Cougars crush Wildwood Catholic 85-57

Yesterday, the Cougars mauled Wildwood Catholic in a tune-up for the playoffs 85-57, bringing their winning streak to 19 games. The Cougars were forced to play without starting point guard Sam Rose ('11) and with normal starter Dan Melleby ('11) beginning the game on the bench.

The first quarter was a little rough for the Cougars. They started amazingly on an 8-2 run on baskets from Jake Gurkin ('12), Chris Santo ('11) and Marc Schlessel ('12). Once the Cougars built the lead to 15-4, they began to miss shots and turn the ball over, allowing Wildwood back into the game. They came back to bring the score to 17-13 with the Cougars leading after the first quarter.

The second quarter was all about the Cougars. After Wildwood Catholic crept back to make the score 19-18, the Cougars embarked on a 15-0 run. Schlessel led the way with six points during the run that brought the Cougars up by 16. The Cougars continued to expand from there as Schlessel hit his third three of the quarter followed by recording a steal and a layup on the next possession to give the Cougars a 39-20 lead. The Cougars finished the half strongly as Santo and Gurkin scored to give the Cougars a 44-24 advantage at the half. Gurkin probably had the best half of his career, scoring nine points, recording 12 rebounds, dishing out five assists and blocking four shots.

The third quarter was more of the same for the Cougars. They cruised to victory, led by Santo who ended up with 33 points in the game.

Player of the Game-Gurkin. His 11 points, 14 rebounds, seven blocks and five assists were critical to the Cougars winning as he accomplished the majority of his work in the first half when the game was in doubt.

Other Key Stats

Santo-33 points, 8 assists, 8 rebounds

Schlessel-21 points, 3 steals, 5 three-pointers

Melleby-6 points