Hawks edge Cougars


Thursday, Decemeber 10, 2009
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Hawks edge Cougars

By CLAUDE VINSON
Sports Editor

The Lady Cougars and Cougars of Coldwater were in town last week and clawed out a split with the teams of Holly High.

Coldwater is in the 1A class and Holly High is a 3A school. The Lady Cougars have a couple of state titles in their resume in their class.

The games on December 1 started with the scoring pretty much even in the first quarter. There were two ties and a couple of lead changes. The Lady Hawks got their first lead on a trey by RoShunda Neely. That put them up 14-11 with less than two minutes left in the first period. Coldwater came back and took a one point lead at the line. It was still close at 17-16.

The Lady Hawks were not having a lot of difficulty with the Lady Cougar offense as a whole, however, they were having a bushel of problems with Jerontay Clemons. She was wreaking havoc on the Lady Hawks defensive format and was the main reason for the 38-30 score at the horn. Clemons had 22 first half points.

Both teams returned after intermission with guns blazing. Coldwater went to a quick 10-point lead and it was clear that Holly High had not solved the Clemons problem in the locker room, but it did manage to trim the difference by four and the Lady Hawks hung around. They also began playing with heart. Each time the visitors made a run for it, the Lady Hawks came back and closed the gap. Kayla Burns kept breathing new life into them at the line. They finished the third with a 43-49 mark.

During the fourth quarter, they couldn’t find the momentum to propel themselves into the lead. Coldwater went on to win by 13 points at 70-57.

Clemons led the floor, finishing with 48 points.

Holly High had three shooters in double figures. Leading the way was Rachel Selman with 13, Shakerra Dawkins and Neely with 11 each and Megan Crittle with 10. Burns added nine.

Hawks escape

The boys game started out with a lot of action and motion from both opponents but very little accuracy. With a little over two minutes left in the first quarter, neither team had broken out of the single digits (7-7 tie). Justin Sipp gave his team a boost with a three and the Cougars added a few more to make it 14-9 at quarter’s end.

The Hawks, with a record of 7-1 (only loss to 6A Olive Branch by one point), were experiencing troubles through the entire first quarter which caused head coach Naylond Hayes to sub the whole squad. The tactic had no immediate impact on the scoring. Coldwater was maintaining a three- to five-point lead until Terek James began to shake things up. He eventually got the Hawks to a one-point lead. The scramble was on for the supremacy of the first half and Greg Ramsey drilled his econd three to give it to the visitors, 29-25.

Early in the third, coach Wirt Spivy drew a ‘tech” for berating the officiating crew and shortly thereafter Holly High tied it at 30. The Hawks brought the heat and led at the end of the frame 48-36. The 1-5 Cougars had almost kept pace with the 7-1 Hawks for three quarters.

The Cougars were equally aggressive in the final frame. They were running full speed with the Hawks and constantly assaulting the lead. A timely trey by Ramsey, his fourth, pulled the visitors within three at 61-59. The Hawks’ defense rallied to prevent the upset as Coldwater got a stick back with scant seconds left. Holly High escaped with the 61-60 win.

The Hawks were paced by Ryan Wilkins with 15, followed by James with 11. Johnathan Bowes scored 10.

The Hawks were scheduled to host M.S. Palmer Tuesday. They go to Ruleville Friday and host Independence next Tuesday, Dec. 15.

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