the first period and instructed his team to bring it and did they ever. Like the 1990’s Coach Nolan Richardson led Arkansas Razorback teams, Riverside picked up the pressure and made this game an 84×50 track meet. At first, the Cougars cut through it methodically but found the iron unkind unable to add to their lead. It wasn’t until the clock read 2:42 in the second period before the Eagles finally tied the score at 17 apiece. When Cottage was ahead 17-14, Riverside made a quick 11-0 run before the half ended and took a 27-15 edge. Coach Briggs spoke at the break; “Thankfully we had a great start which helped us to be down just four baskets. All we need to do is execute and the tempo will shift.”
Coach’s plan never came to fruition as the Eagles capitalized off more and more Cougar miscues. TCS struggled mightily against the pressure, not able to slow the tempo. It was not until the fourth quarter before the Cougars finally gained control but by then it was too late, the damage was done. Riverside finished on a 23-2 run from midway through the second period to the end of the third quarter. The Eagles held a 37-19 lead and it all but sealed the game. During this stretch TCS had 24 of their 35 turnovers.
As stated above, Cottage finally made some progress in the fourth and outscored the Eagles 12-8 in the final frame, but it was not enough to take the 45-31 loss.
TCS will travel to Cross Keys High School on Friday for another tough contest. Cross Keys plays almost an identical style. Cottage managed to play well enough to lose is overtime here at the Cougar Center two weeks ago so hopefully that will give them some confidence going into the matchup.
Game Notes:
Maxwell Lagan finished with a double-double with 13 rebounds, 10 points, and 6 blocked shots.
Jack McGrew rotated in giving his team a burst of energy. He finished with 7 points and 6 boards.