Lady Cougars Close With Win

The Covington Cougars appear battled-tested and tournament-ready.
Freshman Cristi Persinger scored a game-high 14 points, while sophomore Ariel Barber added a 10-point, 11-rebound double-double Friday night, as the Cougars closed their regular season with a solid 41-32 win over the James River Knights.
The victory capped an 8-14 regular season for the Cougars, who will enter next week’s Pioneer District tournament as the No. 3 seed. 
Their opponent in the first round of postseason play will be the six-seeded Bath County Chargers, who took Covington to double overtime Wednesday before dropping a 56-50 decision.
Coach Tara Simmons-Brewster continues to see improvement in her Cougars each time they take the floor.
“We’ve grown leaps and bounds from Day 1,”?said Simmons-Brewster, whose roster is composed entirely of underclassmen. “We’ve bonded as a team at the right time going into the tournament.”
The Cougars used an 8-0 spurt to start the second quarter Friday night to increase a three-point lead after one to 19-8, and they nearly pitched a second-quarter shutout in the process.
The Knights didn’t score until the 1:44 mark of the second period when Madison Brogan hit a pair from the charity stripe.
Kaliyah Davis then worked the offensive glass for a score to cut the Covington lead to 19-12, but a Persinger free throw and a Barber bucket upped the Covington lead to 22-12 at the half.
The Covington lead reached 12 on three occasions in the third quarter, and they stretched it to 13 twice in the final period.
A?Persinger layup off a Zy’onah Garrison assist gave the Cougars a 39-26 lead, and a little later, a Garrison bucket matched that cushion, 41-28.
Persinger just missed a double-double with nine boards.
“We’ve worked hard, and we’ve had fun,”?Simmons-Brewster added. “We’ve got to work on finishing. We need to make those layups and convert those free throws.”
Davis scored nine points and pulled down 16 rebounds for the Knights, while Myla Lester also scored nine.
The Cougars jayvees, under the guidance of coach Roy Redmon, finished their regular season with a 35-33 win over the Knights.
Lauren Bragg and Makieah Mack led the Cougars with 12 points each, while Samya Allen added 11.
Laken Schroder’s 11 points paced the Knights.
The Cougars jumped to an 11-0 lead after the first quarter and led 22-9 at the half.