Conference foes North Brunswick and West Brunswick beat the Cougars in boys basketball games last week.
On Feb. 7 at South, North Brunswick completed a season sweep, winnings 66-57. The Scorpions beat the Cougars 75-51 Jan. 10 at North.
In the rematch, the Scorpions’ top-four scorers were juniors. Malakhi Daniels scored 25 points. North is 5-8 in the conference, 11-12 overall.
For the Cougars, junior Caleb Bernard scored 27 points. He made 7 of 9 field goals, 3 of 6 3-pointers and 4 of 7 free throws. Senior Demerius Wise scored 13 points. Rashad McNeil had nine rebounds. Lamarean Mason scored nine points and had six rebounds.
On Thursday at West, the Trojans won 62-49. West is 4-10 in the conference, 9-13 overall. West seniors J.J. Cobb and Cylil Lee scored 30 of the Trojans’ 62 points.
South is 2-12, 6-17. South beat West 56-54 in overtime on Jan. 13.
In the rematch, Wise sank three 3-pointers and scored 16 points. Lamarean Mason and Rashad McNeil each scored eight points, Caleb Bernard seven, Tony Cox three, Jonathan Braxton three, Chase Robinson two and Carter Maggard two.
West led after the first quarter 18-13. Wise scored seven of the Cougars’ points. The Trojans sank three 3-pointers.
The Trojans led 25-20 before hitting three 3-pointers in taking a 38-30 halftime lead.
West kept control of the game in the third quarter, as it outscored the Cougars 9-5 in extending it lead to 47-35. The quarter ended 49-40.
The Trojans scored the first seven points of the fourth quarter and led 56-40 with 5 minutes, 16 seconds left. South’s chances for a rally ended when leading scorer Caleb Bernard was hurt with 4:40 left and was unable to return to the game.
Cougar girls
North Brunswick and West Brunswick beat the Cougars in games last week.
North Brunswick beat South 33-27 on Feb. 7 at South, completing a season sweep. The Scorpions won 42-21 on Jan. 10 at North. The Scorpions are 2-11, 6-15.
North made 9 of 16 free throws; South, 4 of 7. For North, freshman Dani’elle Young scored 13 points. For South, junior Kira Beardsley scored 11 points, grabbed six rebounds and made four steals.
On Thursday at West, the Trojans won 57-19. West is 5-9, 10-10. West beat South 52-23 on Jan. 13.
In the rematch, West led 14-3 after the first quarter and 32-6 at halftime. For South, freshman Summer Covington, sophomore Paige Lewis and junior Madison Mitchell each scored 3-pointers. Freshman Gracin Johnson had eight rebounds. South is 0-14, 1-19.
Conference tourney
The Mideastern 3A/4A Conference championship basketball tournament is this week.
South’s boys were to play on Monday at conference champion New Hanover (14-0, 20-2). The Wildcats have beaten the Cougars 80-35 and 59-29. The winner plays on Wednesday, Feb. 15, in a semifinal (time TBA) against either No. 4 seed Ashley or No. 5 seed North Brunswick.
South’s girls were to play on Tuesday at conference champion Hoggard (14-0, 20-2). The Vikings have beaten the Cougars 72-8 and 69-7.
The winner plays at 6 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 16, against either No. 4 seed New Hanover or No. 5 seed Laney.
The girls’ championship game is 6 p.m. Friday and the boys’ championship game is 7:30 p.m. Friday, both at a neutral site.
