Carroll (9-9) won one of three games last week, falling to Frontier (15-4) 76-68, then defeating county rival Delphi (8-9) 58-57 in overtime, and losing to Taylor (12-7) 55-50.

Free throw shooting (12 of 23, .522), 3-point shooting (6 of 29, .200) and Frontier’s transition baskets late in the game were key in Carroll’s loss at home last Tuesday night.

The Cougars came out of the gate quick with a 13 to 4 run and were up 26-17 after one quarter. Twenty-six points is the most Carroll has scored in one quarter all year. Noah Allen had 7 points, Drew Yoder 6 on a pair of threes, Eric Miller 5 and Kyle Geheb and Seth Johnson had 4 each.

The second quarter belonged to the visiting Falcons. They stormed back with a 20 to 4 run and blew past Carroll for a 37-30 lead. They held onto their 7-point advantage at half-time, leading 46-39.

Frontier opened up a 10- point margin, 50-40, with 6:30 left in the third quarter. The Cougars fought back with a 15 to 4 run to regain the lead at 55-54 on a Chad Griffin free throw with 52 seconds left. The lead was short lived as Frontier scored the final 3 points of the third quarter to go up 57-55.

Three lead changes and five ties in the fourth quarter followed before the Falcons, with the scored tied at 67, outscored the Cougars 9 to 1 the rest of the way to claim the win.

S. Johnson got his first start of the year and responded with a career high and game high 20 points on 7 of 9 shooting from the field and a doubledouble with 11 rebounds. Allen had 14 points and Miller 11 points to round out Carroll’s scoring.

Vs. Delphi

Wednesday night’s game at CHS was almost a mirror image of an earlier meeting this year of the two teams when Delphi won a home 59- 57.

Austin Hawn had 21 of his game-high 26 points in the second half, going 9 of 13 from the field in the half. Kris Bender had 11 points for the Oracles. For the Cougars, Allen had 19 points, S. Johnson had another double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds, and Miller had 10 points. Both teams were even in rebounding with 29 each and in turnovers with 12 each.

There were three ties and two lead changes in the first quarter before Carroll was able to push their lead out to an 11-7 advantage at the stop. The Cougars used a 12 to 6 run to build their biggest lead at 10 points, 23-13 midway through the second quarter. The Oracles cut the lead to 27- 21 by half-time.

Delphi opened the third quarter with a 9 to 2 run to regain the lead at 30-29. Hawn had 7 of those 9 Oracle points. Carroll quickly regained the lead on back-to-back lay-ins by Allen. Jordan Wagner tied the game at 35 before Miller’s trey gave the Cougars the lead at 38-35 at the end of three.

Hawn was still on fire starting the final period, scoring 10 of Delphi’s next 14 points. The Oracles used a 14 to 6 run to go up 5 points, 49-44 with less than 5 minutes left in the game. An Allen basket and Wagner free throw gave Delphi a 50-46 lead, but putback baskets by Tim Ruby and S. Johnson tied the game at 50. Neither team took advantage in the final 20 seconds as the game ended tied at 50.

In the overtime, Miller’s three put the Cougars up. Delphi scored the next 5 points as Dustin Salyer had a fielder and free throw and Tanner Cripe a pair of free throws, putting the Oracles up 55-53 with 2:05 left to play. Ruby’s three pointer gave Carroll the lead for good at 56-55 with 32 seconds left. Ruby’s two pressure free throws with 3 seconds left gave the Cougars the win as Hawn’s 2-pointer at the horn was not enough.

Vs. Taylor

After two hard-fought battles Tuesday and Wednesday, the Cougars were on the road to Taylor Friday night. The teams played even for 18 minutes before the Titans outscored the visitors in the final 6 minutes, 19 to 6.

Taylor held a slim one-point lead, 12-11, after the first period. Riley Johnson’s basket to start the second period gave the Cougars their first lead at 13-12. Carroll pushed the lead out to 19-16, but Taylor’s 9 to 0 run put the hosts back on top, 25-19. A three by Carroll’s Miller closed the gap to 25-22 at half-time.

The Cougars scored the first 6 points in the third quarter, regaining the lead at 28-25. Taylor tied the game at 30. A basket by Griffin gave the Cougars their final lead at 32- 30. Taylor’s only three pointer for the game put the Titans up for good.

The final period belonged to the hosts as the toll of three games in four days took over. The Cougars did not have their legs under them. Taylor went to a 2-3 zone defense to force Carroll to shoot from the outside. The Cougars missed their first 10 shots and did not score until the game was nearly over, with 27.5 seconds left to play.

S. Johnson was the only Carroll player in double figures with 10 points. R. Johnson added 8 points. Carroll was out-rebounded 40 to 27 as Taylor had 17 offensive boards. The Cougars were outscored 18 to 6 from the foul line. Taylor had 26 attempts to Carroll’s 7.

This week Carroll is going after the Hoosier Heartland Conference title. They face conference foes Clinton Prairie (4-14, 1-3) Tuesday at home and travel to Lafayette Central Catholic (14-5, 4-0) Friday. The Cougars are 3-0 in HHC play.

Cougar JV drops three

Carroll JV was handed three losses last week – 50-35 to Frontier, 45-38 to Delphi, and 41-24 to Taylor.

Against Frontier, the score was tied at 3 before the visitors went on a 16 to 2 run to go up 19-5. The Falcons led 21-8 after one, 33-19 at halftime, and 40-24 after three.

Jarrid Robertson was high scorer for the Cougars with 12 points. Blake Seward added 10 points.

The Oracles avenged an earlier loss to the Cougars. Delphi’s Cole Murray led all scorers with 16 points and Cole Whitaker had 11 points for the winners. Carroll was led by Logan Gaines and Seward with 8 points each.

Delphi opened up with a 9 to 3 lead after one. The Cougars clawed their way back to within one by halftime at 18-17. Carroll never could get the lead, tying the score twice in the third quarter, and trailing 31-29 at the stop. The Cougars tied the score again in the fourth quarter at 33, but Delphi used a 12 to 5 run to put the Cougars away.

At Taylor, the hosts took control of the game early, leading 17-4 after one, 26-11 at the half, and 35-15 after three. Seward led Carroll with 5 points.