Cougars pounced by Panthers

A win wasn’t expected. Highly improbable would describe the expectations for a Cougar win, but it didn’t hurt to hope for one. On Friday, December 21, the Albany Cougars hosted cross-town rival, St. Mary’s, for the first BSAL game of the year for each team. Last year, the Cougars lost by just one point in a thriller where the game’s decision wasn’t definitive till the final buzzer.

This year, the rival game between Albany and St. Mary’s was nowhere near as close as last year’s. The Panthers came into the game a Bay Area powerhouse, ranked eighth in California, and dominated the Cougars, handing them an 80-50 loss.

From the opening tip, St. Mary’s controlled the game and remained in command through 60 minutes of game play. The Panthers simply out shot and out rebounded the Cougars, who continued to play with complete effort. The Cougars knew that they were at a deficit in the game, but the ever-present Cave cheered them on.

Midway through the first quarter, the Panthers continued to hold a lead over the Cougars, when St. Mary’s forward, junior Will Brew stole the ball away for a fast break and in an open court. He decided to add insult to injury by slamming the ball down hard for a dunk. Little did he know that he was only hurting his own team by getting called a technical foul for unsportsmanlike conduct. Before the end of the first half, Brew was called for a technical again. Again, he dunked the ball on a fast break, and was promptly ejected. He heard an earful from the Cave as he headed to the bench to stay for the duration of the game.

The only display of fire coming from the Cougars occurred late in the first quarter when they went on a 10-0 run to bring the game within 10 points. Right when the run reached 10 points, the St. Mary’s coach called a timeout to regroup. This timeout was smart because once the game resumed, the St. Mary’s defense extinguished any trace of the spark in the Cougar offense.

Troubles at the free throw line caused an even larger deficit in the game for Albany. Missed shots from the charity stripe only meant free points were not taken advantage of, making a loss inevitable.
By the start of the fourth quarter, reserves from both benches were in the game. St. Mary’s still held a commanding lead and needed to hold it for the final 15 minutes. Albany still down, needed to save face by preventing a total blowout.

The Cougars’ basketball season is nearing the middle so there are still plenty of basketball games to be played. In order for the Cougars to salvage a season, they will need to improve free throw shooting and continue showing the determined effort of the night’s game.

As of today, the Albany Cougars have a 9-9 record. They are at an even .500, tied for sixth place in the Bay Shore Athletic League. With eight games remaining in the regular season, Albany has the opportunity to better their 16-11 record of last year and continue their season with NCS competition. The Cougars’ next game is against St. Patrick’s/St. Vincent’s, away at Vallejo, on Tuesday, January 15, 2008, who are sitting half a game ahead of Albany with a 10-9 record. A win at St. Patrick’s/St. Vincent’s could spark the start of a winning season.

One Response

1. 9:32 AM on June 5th, 2008Anonymous:

   tell the new coach strewbrigde that albany will never be good at basketball and to give up

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