FL closes regular season with road win at CMS

Fountain Lake senior Ahman Johnson scored eight points during a 12-6 run on Friday to spark the Cobras to a

47-33 win over Cutter Morning Star at Eagle Fieldhouse.

Johnson ended the night with a game-high of 16 points for Fountain Lake (22-5, 11-3

3A-4).

“Both teams played well and hard. We ended up getting a slow double-digit lead,” said Fountain Lake head boys’ basketball coach Jake Dettmering. “We’d extend then they would make a couple of shots and stay close. They all had good energy.”

Junior Colton McMullin set the tone early in the first period for the Cobras as he buried a shot from behind the arc. Senior Rhett Barrett responded for the Eagles (15-8, 10-4 2A-5 South) with a trey to keep it 3-3 at the 5:00 mark.

Cutter Morning Star’s Ethan Dixon and Johnson traded buckets from the field, the Cobras still holding the lead 11-10 with one minute remaining. Eagles Mitchel Herron and Ryan Brown combined for six points throughout the quarter and managed to up the Cobras by one point going into the second frame, 12-11.

Senior Jordan Mungle set the stage early in the second period with a jumper that sparked a 13-5 run. The Cobras took a 24-17 lead at the halftime break.

“I liked playing this game; that way we don’t have a whole week off before we play again,” Dettmering said. “Pulling off a win on the road going into district is always a good thing to help with confidence. I just hope we finish the season strong and this is a good start to that.

“I’m proud of my seniors. They’re a blue collar group of kids. They play extremely hard and that put us where we’re at.”

“It’s one of those crazy emotional games. It was senior night, so big night for them,” said Cutter Morning Star head boys’ basketball coach Matt Carter. “I’m proud of them and the moment they got to have. I thought they did a great job.

“I thought we got off to a good start and played well first quarter. We played with toughness. They did the things that I wanted them to do. Second quarter went the same way. We just didn’t come out in the third quarter and do the things we needed to in order to stay in the

game and be successful.”

In the third period, Barrett sank two 3-pointers for the Eagles to trim the gap to 33-25. Mungle and McMullin responded with one trey a piece for the Cobras, alongside junior Andrew Overton with a quick two-point score.

Fountain Lake closed the third quarter ahead, 36-27. “This game didn’t really hurt us in the grand scheme of things,” said Carter. “We’re in the regional tournament already because we’re the No. 2 seed, and our goal is to win district so we’re going to turn our focus to that.

“No. 23, Jordan Raper, who hit that last shot there at the very end, Keaton Polke and T.J. Churchwell are three good dudes. They come to practice and work hard every day. They play hard in the games and that showed tonight. Rhett Barrett and Chase Hendrix are my other two seniors. Barrett has grown up into a very good, young leader for us and in the two short years I’ve had him, I’m very proud of him. We’re going to need them both this next week.”

The Eagles have byes through the first two rounds of the district tournament. They will await their opponent for the second semifinal on Thursday at 8:30 p.m.

Fountain Lake also has two byes in the 3A-4 district tournament at Two Rivers in Ola. The Cobras will play in the second semifinal on Wednesday at 7:45 p.m.