Playing their first home games of the season, the middle school Cougars picked up a pair of blowout wins over the visiting Caverna Colonels Monday evening at Cougar Gym.
The seventh-grade Cougars got double-figure performances from Brayden Childress and Nolan Hornbeck and the defense held the Colonels scoreless in the fourth quarter on their way to a 58-16 whitewashing. The eighth-graders put three players into double figures as they took down the Colonels 70-41.
SEVENTH-GRADE GAME
The young Cougars opened the first period with a 14-2 run and never looked back. They led 16-8 after that first period, then outscored the visitors 24-6 in the second period to lead 40-14 at the half.
When Jerron Salazar hit one of two free throws at the 2:41 mark of the third quarter, the Cougar lead had expanded to 35 points and by the mercy rule, the clock ran continuously from that point on.
Childress led all scorers in the game with 13 points. Hornbeck scored 12 points and just missed a double-double night with nine rebounds. Salazar finished with seven points and added three boards.
River Blanton and Dillon Horn both scored six points and Blanton added eight rebounds. Camden Brothers scored five points, while Brayden Renfrow had four, Lucas Pierce added three and Tayden Logsdon had two to complete the Cougar scoring.
EIGHTH-GRADE GAME
This game was pretty much decided in the first quarter when the Cougars opened things with 15 unanswered points. They led 15-2 heading into the second period.
The shell-shocked visitors shook off their cobwebs after that and played much better, but they were never able to overcome that slow start. By halftime, the Cougars had pushed their lead to 20 points, 36-16. Grayson County was paced in the second period by Zeb Bratcher, who hit three three-pointers in the period for nine of his 13 points in the game.
Caverna’s Cameron Buchanan heated up in that second period, scoring 11 of his game-high 20 points. Buchanan finished with five threes on the night.
The Cougars had built a 29-point advantage by the end of the third period and that turned out to be the final margin of victory.
Chandler McCrady led the Cougars in scoring with 16 points and he added five rebounds and a pair of assists. Owen Bratcher was the third Cougar to score in double figures and he also led the team on the glass with eight rebounds.
Keegan Sharp had an all-around fine game for the Cougars, scoring nine points, pulling down four rebounds, and adding two assists and two steals. Brayden Childress scored six points while Jonathan Henning had five. Hunter Tomes scored four points and grabbed four rebounds, and Timmy Hanover completed the scoring with three points.
Dillon Horn went to the hole for two of his
six points in the seventh-grade game.
Owen Bratcher came off the bench
to score 12 points and lead the eighth-graders
on the glass with eight rebounds.
Nolan Hornbeck just missed a
double-double with 12 points and nine
rebounds for the seventh-graders.
