Playing in the final regular-season game, the Cougars defeated Hancock County 52-40 on Saturday in Hawesville.
The win was the Cougars’ eighth in their last nine games and they finish the season with a winning record at 15-14.
The Cougars came out on fire in the first period, scoring the game’s first 18 points. Spencer Sharp hit four three-pointers in that first period for 12 of his game-high 22 points. The Hornets did not get on the scoreboard until there were 43 seconds left in the period on a 15-footer by Jaxson Gray. The Cougars led 18-2 at the end of the first quarter.
The Hornets came alive in the second period, opening with a 17-9 run to cut the lead to just eight points, 27-19 with 1:41 left in the half and causing Cougar coach Travis Johnston to call a timeout to castigate his team. The Cougars responded by scoring the final four points of the half to take a 12-point lead, 31-19 into the intermission.
The Cougars then scored the first six points of the third period to lead by 18 points, 37-19 at the 5:50 mark. The Cougars maintained that 18-point margin heading into the fourth quarter, 45-27.
When Spencer Sharp scored on a lay-in at the 6:23 mark of the fourth quarter, the Cougars held their largest lead of the game, 21 points at 50-29. The Hornets responded with an 11-2 run to cut the lead to 12 points, 52-40 with 3:14 left to play.
The Cougars then began taking the air out of the ball, slowing things down until the Hornets were forced to foul. The Cougars went to the line twice in the game’s last 2:38 but missed the front ends of one-and-one situations, and the game ended with the score unchanged since the 3:14 mark.
Gray led the Hornets with 17 points, while Collin Elder added 11.
In addition to his 22 points, Sharp led the team on the boards with five rebounds, and added three assists and three steals. Nolan Shartzer scored eight points and added three rebounds and two steals.
Jaxon Higdon hit a pair of three-pointers for his six points. Matthew Loughran scored five points, including his first made three-pointer of the season. Q’Daryius McHenry scored four points, while Wyatt Schultz added three. Josh Embry and Hunter Tomes both finished with two points to conclude the Cougar scoring.
By Don Brown, Local Sports
Reach Don at donbrown@k105.com
