Cougars hit double digits in wins with 67-22 blowout over Holy Cross

The Cougar's continued their hot play yesterday, Saturday January 30th, when they beat Holy Cross 67-22 and improved their season record to 10-5. The game between East and Holy Cross took place in Rancocas Valley as part of the Jeff Coney Tournament.

East started out the game a bit slow, only managing to score 6 points in the first quarter. At half time, the Cougars were up by 10. But in the third quarter, the Cougars absolutely erupted, scoring 28 points and improving their lead to 33 points. Finally in the fourth quarter, the Cougars put up 12 more points than Holy Cross, allowing the Cougars to win by a huge margin of 45 points.

Chris Santo ('11) scored 29 points, while Marc Schlessel ('12) hit three three-pointers, en route to his 11 points. Ben Gerstein ('10) was the third leading scorer with 8 points.

East's next game is on Tuesday, February 2nd, when Cherokee will travel to East for an Olympic Conference American Division matchup. A win would push the Cougar's conference record to 3-3.

In picture above, Marc Schlessel ('12) hits a three. Picture by Karina Korneyeva ('10)

Cougars Discard Emily Fisher Charter

In a blowout win, the Cougars defeated Emily Fisher Charter today. The Cougars, led by Chris Santo ('11) who scored 40 points and Seth Friedman ('10) who scored 20 points, had this game in hand by the half, leading by a margin of 44-33.

Player of the Game:Santo. 40 points. Enough said.

Cougars Push Aside Lenape

In a game that was surprisingly not even close, the Cougars defeated Lenape 52-34. After appearing outmatched in their opening season loss to the Indians (50-37), the Cougars showed how much they've matured throughout the season in this huge victory to improve their record to 8-5.

The first quarter was a dogfight and it made it seem like this was going to be a typical difficult game against Lenape. The quarter ended tied at 11 with Chris Santo ('11) scoring 8 of East's points. Marc Schlessel ('12) provided the other three points for East.

The Cougars played shut-down defense in the second quarter, allowing only five points the whole quarter. After a Jake Gurkin ('12) layup with seconds remaining in the half, it appeared as though East would enter the half in a close contest, leading by a score of 20-16 until Lenape inbounded the ball and an East player deflected it off a Lenape player so the Cougars would have possession with three seconds left in the quarter. This was just enough time for Seth Friedman ('10) to work some magic. After the inbound pass from half-court, Friedman took two dribbles so that he was a couple of feet beyond the three point line and launched a three that found its way into the basket to give the Cougars the 7 point half-time lead, 23-16.

At the half, Santo had 10 points and four rebounds and Friedman scored 5 points to go along with his 5 assists.

After Friedman's miraculous shot, East never stopped charging forward. In fact the Cougars were so dominating in the third quarter that Lenape coach Chuck Guittar took out all of his starters to put in the reserves for over a quarter. This accomplished absolutely nothing basketball-wise and the Cougars led 35-21 at the end of the third.

The Cougars continued their strong effort on both sides of the ball in the fourth. As Lenape started to try to gain some momentum in the fourth, Schlessel nailed a three, pushing the lead to 17 with 5:40 left and effectively putting the game away.

Players of the Game: Santo and Friedman. Although this was not one of his most high scoring games, in a tough defensive battle Santo was able to score at will on the inside and kept the Cougars in the game when neither team took charge in the first quarter. Friedman gets the nod here for his timely three at the end of the first half. In a defensive battle, as this game looked as if it would be during the first half, a seven point lead is a significant margin. His three in the waning seconds of the half gave the team momentum that it carried into the locker room and into the second half.

Cougars Lose Heartbreaker to Pennsauken

Today the Cougars fell to Pennsauken 65-62 in a true heartbreaker. After a fantastic, fast-paced exciting game, the Cougars simply came out on the wrong end of this one. The game was tight throughout, but the second half was a frenzy of action. After the Cougars led at half-time by a score of 28 to 26 with Chris Santo ('11) leading the scoring charge with 11, neither team truly took control in the second half.

The third quarter ended with the game all tied up at 47. Santo had a huge third quarter, scoring 15 points to keep the Cougars in the game.

The intensity level of the fourth quarter for both teams was spectacular. Both teams played scrappily and hustled for every loose ball in the quarter. With six minutes left in the fourth, Pennsauken took a slight 53-52 lead. As usual in this game, Santo did not let them extend their lead. Less than a minute later, Santo fiercely dunked the ball through the basket to tie the game up at 56.

Pennsauken proceeded to score a basket on their next possession to give them the two point advantage with a little bit more than two minutes left in the game. After a Santo free throw and East getting the ball back after a Pennsauken score Seth Friedman ('10) had a clear look at the basket for an easy layup on the fast break which would cut Pennsauken's then three point lead to one. The ball was headed straight into the hoop, but a Pennsauken player came out of nowhere to swat the ball out of the air. After a tense moment, it was called goaltending and the Cougars pulled back within one.

After yet another Pennsauken basket, Santo once again forced his way to the hoop, knifing through the defense to bring the score to 62-61 Pennsauken with about a minute left in the game. As Pennsauken brought the ball up, the Cougars played a tight press defense to force a turnover. After Pennsauken's coach was forced to call a timeout, the Cougars accomplished their goal. Ben Gerstein ('10) came away with the steal as the Cougars had a fast break opportunity. The Cougars could not cash in this time after a Pennsauken player swatted away a shot attempt. This time it was a clean block however and it looked as if the Cougars would come away with nothing on this possession. Luckily, the ball found its way into Cougar possession once again. Santo came away with the ball and was then fouled with 17.6 seconds left in the game.

With the game on the line Santo knocked down one of his two free throws to tie the game up at 62. The game would come down to one final Pennsauken possession. It looked like East had forced this game to overtime as it seemed like Pennsauken could only pass the ball around the perimeter on this final possession. As the clock slowly ticked towards zero, Pennsauken still had not set up any sort of play. Even with three seconds left it looked as if the Cougars would live to play an overtime quarter. Some days, the ball just does not bounce in the right direction as the ball came into Pennsauken player Frank Small's hands. Small launched a deep three in a quirky shooting motion that somehow, in some way, found nothing but net. Pennsauken won the game, 65-62.

It was just one of those games. The ball just didn't bounce in the right direction for the Cougars today.

Player of the Game: Chris Santo. His 36 points allowed the Cougars to stay in the game and he could do whatever he wanted in the paint. He also added in 10 rebounds. He was also all over the court in this game, collecting steals and playing tough defense throughout.

Also, Friedman dished out 11 assists today to add to his tremendous assist total this season.

Cougars Defeated by Washington Township

In a big game against Washington Township the Cougars fell short and lost 67-52. Chris Santo ('11) was the leading scorer with 19 points, followed by Marc Schlessel ('12) with 12. The game was much closer than the final score makes it seem with Township pulling away at the end due to foul shots.

The Cougars shot poorly on the night, making 17 out of 42 two point shots and 5 out of 21 three point shots.

Player of the Game:Seth Friedman ('10). Friedman continued his strong season by dishing out 13 assists in the losing effort.

Schlessel sets tone early, Cougars win big over Clearview 87-50

With their 37 point win yesterday versus Clearview, the Cougars improved to 7-3 on the season. East took control of the game right off the bat, and by halftime, they led the game by 25. Marc Schlessel ('12) hit shot after shot in the first half, en route to his 16 first half points. Schlessel's hot shooting start was probably the biggest reason why the Cougars had such a big lead in the early going.

Chris Santo ('11) scored 32 points, while Jake Gurkin ('12) contributed with 11. Edou Zaken ('11) also scored 12 points off the bench.

For the sixth time this season, starting point guard Seth Friedman ('10) dished out 10 or more assists, as he finished the game with an impressive 15.

Cougar Cage Player of the Game: For his performance up to this point in the season, and his big 15 assist performance, Seth Friedman ('10) is the player of the game. He also had three points in the game and had some impressive no look pass assists.

Seneca No Match for Cougars

It seems like it's been just days since the Cougars were 0-2 and struggling to find their identity as a team. Starting with their game against Gloucester Catholic on December 28, the Cougars have been 6-1, losing to only a very good Cherokee team. Today was no different, as the Cougars tossed aside Seneca 72-50.

Although the game started out very slowly offensively with only 5 points scored in the first 3 1/2 minutes, the Cougars took control of the game towards the end of the first quarter. The quarter ended with the Cougars with a comfortable lead of 20-6. Marc Schlessel ('12) contributed 9 points (via 3 three pointers) and 5 rebounds in the quarter.

The second quarter was much more of the same with the Cougars maintaining a steady lead. At the end of the half, the Cougars led 38-25. The score at the half did not indicate how dominant the Cougars were in the half. Every spectator knew they would win from the outset.

By halftime, Schlessel had 13 points and 7 rebounds, Chris Santo ('11) had 13 points and Seth Friedman ('10) contributed 8 assists.

Seneca never made a serious attempt at a comeback in the second half, although they did cut the Cougar lead to 9 with 7 minutes left in the third quarter.

Players of the Game: Schlessel and Santo. Although Santo had a better statistical game than Schlessel with 30 points and 13 rebounds, Schlessel was just as valuable to the Cougars today. In the first quarter, Schlessel hit 3 three pointers to jump-start the Cougar offense and gathered in 5 rebounds in that quarter alone. Overall, Schlessel was a solid 5 of 10 from beyond the arc and finished with 19 points. Just as Schlessel started the game off strong for East, Santo finished off Seneca with 12 points in the fourth quarter alone.

Cougars Down Eastern 59-52

In a huge rivalry game, the Cougars defeated Eastern 59-52 tonight. Chris Santo ('11) put on a show for the crowd at Eastern with 30 points and 20 rebounds before fouling out of the game. Seth Friedman ('10) contributed 13 assists for East in the winning effort. The Cougars maintained a lead for the majority of the game with their largest lead at 12 before the half.

Ben Gerstein ('10) was East's second leading scorer with 10 followed by Friedman and Marc Schlessel ('12) with 7 points apiece. Schlessel also had 6 rebounds. Jake Gurkin ('12) was also very productive off the glass, pulling in 9 rebounds to go along with his 5 points.

Player of the Game: Santo. Any time a player puts up 40 in combined points and rebounds it's an enormous game. 50? That's just monstrous.

The Cougars next game is Thursday against Seneca at East at 4:00.

Game at Eastern on Tuesday, January 12th scheduled for 6:00 start

That is the word I just received. If I hear anything different, I will post on here ASAP. But as of now, the word is that the game is scheduled for a 6:00 PM start.

Cougars take down Southern Regional 78-61, improve to 4-3

It was a big win for the Cougars yesterday in the DiBart Gym, as they pushed their record over the .500 mark. The game versus Southern could very well have been the best played game for the Cougars all year. As a team, East shot an impressive 15-27 from the three point line, and all five starters had big games.

After one quarter of play, the Cougars were up 11. But then, Southern went on a run and got the Cougar lead down to 6 at half time. At one point early on in the second half, East was up four. But everyone kept their composure, and by the end of the third quarter, the Cougars were up 17.

Chris Santo ('11) poured in 20 points and had 8 rebounds, while Marc Schlessel ('12) continued his stellar sophomore campaign with 14 points on 4-7 shooting from three. Although he only scored six points, point guard Seth Friedman ('10) really did a good job controlling the offense, as he dished out 14 assists. After dealing with mononucleosis for the past couple of weeks, Jake Gurkin ('12) made an early return from his sickness in the Cougar's last game versus Cherokee. In the game yesterday versus Southern, he played extremely well, scoring a career- high 19 points on 5-6 shooting from the field (4-4 from three) and 5-7 shooting from the free throw line. Gurkin and Schlessel have really been holding their own early on in their rookie campaigns.
Lastly, guard Ben Gerstein ('10) scored 19 points on 7-14 shooting (5-11 from three). As is usually the norm, Gerstein played steller defense for the duration of the game.

The Cougars' next game is Tuesday, January 12th versus Eastern at Eastern. I will post the game time when I find out.

Players of the Game: Jake Gurkin ('12) and Ben Gerstein ('10)- Most would probably agree that both Gurkin and Gerstein put in two of the better individual performances for the Cougars all year. Gurkin set a career high in points scored for a game while shooting 4-4 from three. Gerstein shot 50% from the field and really worked hard on the defense end as he pressed for most of the game.

Cougars Fall to Cherokee 81-70

In a hard fought battle, the Cougars lost tonight to the Cherokee Chiefs 81-70 at Cherokee. The Cougars put lots of heart into the game, fighting for every loose ball and kept hustling until the end, but it seemed as though there was a Cherokee answer for every East three pointer. Despite Seth Friedman's ('10) outstanding shooting (five of seven from beyond the arc) it seemed as though Bryan Cooper or another Cherokee player would run down the court and make a three-pointer for Cherokee.

Cherokee jumped out to a 21-6 lead in the first quarter, seemingly taking control of the game. The Cougars stayed with it though, cutting the lead to 21-13 at the end of the first quarter after a dazzling Friedman layup with 2.8 seconds left in the quarter.

The status quo remained the same in the second quarter. The Cougars would make mini-runs at the Cherokee lead, but could never make a deep enough dent in the lead. The half ended with a Cherokee lead of 34-22. Chris Santo ('11) had 8 points and 4 rebounds at the half, but his game was just beginning. Friedman had 11 points at the conclusion of the half and perfect 3 of 3 shooting from the three point line.

In the third quarter, Cherokee built up their lead to 17 in the quarter, but once again the Cougars had an answer. The lead was cut down to 10 with 2 minutes left in the quarter after a Santo layup with a foul shot afterwards. Once again, Cherokee responded with a mini-run but a Friedman three from a different area code than the basket cut the lead to 12. Another Cougar bucket cut the lead to 10 at the end of the third quarter, which ended with a score of 57-47 with Cherokee in the lead. Santo had 21 at the end of the quarter and Friedman had 17 along with 6 assists.

The fourth quarter was all about Santo for East. Santo scored 14 points in the final quarter, leaving him with 35. He would not give up in the paint and went up hard to the basket each possession and drew many fouls. After Cherokee extended its lead to a game-high 18 with about 4 minutes left, Santo and the Cougars cut it down to 11, 81-70.

Friedman ended up with 20 points and 9 assists while Santo had 35 points and 12 rebounds.

Jake Gurkin ('12) made an early return from his sickness in the first quarter. Unfortunately, minutes after he came in the game, he was elbowed in the face by a Cherokee player and had to sit out for a quarter due to a bloody nose.

The entire game was very physical, with the game ending with both teams in the double bonus for fouls, meaning each team had fouled the other ten times in the second half.

Player of the Game:

There were only two options here in either Friedman or Santo. However, Santo was tonight's true best player. All game he faced an athletic defense and went up against bigger bodies for rebounds, yet he still ended up with 35 points and 12 rebounds. Cherokee had no answer for him on defense, as he continuously bulldozed his way in the paint, fighting off contact in the second half. He made his baskets even when fouled and kept East close late in the game.

Cougars head into tomorrow night's showdown with Cherokee after winning last three

Tomorrow night, January 5th, the Cougars will travel to Marlton, NJ to take on the number one ranked team in South Jersey, Cherokee at 7 PM. It should be an interesting matchup, especially if the Cougars are able to keep the game close. It goes without saying that an upset would be huge, which would push their conference record to 1-1 and their overall record to 4-2. The Cougars are currently 3-2.

As for the past three games, sorry to all of the followers out there for the lack of updates. All of the contributors to the blog were away for the vacation.

During winter break, the Cougars earned three much needed wins against Gloucester Catholic, Williamstown, and Leap Academy, with scores of 48-39, 61-57, and 110-59 respectively.

Top performers for each game are below:

In the Gloucester Catholic game, Chris Santo ('11) had his usual high scoring game as he poured in a game high 19. Marc Schlessel ('12) hit two big threes en route to his 15 points, and guard Seth Friedman ('10) dished out six assists.

The Williamstown game was quite a thriller, as it went into overtime. The Cougars outscored the Braves 8-4 in the extra period, which earned them the win. The Cougars shot well from the line, going 16-20 as a team. Santo once again led all scorers with 22 points on 9-14 shooting for two point field goals. He also had 7 boards and 4 assists. Friedman also came up huge, going 4-7 from the three point line and had six assists.

In the final game of break, the Cougars game out on fire. Ten different players scored, with Santo leading the charge with 43 points. Starting guard Ben Gerstein ('10) had a huge offensive game scoring 20 points. Guard Sam Rose ('11) also made a significant contribution with 9 points off the bench.

Gurkin out because of sickness; Due to return January 10th

After starting the Cougar's opening game versus Lenape on December 18th, East 6'5 forward Jake Gurkin has been out because he is currently sick with Mononucleosis. His sickness was reported in a Philadelphia Inquirer article that was published today by staff writer Marc Narducci. According to the article, Gurkin is not expected to return until January 10th at the earliest, which would mean his first potential game back would be on January 12th when East takes on division rival Eastern at Eastern.