Cougars sweep Hawks with 43-37 victory
2/7/23: The Cottage School Cougars travelled to the Howard School to take on their AAC rivals. It was Senior Night for the Hawks, but Cottage stayed focused and pulled out a big road win; 43-37. In fact, it was Howards’ only loss at home in AAC competition all season. Howard moves to 8-3 on the season and secures the #3 seed in the AAC tournament despite one game left to play vs MSA tomorrow night. TCS also has one AAC contest left on the road at CORE Community but win, lose, or draw they finish as the #2 seed. That means these two teams will face off one final time in the AAC semifinals next week.
Cottage stormed out of the gate jumping on the Hawks 12-2 by the end of the first frame. Great patience and teamwork added another ten points in the second stanza, but it was the TCS defense that stood out the most. Howard could not find an open shot so with each contested attempt came frustration. By halftime, the Hawks found themselves down 22-10.
Howard knew they had to do something different so added pressure was the only hope they had to create fastbreak opportunities. This up-tempo style is risky as if a team protects the ball and executes it leaves easy weakside baskets. Lucky for Howard the Cougars lost focus and began to cough the ball up on each other possession. 14 of the teams’ 25 turnovers came in these eight minutes of play. With each one, Howard ran the floor and marched to a 30-27 lead capping a third quarter 20-5 run. Coach Briggs spoke during the break. “Wow! Credit Howard’s effort but man, I think we just played an entire period with our eyes closed! Despite that run, Suroy and I are confident we are okay. Open the eyes, breathe, and we will finish what we started.”
Sure enough, the Cougars played the fourth period with great poise. Jack Kane came through with some solid defense and back-to-back baskets to force a Howard timeout as Cottage reclaimed the lead 35-32. TCS continued to move the ball well and defensively, all but clipped the Hawks’ wings. TCS regained tempo and held on to the 43-37 win.
Cottage moves to 14-11 overall and 9-2 in the AAC. They will play CORE Community on Thursday before the AAC playoffs next week.
Game Notes:
Braden Kramer finished with 15 points, 9 rebounds, 4 steals, and 3 assists.
Jack Kane played outstanding with 10 points, 7 boards, and a blocked shot.
Jackson Barnes snagged 13 rebounds and made a big basket late.
Andrew Dorsey put in 9 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals, and 2 blocks.
Weston Kershner was outstanding on defense. He gathered 3 steals for his hard work.
Jason Donaldson made some key plays in the second half, including a nice find to teammate, Nick for a basket. He pulled down 8 boards with 3 assists and a basket.
Maxwell Lagan added a basket with 6 rebounds.
Nick Elliott made a big basket early in the fourth period from Jason to kickstart the 4th period run to victory.
