Cougars suffer another painful loss to Panthers

The Cottage School Cougars hosted the Brandon Hall Panthers on Wednesday night. Brandon Hall came in redhot; undefeated in GISA AA competition and just knocked off a state final four team in Flint River Academy. The Cougars do not compare to their talent but the question was if they could execute better than they did the first go round at Brandon Hall. Unfortunately for TCS, they could not losing 80-31.

The Panthers scored early and often off several TCS mental miscues and held a 30-5 lead by the end of period one. Cottage slightly improved on both ends of the floor in the second stanza but could not find a way to make a basket. The half ended 54-7.

At intermission the Cougars spoke of their lack of focus and Cottage responded. Finally executing what they practice on a daily basis, they were rewarded with more efficient looks at the rim. Brandon Hall played the majority of their second string the second half,but Cottage could have performed better versus their starters if they had just started the game moving the ball cohesively like they did the second two periods. The Cougars lost just 27-24 in the second half to make the final a little more reasonable, with a Panthers 80-31 victory.

The Cougars worked hard yesterday in practice for their showdown with the current AAC king, the Howard School Hawks tonight (Friday, 12/7/18). Howard has not lost an AAC contest in the past two seasons and are 2-0 to start 2018-2019.

Game Notes:

Brett Boyles led TCS with his hustle and determination. He scored 11 points and added 6rebounds, 2 steals, and 2 assists.