Cougars win last game of regular season

In the final game of the regular season yesterday, the Cougars defeated Paul VI in a close game, 56-53. The Cougars have ended the regular season on a good note, winning their last 5 games and 8 out of their last 9.

The game started out poorly for the Cougars who were down 18-11 at the end of the first quarter. In a stark contrast from their previous game against Medford Tech the Cougars did not shoot the ball very well and allowed Paul VI to get off some good shots.

As a whole, East did not play great in this game, but still trimmed the lead to 4 by the half. Chris Santo was very quiet in the first half on his way to a very mundane 14 points (at least for him).

The Cougars turned it on in the third quarter as they made up the deficit and took a three point lead and their shooting improved as they made many of their 11 threes on the day.

The fourth quarter was extremely tense as the lead seemed to sway back and forth. With under two minutes left, the Cougars switched to a tight defense and were able to force a couple of Paul VI turnovers. The Cougars were down four when Marc Schlessel hit a three to put the Cougars down by one with about 1:45 left. After a Paul VI miss, Schlessel was fouled in the act of shooting and he nailed both of his free throws to give the Cougars a one point lead. After another Paul VI failed possession, the Cougars wasted some time on the clock and Seth Friedman hit two more free throws to give the Cougars a three point lead with about 30 seconds left.

Paul VI missed yet another opportunity to score and fouled the Cougars when they got the ball back. The front end of a one-and-one was missed by East with 3 seconds left and Paul VI heaved up a half-court shot for the tie. The shot fell short and the Cougars entered the playoffs with a victory.

The Cougars end the regular season with a record of 18-7. The playoffs start on Tuesday at Southern Regional. It should be a great game. Nate and I will be doing a live Twitter feed for all of those who cannot make the game. This is the link for the feed: http://twitter.com/EastsideOnline

Stats

Friedman-13 points 9 assists

Gerstein-6 points

Santo-14 points 12 rebounds

Schlessel-14 points 4-7 from 3

Gurkin-9 points

Player of the Game: Schlessel for scoring 5 straight points to give East the lead for good late in the fourth quarter.