It was another tough loss for the Chemainus Cougars junior basketball team last Thursday to Brentwood College.
One week after dropping a narrow 47-45 decision against Duncan Christian School, the Cougars were beaten 38-32 by Brentwood College at Chemainus Secondary School. The Cougars have now played six games this season and are still looking for their first victory.
“It was too bad because I really thought that was a game that was there for the taking,” noted Chemainus coach Casey Parsons. “Brentwood’s ball pressure caused us to play at a frantic pace which led to us turning the ball over too much. We also struggled to move the ball in the half court which forced us to settle for a lot of difficult shots.
“Even so, we were still in it late in the game and gave ourselves a chance. Even though the guys were frustrated with the result, I think they realize that they’re continuing to improve all the time and are hungry to try and pick up a win in one of our final games.”
The first quarter was a defensive struggle, with Brentwood inching into a 6-4 lead.
The Cougars had a strong start to the second quarter, going on an 11-0 run to soar ahead 15-6.
“That run we made in the second quarter was our best few minutes,” Parsons indicated. “I thought that Oakley Gauthier sparked that when he checked in. He brought energy defensively and created a few turnovers that led to us getting some easy lay-ups in transition. Unfortunately, we didn’t build off it to end the half.”
With Chemainus still leading 17-10, things fell apart in the latter part of the second quarter. Brentwood went on a 10-0 run of its own to take a 20-17 lead into halftime.
The second half was played on relatively even terms, with Brentwood’s 18-15 scoring advantage padding its margin of victory to six in the end.
Titus Kennedy led the Cougars’ scoring with 10 points, Jordan Allinott had seven and Aiden Milton added six.
The Cougars will face Gulf Islands Secondary School in another home game at 4 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 2 to see if they can finally get into the win column.
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don.bodger@chemainusvalleycourier.ca
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