The Cougar basketball team picked up a pair of wins over the weekend.
On Friday, the Cougars defeated the Whitesville Trinity Raiders 65-57, then Saturday afternoon they beat the Frederick Fraize Aces, from Cloverport, 63-31.
WHITESVILLE
a Trenton Morris three-pointer that beat the first-period buzzer gave the Raiders a four-point advantage, 19-15 heading into the second period.
A 6-3 Whitesville run opening the second period pushed the lead to seven points, 25-18 with 4:23 left in the half. The Cougars responded with a 9-0 run to grab a two-point lead, 27-25 with 2:32 left. The Raiders then scored the last four points of the period to take a two-point lead, 29-27 at the half.
The third quarter was a back-and-forth affair with five ties and two lead changes. Nolan Shartzer buried two free throws with three seconds left in the period that gave the Cougars a 41-40 lead heading into the final period of play.
Spencer Sharp opened the scoring in the fourth quarter by burying a three-pointer. Shartzer then hit two free throws and when Hunter Tomes scored on a lay-in at the 6:46 mark, the Cougars had scored nine straight and held an eight-point lead, 48-40.
The Raiders responded with a 7-0 run to close back to within a point of the lead, 48-47, and the Cougars called a timeout with 4:41 remaining.
The Raiders then began fouling to send the Cougars to the line. That strategy failed to work as over the last 3:39 of the game, the Cougars hit 17 of 22 foul shots and pulled away to the eight-point win. Sharp finished the game hitting 13-of-14 at the foul line.
Morris led the Raiders with 15 points, while Will Edge added 13.
Sharp led all scorers in the game with 26 points. Q’Daryius McHenry added 14 points and he led the team on the glass with 13 rebounds. Shartzer finished with 12 points.
Keegan Sharp scored five points, while Tomes and Wyatt Schultz had four apiece to complete the scoring.
CLOVERPORT
The Aces came into this game winless in 18 games, but played with the Cougars throughout the first quarter. There were seven lead changes in that first period, but the Cougars scored the final six points of the period to hold a five-point lead, 15-10 heading into the second quarter.
The Cougars led by six points, 18-12 at the 7:15 mark of the second period, when they put the game on ice by scoring 18 unanswered points to lead by 24 points, 36-12 with one minute remaining in the half. They led by 20 points, 38-18 at the half.
When Keegan Sharp buried a three-pointer with 1:43 left in the third quarter, the lead had ballooned to 35 points, 60-25 and the clock began running continuously. The Cougar JV then closed out the rest of the game.
Seth Harris led the Aces with 14 points, while Noah Pate added 10.
McHenry led the Cougars with 20 points. Nolan Shartzer scored 19 points and led the team on the glass with seven rebounds. Sharp finished with eight points, Wyatt Schultz scored six, and Hunter Tomes had five.
Miles Hornbeck scored three points, and Matthew Loughran had two to complete the scoring.
