The Cottage School Cougars had a tough matchup last night versus the Johnson Ferry Junior Varsity Saints. JFS is a home school outfit that consistently circulates top talent onto the basketball court. Despite their skill set, Cottage had every opportunity to prevail but lost 69-50.
The Saints took advantage of a slow start by TCS. The intensity on defense was flat which led to easy ball movement and offensive put backs for Johnson Ferry, as the Saints held a 15-6 edge at the end of period one.
The Cougars picked it up offensively but outside of a two minute stand, they still seemed out of sort on defense compared to their past few games. As Johnson Ferry held a 31-18 lead at the intermission break Cottage gathered to figure out a way to fix the flat tire. Coach Richie spoke on the first half; “Our communication was the problem. It was clear we were not focused to set the tone on defense, but nobody stepped up to try and fix it. Suroy and I strongly encouraged them to talk to each other more in the second half so that we can at least play the way we want to play instead of letting the Saints dictate the contest on both ends.”
There was improvement the second half but now the Saints had confidence and rhythm. The Saints poured in a 28 point third quarter, much of that was because they were pretty strong basketball players. The Cougars were able to get their offense going to try and match it. Matter of fact, over the next two frames the Cougars lost just 38-32 but the damage was done earlier and Johnson Ferry went on to win 69-50.
The Cougars will practice tomorrow before their final contest before the Thanksgiving break on Thursday at St. George Episcopal School in Milner, Ga.
Game Notes:
Tim Mattioli played really tough throughout the night. He finished with 11 points and continued fine play defensively.
Aidan Briggs had a low field goal percentage night but still did a fine job on the glass. He added 14 points.
Kyle Kimble put in 8 points.
Shane Hendrickson, Ruslan van Kesteren, Alex Hogg, and Daniel Byman all played well defensively and were patient on offense.
Proud Cougar Coaches,
Suroy and Richie
