Cougars Go 3-0 on the Week
Cougars Basketball had a busy and successful week! The Cougars started the week with a last second victory over UIL Class 4A, Rusk, and ended it with a dominant performance over Cristo Rey. In between, the Cougars celebrated a big home win over perennial power, Grapevine Faith. The Cougars, who have won 7 straight games, played a tough non-district game at Rusk on Tuesday and won a hard fought game over Rusk on a last second shot by Darius Shankle. Shankle led the Cougars with 29 points, including an acrobatic game winner. He was joined in double figures by Kole Crawford and Payton Kelly. The Cougars got off to a slow start and overcame foul trouble to defeat Rusk.
On Thursday, before a raucous home crowd the Cougars came back from a double digit second half deficit to beat state ranked Grapevine Faith. The Cougars received contributions from 12 players to pull off the upset. Kole Crawford (18 points) and Darius Shankle (16 points) led the team in scoring but Reed Alexander, Will Bozeman, Cade Covington, Jared Hosch, and Wilson Smith all had big baskets to help secure the victory.
On Saturday, the Cougars traveled to Dallas and defeated Cristo Rey by the score of 87-26. 11 of our 13 players who played in the game scored baskets and everyone contributed to our dominating victory. Crawford’s 20 points led the team. Sophomores Peyton Kelly and Daniel Shankle each had 13 points in the victory. Pressure defense, led by Drew Gaddis, Grayson Gaddis, Brinton Loftis, and Andrew Dancy, helped create several transition baskets for the Cougars.
The JV teams also had a successful week. The JV Blue had a dominating victory over Rusk and a close loss to Grapevine Faith. The JV White went 2-0 on the week with big wins over both Rusk and Grapevine Faith. Our JV Blue will return to action Tuesday at 4:30 against Brighter Horizons. JV White will travel to Troup on Tuesday for a 6:15 game. Both JV teams will play at Frisco Legacy on Friday and JV Blue will participate in the Waskom Tournament on Saturday.
The Varsity Cougars, who are currently 20-9 on the season and 4-2 in district, will return to action on Tuesday with a key district home game against Brighter Horizons. The game is scheduled to tip-off at 7:30. We hope everyone will come out and support the team as they continue their pursuit for a district championship!