By Malcolm Butler
No. 18 seed Cedar Creek saw its season come to an end Friday night as the Cougars fell 75-37 to No. 15 seed Riverside Academy in the Select School Division IV playoffs.
The Cougars (12-14) fell behind double digits in the first quarter and were never able to make a run as Riverside advanced to play No. 2 seed St. Martin’s Episcopal in the second round this week.
Jake Doan led the Cougars with 15 points while Jack Bell added 10 points in the loss.
Riverside (8-16) led 23-8 after the first quarter and 37-17 at halftime en route to the 38-point win.
Despite coming up short in 10 of the last 12 games of the season, Cedar Creek head coach Lance Waldron said he felt the team made strides during the season.
“Based on our summer performance of going 0-16, we pinpointed three things we needed to work on,” said Waldron. “Toughness, shooting, and defense. I believe this team met the challenge of working on those things to insure that we had a successful season. The players worked extremely hard on becoming better shooters. Connor and Jake became sharper shooters that we leaned on the entire season.
“Our toughness improved greatly from the summer. Our players made great strides in the weight room after the summer and that continued all season. Our team defense has greatly improved relative to where we were after the summer. The improvements helped get us to a (12-14) record.”
The Cougars came into the year having to replace its entire starting lineup due to graduation, and Waldron said he was proud of how the players responded.
“Replacing all five starters from the previous year is not an easy task, but the guys this year bought in and worked hard on our three goals to set us up for future success,” said Waldron. “The future is very bright for Cedar Creek basketball.”
