by Malcolm Butler
Down 23 points late in the third quarter on the road against No. 5 seed Vermilion Catholic, things looked pretty bleak for No. 12 seed Cedar Creek.
Evidently, the Cougars (15-9) had the Screaming Eagles right where they wanted them.
Behind 28 points from Jake Terry and 14 points from Cannon Robbins, Cedar Creek outscored Vermillion Catholic by 32 points the rest of the way in winning 57-48 and advancing to the quarterfinals.
Creek will travel to face No. 4 seed Hamilton Christian Friday for a 6:30 p.m. tipoff with a chance to advance to Marsh Madness in Lake Charles on the line.
“I think the message was we feel like we should win this game,” said Cedar Creek head coach Lance Waldron. “We have to go and take it. That’s what we did. The players really stepped up. They showed grit and determination.
“We just started playing. We started playing together and passing the ball. We started finding the open man. We were playing harder on defense to make things happen.”
Trailing 36-13 about midway through the third quarter, the Cougars began to turn up the heat on both ends of the floor.
After scoring just 11 points in the first two quarters (Creek trailed 22-11 at the half) and being outscored 14-2 to start the third quarter, the Cougars turned to the one-two punch of Terry and Robbins.
Terry, who broke his hand in the Cougars second round win over Westminster Christian on Friday, and Robbins, who missed the last month of the season after breaking both elbows and undergoing surgery, combined to score 36 points in the second half.
“Cannon played periodically throughout the game” said Waldron about the senior guard. “We changed his style of play to try to play a little bit safer. We would put him in a couple of minutes at a time. It worked. We were successful with it. We were able to get him out out on the floor, and he contributed a lot.
“And Jake really was the catalyst for us. He led the comeback. He had 28 points. He played his tail off for us.”
Creek began its comeback over the final half of the third quarter, pulling to within 42-34 at the start of the final stanza. It was a total 180 from the opening two quarters, especially offensively.
“The first half we turned the ball over,” said Waldron. “We were nervous. We had that long bus ride. We couldn’t make our shots. I felt like we got some pretty good looks, but we just couldn’t score.”
With new life and an opportunity to pull off the road upset, the Cougars dominated the Screaming Eagles over the final eight minutes, outscoring Vermilion Catholic 23-6. Robbins scored 10 points, Terry added nine and Brett Bell chipped in with four as Creek rallied despite its injuries.
“We even had to pull Luke out,” said Waldron. “He busted his knee. He is okay. It was more of a bruise from taking a charge. We just had people step up. Cameron Temple defense was great tonight. He did a fabulous job. Defensively he was tough out there.”
Although Waldron credited mixing up some defenses in the final 12 minutes of play, he said it ultimately was about his players desire to continue playing.
“We did some different things defensively,” he said. “We did do some things throughout the second half. That made a difference. But overall, it was the attitude and the fight. We were highly motivated, and refused to quit. We just refused to lose. We showed toughness fighting through the injuries.”
Jyren Bevard led Vermilion Catholic (14-4) with 13 points while Cole Albert scored 10 points.
