Keep fighting. That was the message Connally coach Marshall Sanders kept preaching to his Cougars last Tuesday when Killeen Ellison came calling to kickoff the 2009-10 boys basketball season. The Cougars took the message to heart as they overcame a 5-point deficit heading into the final eight minutes of play to come away with a 68-64 victory.

The Cougars got off to a quick start thanks to the outside shooting of Jhordan Mason and Terres Wilson. Mason and Wilson hit back-to-back three’s to give Connally an early 6-0 lead. The Cougars, who ended the first quarter shooting 60 percent from beyond the arc, kept the pressure on Killeen throughout the quarter and never allowed Ellison to get into any type of offensive rhythm.

Finding themselves trailing by five after one quarter of play, Ellison began imposing their will in the paint during the second quarter with their domination of the boards. Connally’s inability to block out allowed Ellison two or three field goal attempts on almost every trip down the floor. That in and of itself was not enough to allow Ellison to overcome Connally’s lead as each team hit 50 percent from the field. The difference came at the free throw line where Ellison hit five of eight attempts, while Connally struggled making only three of 11. By the time the half rolled around Connally saw their 5-point lead shrink to one at 28-27.

The halftime break did little to kill the momentum Killeen established in the fist half as they continued to dominate under the basket both offensively and defensively in the third quarter. Not only did Ellison continue to hold a rebound advantage, offensively they remained hot as they went 6 of 10 from both the field and the free throw line. Ellison’s play during the 16-minute stretch (in the second and third quarter) was enough to erase Connally’s lead and to give Ellison a five-point lead heading into the fourth quarter.

Sanders had seen enough and with less than a minute remaining in the third quarter called a timeout. After gathering the team, Coach Sanders made it quite clear that Ellison was getting too many offensive rebounds.

“We were doing a horrible job of blocking out,” he said. “Ellison was real athletic and I just told the team to take another step back. Normally giving up so many offensive rebounds will get you beat.”

The message was received loud and clear by the Cougars as they outscored Ellison 24-15 in the final quarter. By the midway point of the fourth quarter Connally had cut the deficit to two at 52-50 and then tied the game at 58 all with 4:30 remaining in the game when Wilson drained a three from the right sideline. Connally regained the lead with 2 minutes left in the game after forcing Ellison turnovers on consecutive possessions and then sealed the victory by going 9 of 9 from the free throw line.