The Shadow
Coming off of a big home victory over the James River Knights on Wednesday, the Covington Cougars (4-11) girls basketball team, could not solve the Eastern Montgomery Mustangs (10-6) full court press as the Cougars were blown out 53-31.
Following several forced turnovers by a tough full court press, the Mustangs jumped out to and early 8-0 lead on the Cougars within the first two minutes of the game which prompted Cougars head coach, Ryan Kessinger, to take an early timeout.
Shortly following the timeout, the Cougars would get on the scoreboard with just over three minutes left in the first quarter on a Cristi Persinger layup. Persinger’s basket ended a 10-0 scoring run by the Mustangs.
The Mustangs ended the first quarter on a 6-0 scoring run to take a 16-2 lead.
Trailing by 14 points, the Cougars opened the second quarter looking like a completely different team as the team scored the quarters first seven points to cut the lead in half to only seven points at 16-9.
After the Cougars missed a chance to cut the lead down even further, the Mustangs brought the lead back up to nine points on a Lilly Underwood jump shot. This started a 12-6 scoring run by the Mustangs to close out the first half to take a 30-17 lead.
In the second half, the Cougars would not be able to get the lead back down to single digits.
With two minutes left in the third quarter, off of multiple offensive rebounds, Madison Bruce, drained one of her four made three-pointers to give the Mustangs their then largest lead at 37-22.
The Mustangs lead would increase to 18 points by the end of the third quarter. Bruce, knocked down a three-pointer just before the buzzer sounded to give the team a 42-24 lead.
The Cougars finished with two players in double figures scoring. Persinger, scored a team-high 12 points to go along with four rebounds, two assists, and a team-high three steals. Kayla Bartley, was also in double figures scoring with 10 points to go along with seven rebounds and one assist. Lauren Bragg, was tied with Mustangs Bruce for a game-high eight rebounds.
The Mustangs forced over 30 turnovers in the game. The team recorded 25 steals in the game.
Bruce, finished the game with a game-high 20 points, eight rebounds, two assists, and a game-high eight steals. Morgan Bahken, scored 13 points to go along with five rebounds, one assist, and four steals.
Up next for the Cougars, the team hosts Craig County on Tuesday night at 6:00 p.m.
Cougars at Mustangs – 1/27/2022
Team 1st 2nd 3rd 4th Ttl
CHS 2 15 7 7 31
EMHS 16 14 12 11 52
Cougars Statistics
Player Pts Reb Ast Stl
Persinger 12 4 2 3
H Reynolds 4 2 – –
Rose (Minutes Played)
L Bragg 5 8 2 2
Bartley 10 7 1 –
S. Bragg – 3 – –
Johnson – 1 – –
B. Reynolds – 2 – –
Mustangs Statistics
Player Pts Reb Ast Stl
Underwood 4 1 6 6
Boone 4 – 3 1
Bahkan 13 5 1 4
Felty 2 4 1 1
Bruce 20 8 2 8
Holloway 4 1 1 2
Gadd – 1 1 1
Bower 4 6 1 2
Shelor 2 – – –
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On Wednesday night, after a tightly contested four quarters of basketball, the Cougars were able to edge past the James River Knights, 49-45.
In the first quarter, Lauren Bragg, scored four points within the first minute of the game, including stealing the ball on an inbounds pass and putting the ball back in the hoop to the Cougars a 4-0 lead. Knights head coach, Ryan Firebaugh, did not like what he saw from his team and called a timeout.
The timeout proved to be a significant moment in the quarter for the Knights, as the team rebounded following the timeout by scoring 12 unanswered points to take a 12-4 lead.
Not wanting to let the game get away from them early on, Cristi Persinger, in the closing minutes of the first quarter, was fouled while making a tough layup. Persinger, completed the three-point play by making her free throw. This ended the Knights 12-0 scoring run. The Cougars closed the first quarter on a 5-0 run to cut the lead to 12-9.
After a back and forth second quarter, the Knights went into the second half with a 20-18 lead.
Persinger, who scored a game-high and season-high 27 points, turned the game around in the third quarter by guiding her team to a 15-point quarter while giving the Cougars a 33-30 lead heading into the fourth quarter. Persinger, in the third quarter, knocked down four field goals, including a three-point play which gave the Cougars a 23-22 lead. It was the Cougars first lead since the opening minute of the game.
In the games final minutes, Harlie Reynolds, knocked down two big layups, including one in the final minute that gave the Cougars a 48-45 lead. Persinger, sealed the win by knocking down one of two free throws following a Knights turnover. The Knights had a chance to tie the game.
Free-throw shooting came back to haunt the Knights. The team finished 9-for-25 overall and 7-for-16 in the fourth quarter. The Cougars were 18-for-30 from the free-throw line, including knocking down 10 of 14 attempts in the fourth quarter.
Persinger, was the lone Cougars in double figures scoring, with her game-high 27 points to go along with nine rebounds, three assists, and a game-high five assists. Kayla Bartley and Reynolds each had seven points scored, while L. Bragg, recorded a game-high 14 rebounds.
The Knights finished with two players in double figures scoring. Honesty Liming, recorded a double-double, 15 points and 10 rebounds to go along with three assists, and three steals. Caitlin Canada, led the Knights with a team-high 16 points and a team-high four steals.
Knights at Cougars 1/26/2022
Team 1st 2nd 3rd 4th Ttl
JRHS 12 8 10 15 45
CHS 9 9 15 16 49
Knights Statistics
Player Pts Reb Ast Stl
Liming 15 10 3 3
Eubank 2 6 – –
Kessler 6 – 1 1
Hester 4 3 1 3
Canada 16 2 1 4
Crowder 2 3 – –
Francis – 2 – –
Cougars Statistics
Player Pts Reb Ast Stl
L. Bragg 6 14 3 1
Terrell 2 4 2 –
Persinger 27 9 3 5
Bartley 7 7 – –
H Reynolds 7 – 2 1
Heighter (Minutes Played)
B. Reynolds – 1 – 1
S. Bragg (Minutes Played)
