Strong first half helps Cougars overcome Prairie
By Greg Hoffman

Carroll improved to 2-0 in the Hoosier Heartland Conference with a 56-43 win over Clinton Prairie on Friday night, but its overall season record dropped to 4-6 with a 71-59 loss at Eastern on Saturday.

At Prairie with the score tied at 4, a Jacob Craig fielder put Carroll on top for good at 6-4, the Cougars were up 14-9 after one. Carroll used a 16-6 run to start the second quarter to push their lead out to 15 points at 30-15. They led 30-18 after two. Adam Tussinger had 3 fielders for 6 points, while Kevin Ives had back-to-back treys off the bench and Craig had 4 points in the run for Carroll.

What the Cougars gained in the first half they almost gave away in the third. Six Cougar turnovers helped Prairie to pull within 4 points at 32-28. Luckily for Carroll, they pulled themselves together and opened up a 9-point advantage at 41-32, at the end of three.

The Cougars hit 9 of 14 from the free throw line and their defense held Prairie to 5 of 16 shooting from the field in the final stanza. For the night Carroll held Prairie to 3 of 23 (13%) from behind the arch and 18 of 58 (31%) overall, while the Cougars were 4 of 10 (40%) and 19 of 42 (45%) overall from the field. Carroll's bench outscored Prairie' bench 15-5 and Carroll outrebounded Prairie 36-26. Craig had a game-high 10 boards and Tussinger grabbed 7. Jason Hazel handed out four assists.

Tussinger also had a gamehigh 18 points. Ives added 11 and Riley Eller had 10.

Against Eastern Saturday, there were 8 ties and 8 lead changes. This was a game of runs as neither team could gain the momentum until late in the game, Eastern did just that.

After some back and forth scoring, Carroll used an 8-4 run to gain an 18-14 advantage after one. Craig put Carroll up 20-14 to start the second quarter, but Eastern came right back, outscoring the Cougars 11-0 to take a 25- 20 lead. The Cougars returned the favor with a 9-0 run of their own to regain the lead at 29-25, but the Comets were don't done either. They finished the half up 39-34 after outscoring CHS 14- 5.

Early in the third quarter the Cougars fell behind 48-39, but they came back to tie the game at 50 all, and even took the lead at 54-53. Eller had 8 points and Tussinger 6 to lead the Cougars in the quarter.

In the last quarter with 5:43 left in the game and the score tied at 57, Eastern put Carroll away with a 14-0 run. In that span, Carroll was 0 of 4 from behind the arch and 1 of 10 overall from the field. Eastern took only one three-point attempt, and were 5 of 6 overall from the field and 8 of 12 from the line.

For the night, both teams were 6 of 18 on trey attempts, but the Cougars were outscored 42-30 inside the arch. Carroll hit 15 of 27 2-point tries, while Eastern hit 21 of 30. From the line, Carroll hit 11 of 12 and Eastern, 11 of 19. Carroll outrebounded Eastern 28 to 19, with Tussinger pulling down 8 and Craig and Carson Spesard with 7 each. Eller handed out 5 assists.

Eller led the Cougars in scoring with 17 points. Tussinger added 12 and Craig 11.

Carroll's seven game road trip ends this weekend after playing at Twin Lakes Friday night and at Winamac on Saturday night. The Cougars trail TL in the overall series 19-11 and are tied with Winamac at 22 wins each.

JV splits games

Carroll's JV split games in weekend action, falling to Clinton Prairie 40-26, and then defeating Eastern 44-40.

The Cougars never led at Prairie. They fell behind by 10 points after one, 14-4; by 13 points, 23-10 after two; and by 10 at 34-24 after three. But the Cougars almost pulled of the win after outscoring the Gophers 12 to 3 to pull within one at 37-36 with 30 seconds left to play. Prairie hung tough and held on for the win.

Brad Benson led the Cougars in scoring with 13 points. Adam Spesard added 11.

At Eastern, Carroll led all the way with a 10-4 point lead at the first stop, a 21-13 lead at half-time, and a 30-26 lead after three quarters. Cody Abdon returned to action for the Cougars for the first time this season. He helped Carroll keep Eastern at bay with 3 treys in the final quarter. Abdon had been sidelined with a broken wrist, suffered in soccer. He led his team in scoring with 12 points. Spesard had 10 points and Benson 8.

The Cougars are even on the year at 5-5.