By By LARRY BONDS
Sports Writer
On Thursday night the Lady Cougars defeated the Autauga Lady Generals by a score of 53-28.
However, the game was a lot closer than the final score indicated. After 1 quarter of play, E.A. was on top 13-9 behind the shooting of Senior Holly Mack and Freshman Meagan Jackson. With the rebounding efforts of Seniors Jennifer Martin and Bethany Hawkins, the Lady Cougars held a slim 24-21 lead at the half At the start of the 3rd quarter, E.A. and Autauga were in a very competive battle. According to Coach Prewett, eighth-grader Lori Bonds had been inserted to give Anna Parrish a much needed rest. It was when she made 2 costly turnovers that the leadership on this team took control. Instead of getting down on her, they encouraged her by telling her to just relax. With the Lady Cougars leading 27-24, Lori hit a 3-pointer and a 2-pointer on the next two trips down the court to put E.A. up 32-24. According to Coach Prewett, these were 2 big baskets that started the Lady Cougar scoring streak that would not stop until the final horn sounded.
Coach Prewett stated that the key to this victory was the Lady Cougar defense once again.
They held the Lady Generals to only 7 points in the second half. All 15 members of this team had a part in the win. Nine different players scored for E.A. Holly Mack led all scorers with 20 points, and was 12 for 12 on the free throw line. Meagan Jackson added 14 points, while Jennifer Martin had 10 rebounds and chipped in 6 points to send her over 1000 points for her basketball career. Bethany Hawkins led the team in rebounds with 12 and chipped in 2 points. Lori Bonds added 5.