After taking a three week break from basketball games during the holidays, the Lady Cougars returned to the hardwood on Friday to challenge the Clinton Central Bulldogs. This game was close for the first quarter, but the Lady Cougars pulled away in the second stanza and ran away with a 62-42 victory over the Bulldogs.

After dispatching the Bulldogs the evening before, the Lady Cougars battled the Winamac Warriors on Saturday afternoon. The Cougars found the host Warriors much harder to handle, dropping this game 71-39.

Carroll's ladies rebounded Monday night, defeating Maconaquah by 29 points, 54-25.

Clinton Central, now coached by Jennifer Jacoby, gave a valiant effort in the first quarter, trailing 11-9 at the break. Carroll used a 21-12 second quarter to expand their lead to 11 points at the half, 32-21. Carroll sophomore Quinci Eller had a 14-point first half and completed the game with 23 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists. The third quarter saw more of the same action as Carroll used a swarming press that created turnovers that they converted into lay-ups. The Cougars built their lead to 21 points by the close of the period at 51- 30.

Clinton Central committed 25 turnovers for the game. They managed to stay even with the Cougars through the fourth quarter. Carroll coach Mike McCroskey used his bench personnel for much of the final quarter, holding onto a 20-point lead during the final minutes. Eller was helped along the way by fellow sophomore Jess Yoder with 17 points, 6 rebounds and 3 assists and junior Abby Reinke with 10 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists. Also making the scoring column was senior Lucy Zook with a season high 7 points. Zook was in the right place at the right time and received passes from Carly Yoder and Kate Hickner and finished the lay-ups.

Vs. Winamac

Against the Lady Warriors, Carroll played as poorly as the score would indicate. The Warriors used Carroll's same philosophy against the Lady Cougars, using a swarming press to create turnovers and then feed the ball into their post. Winamac forced Carroll into 31 turnovers and Carroll had no answer for Redweik as she scored at will and ended with 32 points.

Coach McCroskey changed the lineup at half and went with C. Yoder and Hickner to begin the third quarter. This resulted in their best defensive effort against the Warriors, holding them to 14 points for the period. Carroll was able to keep Winamac's lead at 20 points for the quarter.

The fourth period saw the host Warriors trounce the Cougars. They created more turnovers and converted them into baskets. Winamac was able to neutralize Eller, Yoder and Reinke for the entire game. Eller led the way with 15 points and Yoder followed with 13 points and 6 rebounds.

Vs. Maconaquah

The Lady Braves arrived at CHS Monday night with some height and an aggressive manto man defense. They left with a 29-point loss to the Cougars.

Carroll used its same modus operandi as in previous victories, a swarming press that creates turnovers in the backcourt. Although the turnovers were not large in number, Maconaquah committed 18 for the game; Carroll converted most of them into points. Led by 23 points and 7 rebounds from Eller and 16 points, 2 assists and 6 steals from J. Yoder, Carroll jumped on the Braves early. The Cougars built a 10-0 lead just 2 minutes into the game. From this point on Carroll was in control. Their first quarter lead stayed at 8 points until the Braves scored at the close to make it 19-13 at the first break.

The Cougars expanded their lead in the second period by grabbing defensive rebounds and quickly getting up the floor. Carroll's press created several turnovers that were converted into baskets. Carroll used 42% 3-point shooting to build a 32-19 halftime lead. Carroll outscored Maconaquah 24-0 for the game from behind the arc.

The second half was all Cougars as they out-scored the Braves 22-6 for the half, building a 31-point lead midway in the fourth quarter. The reserves cleaned up the final 5 minutes of the action, forcing some turnovers and getting some point production from C. Yoder. She added several steals and rebounds to go with her 4 points. Reinke added 9 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists.

Next up for the Cougars (9-4) will be a visit to Caston on Saturday. The JV

will tip at 6 p.m.