The Connally Cougars Black got outstanding shooting performances from Dion Gaddy and Tony Standberry, as they defeated the St. Stephens Spartans 56-47.

The Cougars led in the early going 13-3, behind two 3-pointers from Standberry and another by Gaddy. Despite the Cougars early dominance, the Spartans battled back with six consecutive points to cut the Cougars’ lead 13-9.

The Cougars took their biggest lead of the night at 35-22 after Standberry buried another shot from beyond the arc. The Spartans were able to get a 3-pointer just before the half that cut the Cougars’ lead to 35-25.

At the beginning of the second half, Standberry continued his hot shooting by knocking down another deep shot to increase the Cougars lead to 38-25.

From there, however, the Spartans went on a 12-1 run to cut the Cougars’ lead to 39-37. During the run the Spartans got back in the game behind the play of Sterling Green, who consistently got to the basket against Cougar defenders during the Spartans surge.

After the Spartans run closed the gap, Standberry and Gaddy again answered the bell for the Cougars by scoring back-to-back baskets to push the score to 43-39. Down the stretch Marcel Pimpton got into the act and capped off the Cougars’ scoring with a 3-point play to secure the victory for Connally.

The Cougars’ summer league concludes Tuesday night. Connally has games at 6 and 7 p.m.