Cougar Basketballers Take Red Brown Title

On a dark and stormy night in Marin, Myles Babbit brought a little precipitation of his own, raining down seven three-pointers on the Novato Hornets and leading the Cougars to the championship of the Red Brown Tournament, 59-33.

Babbit’s 23-point performance, which earned the junior tournament MVP honors, was particularly important for the injury-plagued Cougars, now 7-2. Seniors Connor Freeberg and Derrick Virassammy and juniors Akwasi Agyekum and Sy Stokes were unavailable.

The remaining players certainly picked up the slack. Sophomore Justin Johnson poured in 19 and junior Branden Foote-Pierce grabbed 18 rebounds. Johnson was also named to the all-tournament team.
Seniors Kevin Terusaki and Jing Jing Gong played hard at both ends of the floor, helping hold the Hornets to just 2-for-23 shooting in the second half, and extending the Cougars 31-27 halftime lead.
To reach the finals, Albany knocked off tournament host Sir Francis Drake 44-42 in the semis, behind 15 points from Freeberg, 14 from Johnson and 11 from Babbit. The Cougars knocked off Kennedy (Fremont) 72-59 in the opening round.

The Cougars face the balance of the Marin County basketball teams in the upcoming weeks, with games December 19 at San Rafael, December 22 at San Marin and a re-match with Novato on December 27. A home game against Tamalpais is slated for December 29 at home.

BSAL play starts January 6 against St. Patick/St. Vincent in Vallejo.