The Cottage School JV Cougars fell to the Wilson Academy Warriors on Tuesday by a score of 39-22. Though the Cougars started slowly, they battled back to make the game competitive and proved that they could compete with the talented Warriors.
The Warriors jumped out to a fast start as the Cougars struggled to maintain control of the ball on offense. Several first quarter turnovers by the Cougars led to easy layups for the Warriors, and the Cougars found themselves down double digits early on. As was the case in our first game, though, the Cougars never gave up. They fought back in the second quarter to cut into the Warriors lead. At halftime, the score was 20-6.
Liam Walsh and Matthew Placide led the way offensively in the quarter, but all Cougars contributed. Austin Schwarz, Paul Altermatt, Reese Silverman, and Bryce Dickerson handled the ball and found open teammates. Alex Yager, Hunter Cool, and Javier Cremer dominated the paint on defense and battled for rebounds. Ben Gardner, Andrew Marriott, Nate Dunbar, and Michael Coryer provided excellent wing play and hustled up and down the court in transition. JV newcomers Elijah Joiner and Grant Osgood also contributed solid minutes in their first game with the team.
The second half was an even contest. The Cougars made offensive adjustments and fortified their resolve on defense. Liam Walsh continued to lead the Cougars’ scoring efforts. He finished with 13 points in the game, largely thanks to some great screening from his teammates. The Cougars were able to create driving lanes off of ball screens, and the Warriors struggled to respond. Matthew Placide continued to work hard on both ends of the court, and Elijoh Joiner and Grant Osgood each contributed a bucket on offense.
Though the final score was 39-22, the Cougars were only outscored by 3 in the second half, an encouraging sign for the future. We are looking to bounce back on Wednesday afternoon as we host William & Reed at the Cougar Center at 4:30 PM.
