Cougars push tempo, use balance in big victory

From a stifling fullcourt press to a balanced scoring effort out of an offense that pushed the ball upcourt at every opportunity, Greenwood Christian’s boys basketball team ran visiting Waldron out of the gym Tuesday night.

The host Cougars used all of those attributes to build a 19-0 run that spanned the first and second quarters and enabled them to blow out the visiting Mohawks 96-56.

Greenwood Christian (12-8) forced 18 Waldron turnovers while committing just four itself. All 13 Cougars who played scored, and seven scored eight or more points. Even when they weren’t scoring points off Waldron turnovers, Greenwood Christian forced the tempo throughout the game.

“We acted like this was going to be a sectional game,” Greenwood Christian coach Jonny Marlin said. “The guys came out pretty focused. We didn’t stress the start of the game any more than usual; we just want to build momentum these last two or three weeks before the sectional begins.”

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Cooper Britt led the balanced Cougars with 16 points off the bench. Payton Modlin and Kegan Owen added 12 points apiece, while Champ McCorkle scored 11 points and grabbed a game-high seven rebounds.

Trey Spears and Andrew Anderson added nine points apiece for Greenwood Christian, while Quentin Steele added eight.

“We’ve never had all 13 score (in a game), but we’ve had multiple games where all five starters have scored in double figures,” Marlin said. “It makes this team fun to coach.”

In addition to the 19-0 spurt, the Cougars bolted from a 12-9 edge midway through the first quarter to score nine straight. Only a Cody Beal putback basket with 51 seconds left in the first period kept Greenwood Christian from scoring 29 straight points.

Greenwood Christian was used to playing at a quick pace, having averaged 63 points per game entering play Tuesday, but Marlin said he still believes the Cougars can push the tempo even more.

“We talked in the first half about throwing our outlet passes too high,” he said. “We’ve been really good at pushing the pace after turnovers, but we want to also push it after makes and misses. Champ McCorkle was amazing at that (Tuesday). He was hitting guys halfway down the court. We still have room to grow, though.”

Greenwood Christian returns to action Friday when it hosts Brown County.