Cougars drop two games at Hart County

nolan-vs-adair
nolan-vs-adair

Playing inside the sparkling new gym at Hart County, the Cougars dropped two summer games on Thursday. They lost to Adair County 37-26, then lost to host Hart County 37-31.

ADAIR COUNTY

The Cougars got off to a fast start against the Indians, jumping out to a 10-5 lead at the 9:00 mark. The Indians then put on a 9-0 run to take a lead they would not give back, 14-10 with 4:25 left.

The Indians outscored the Cougars 16-5 since the Cougars’ 10-5 lead and led by six, 21-15 at the half.

A three-pointer by Keegan Sharp pulled the Cougars to within four points of the lead, 25-21 with 9:12 left to play, but they would get no closer. The Indians responded with a 6-1 run to lead by nine points, 31-22 with 5:13 left. The Cougars were never closer than seven points afterward.

Keegan Sharp led the Cougars with 11 points, while Nolan Shartzer added eight and a team-leading eight rebounds. Hunter Tomes closed out the scoring with seven points and he added four rebounds. River Blanton did not score, but pulled down six rebounds.

HART COUNTY

The Cougars led once in this game, 2-0 following two free throws by Blanton 27 second into the game. The Raiders responded with seven straight points to take a lead they would not give back.

A Blanton put-back basket with 22 seconds left in the first half pulled the Cougars to within two points, but the Raiders scored with one second left to take a four-point lead, 17-13 at the half.

A Jaxon Higdon three-pointer pulled the Cougars to within three of the lead, 19-16 at the 15:40 mark, but the Raiders responded with seven straight to go up by 10 points, 26-16 with 10:20 left to play. The Cougars were never closer than six the rest of the way.

Higdon hit a pair of three pointers and led the Cougars in scoring with eight points. Sharp scored seven points, while Shartzer and Tomes had six each. Blanton closed out the scoring with four points.

By Don Brown, Local Sports
Reach Don at donbrown@k105.com