By Erric McDonald

Pflag Correspondent

The Connally Cougars defeated their cross-town rival, the Hendrickson Hawks 79-57 on parents night at Cougar Gym. The Cougars have won eight out of their last nine games and are squarely in the hunt for a playoff spot. On the other hand, the Hawks have struggled with an inexperienced team to get victories.

The first quarter of play was very exciting, as both team attempted full-court pressure which resulted in several dazzling drives to the basket by both teams. The Hawks led 5-2 following a basket by Kalan Pendergrass. The Cougars gained their first lead of the night after back-to-back layups by Marcel Pimpton and Deshawn Riddick. The Cougars increased their lead to 9-7 after Adrian Williams drained a 3-pointer. Following a basket by the Hawks Raheem Griffin, which tied the game at 9-9, Williams scored on a spin move to make the score 11-9. The Hawks tied the game at 12-12 on a David Hernandez 3-pointer. However, the Cougars went a 5-0 run to take a 17-12, as super-sub Xavier Malveaux connected on a 3-pointer and scored on a layup.

The Hawks cut the Cougars lead to 17-16 by the end of the quarter following a free throw by Chance Waz and another 3-pointer by Hernandez.

In the second quarter, Pimpton and Riddick got the Cougars’ transition game going, as the Cougars increase their lead to 27-19. During the run the duo combined for 10 fast-break points. Following a layup by Hendrickson’s Jordan Washington that made the score 27-21, the Cougars went on a 9-0 run. It was capped off by a Malveaux 3-pointer that gave the Cougars a 36-21 lead. Following a Hawks’ timeout, Chris McDaniel completed a 3-point play which sparked an 8-3 run by Hendrickson to close the first half.

In the third quarter, the Cougars outscored the Hawks 25-10 to take a commanding lead. Williams started the scoring for the Cougars by hitting the first five points of the period. The Cougars took a 58-33 lead when Latreal Lemuel found Roy Jones with a nice pass for an easy basket. Later in the quarter, another 3-pointer by Malveaux made the score 64-39.

In the fourth quarter, Coach Marshall Sanders was able to get everyone into the game and got quality contributions from David Jones and Brandon Miller.

The Cougars were led in scoring by Malveaux with 16 points, Pimpton with 12 points and Williams with 10 points. Hernandez led the Hawks with 15 points.