Copper Basin’s Cougars hosted Whitwell Friday, February 9, to wrap up the regular season home schedule, as district tournaments will get cranked up in the next two weeks. It was also Senior Night, and Copper Basin’s four seniors all played well, leading the Cougars to a huge 71-53 win over the Tigers. The quartet of seniors, Avery Crowder, Justus Hamby, Reece Parris, and Kelle Shroth combined for 49 points, and Crowder had a monster night, scoring 22 points and grabbed an incredible 23 rebounds, to go along with five assists.
Whitwell came out ready to play in the first quarter, grabbing the early lead. Parris led Basin with eight points in the period, while Talon Smith and Crowder scored two points each, but the Tigers had the lead after the first quarter, 17-12.
The Cougars started finding the bottom of the nets in the second quarter, as Shroth and Lance both drilled a three-pointer apiece, while Hamby knocked down two of his own to go with another two-point bucket. Drew Crowder got in on the action, scoring four points, while big brother Avery, scored two points. Whitwell began to cool off on offense, and the Cougars took the lead going into halftime 32-28.
Basin’s lead grew a little more in the third period and Crowder started getting hot, scoring eight points and Smith continued his good night with six points. Hamby added two more points as the Cougars took a 48-40 lead into the final quarter.
Copper Basin really put their foot on the gas in the fourth quarter, and they rode Crowder, who kept on scoring, as he added ten points for Basin. Lance kept his good night going too, adding four more points, while Smith drained a three-pointer. Hamby and Parris stayed steady, with both scoring three points for the Cougars, as they gathered some momentum heading into the postseason, disposing of Whitwell 71-53.
Scoring Summary:
1 2 3 4 -Final
WHS 17 11 12 13 -53
CBHS 12 20 16 23 -71
Cougar Scoring: A Crowder 22, Hamby 13, Smith 11, Parris 11, Lance 7, D Crowder 4, Shroth 3.