On the road in Hawesville on Thursday, the middle school Cougar basketball teams picked up a pair of wins against the Hornets.
The seventh grade Cougars held the Hornets to just two points in the second half and won decidedly, 36-12. The eighth-grade Cougars trailed for much of the game, but outscored the Hornets 17-4 in the fourth quarter to win going away, 38-32.
SEVENTH-GRADE GAME
When Brock Tindle hit 1-0f-2 at the line for the Hornets at the 3:42 mark of the second period, his team led 10-7. The Hornets would not score again until the 4:15 mark of the third quarter. During that time the Cougars scored 12 unanswered points to lead 19-10.
Tindle scored on a lay-in to break the Cougar string and make it 19-12, but those would be the last points the Hornets would score the rest of the night. Grayson County would then score the next 17 straight points to close out the lopsided win.
Grayson County put nine players into the scoring column. Taydon Logsdon led the Cougars with 13 points, seven rebounds and six steals. Landon Haycraft scored eight points, and despite being one of the smallest players on the court grabbed four rebounds.
Mason Cariel scored five points and added four steals. Four players, Deveron Kirk, Raidon Warf, Isaiah Poteet, and Samuel Cleamons all scored two points, while Tony Martin and Dawson Childress had one apiece to complete the scoring.
EIGHTH-GRADE GAME
Trailing 5-4 following a Braydon Renfrow three-pointer at the 2:55 mark of the first period, the Hornets reeled off 10 unanswered points to lead by nine, 14-5 with 28 seconds left in the period. River Blanton then hit a three-pointer with four seconds left to end the streak and pull the Cougars to within six of the lead, 14-8 heading into the second quarter.
Two Braydon Childress free throws with 1:55 left in the first half pulled the Cougars to within two of the lead, 16-14, but the Hornets scored the final six points and led by eight, 22-14 at the half.
A three-pointer by Hancock’s Nathan Poole at the 4:27 mark of the third quarter gave the Hornets their largest lead of the night, 11 points at 25-14. Grayson County still trailed by seven points, 28-21 at the start of the fourth quarter, when the tables began to turn.
The Cougars opened the final period with a 12-0 run, including six Childress points, to lead 33-28 with 2:39 left to play. The Hornets closed to within a point of the lead, 33-32 at the 1:33 mark, but would get no closer. The Cougars scored the final five points to win going away.
Blanton celebrated a double-double performance with 10 points and 13 rebounds. Childress also had 10 points and grabbed eight rebounds, just missing the double-double.
Jerron Salazar came off the bench in the second half to contribute six points and five important rebounds. Renfrow finished with five points, while Nolan Hornbeck had three points and five rebounds.
Dillon Horn and Taydon Logsdon both scored two points to round out the Cougar scoring.
By Don Brown, Local Sports
Reach Don at donbrown@k105.com
