Cougars crash Barbers Hill party

[KFDM COOP]

Cougars crash Barbers Hill party

By Dave Rogers

 

Published December 22, 2007

MONT BELVIEU — Finally, Justin Reese and his Crosby Cougar basketball team have some payoff for all the hard work.

The Cougars came out firing Friday night and hung tough at the end to take a 56-50 win over Barbers Hill in a District 21-4A showdown played before a rowdy crowd at Barbers Hill’s Fieldhouse.

“I thought it was important for us to come out and play well early to get our confidence up,†said Reese, the first-year head coach at Crosby. “We’ve played well lately, but it hasn’t translated to the win column.â€

Friday’s win, fueled by Kendrae Carter’s 18 points and 17 by B.J. Jacobs, upped Crosby’s record to 5-10 for the season, 1-1 in district.

Barbers Hill fell to 10-5, 1-1, despite a team-high 17 points from Ian Hamlin.

Both teams are off until next Thursday, when they open play in the Gulf Coast Classic tournament at Barbers Hill.

For the Eagles and their coach Nathan Toon, that’s a long time to think about Friday’s game.

“I never felt good in this game,†he admitted when it was over. “I never felt our intensity on defense was where we needed it to be.

“We pride ourselves on playing good defense, but we were far from it tonight. We weren’t ready to play.â€

t was over. “I never felt our intensity on defense was where we needed it to be.

“We pride ourselves on playing good defense, but we were far from it tonight. We weren’t ready to play.â€

Crosby jumped out to a 22-14 lead after the first quarter, thanks to 11 points from Carter, who led a wild 3-point shooting display in the first eight minutes with three treys.

Cougar players were 6 for 6 on 3-pointers in the period, with M.J. Mathis, Elijah Chambers and Jacobs getting into the act. Barbers Hill answered with three 3-pointers, two by Colby Henscley, and was 3 for 6 beyond the arc in the opening period.

But Crosby’s Carter was whistled for back-to-back offensive fouls early in the second period and spent the final six minutes of the half on the bench.

Overall, Crosby was whistled for 22 fouls in the game, compared to 14 for the homestanding Eagles. Barbers Hill was in the bonus for the final 11 minutes of the game due to excess fouls called against the Cougars.

Without Carter to contend with, the Eagles closed the gap on the Cougars to four, 32-28, at the half and two points, 39-37, after three quarters.

Reese was thankful for the contribution of Jacobs and his mates. Matt Guillory finished with eight points and Mathis with six for the Cougars.

“B.J. Jacobs had some big shots for us,†said the Crosby coach.

Barbers Hill actually grabbed its first lead at 37-36 with 20 seconds left in the third period on Richard Minnick’s cut through the lane and Henscey’s feed. But Jacobs answered with a 3-pointer for the Cougars to end the period.

Barbers Hill took a 48-47 lead with 2:14 remaining on another layup by Minnick. Jacobs again had the counter, hitting a jumper from 12 feet.

The Cougars managed to hang onto the lead the remainder of the way, thanks to some free throw shooting of their own. They hit 5 of 7 down the stretch.

Barbers Hill's junior varsity scored a 48-40 win over Crosby in the undercard. Mitchell Hooper and Austin Crawley each had 14 points for the Eagles while Chris Godfrey led the Crosby JV with 19 points.

[BHFAN]

Well obviously they cheated  ;D Just like in football >