By Malcolm Butler
After drawing the ire of their head coach in the season opening loss to Saline, the Cedar Creek Cougars have been playing better defense.
Enter Exhibit A.
Over the past two games, the Cougars (3-2) have played at a much higher level on the defensive end of the floor, including in Thursday’s 64-37 win over Jonesboro-Hodge in the first day of the Quitman Tournament held at the Ruston Sports Complex.
“After losing our home opener to Saline we have been focusing on improving our team defense,” said Creek head coach Lance Waldron. “They have really responded to the challenge of playing better defense. We currently have a winning record of 3-2 and have held our last two opponents to under 40 points each.”
The Cougars held the Tigers to single digits in three of the four quarters while jumping out to a 40-13 halftime advantage and cruising to the victory.
Luke Waldron and Connor Johnson combined to score 11 first quarter points while Creek held J-Hodge to just two field goals made. Cougars led 20-5 at the end of the first.
The Cougars continued their domination in the second quarter as seven different Creek players netted points, led by John Abram Earle and Jake Doan with four each.
J-Hodge came out of the halftime locker room trailing 40-13 and found its offensive rhythm, outscoring Creek 21-12 in the third quarter to cut the deficit to 52-34 entering the final stanza. Doan, Johnson and Jack Bell combined for 11 of the 12 points in the frame.
Doan scored eight of Creek’s 12 points in the fourth quarter as the Cougars held J-Hodge to just three points.
Doan led Creek with 18 points while Johnson added 15 and Bell 10.
The Cougars will face Ruston High today at 5:15 p.m. at the Ruston Sports Complex.
The Lady Cougars saw their two-game winning streak snapped in a 55-25 loss to Haughton in their only game of the Quitman Tournament.
“That was a great team that we played tonight,” said Creek head coach Katie Hall. “I don’t think we will play a better team this year. We were undersized and struggled to to score against their length around the perimeter and underneath. We were impatient with our shooting which led to poor shot selections. I was proud of how we remained positive throughout the game and never hung our heads.”
Creek saw undefeated 5A Haughton (8-0), which handed Ruston its only loss of the year, jump out to an 18-4 lead after the first quarter and 36-11 at halftime and never look back.
The Lady Cougars were led in scoring by freshman Mary Grace Hawkins with 10 points, while Caroline James added four.
