Lake Shore moves up in state tournament, tops Cousino
The Cousino Patriots played like themselves on Monday against the Lake Shore Shorians in the District 22 quarterfinals.
They started hot, taking a quick double digit lead in the first quarter, but suddenly unforced turnovers caught up to them — a problem that’s persisted all season. And, in the end, they allowed Lake Shore to seize the opportunity and win 61-55 to advance in the state tournament.
“We’ll come out strong in the first, then there’s always a quarter or two where we just go away,” said Cousino head coach Joe Kohls. “The second quarter, that’s when the turnovers all started happening for us. Which is kind of weird because you think they’ll start to settle down at that point.”
Lake Shore scored 39 points in the second half after getting just 22 in the first. And though they didn’t lead until the fourth quarter, they eventually started to pull away, not letting Cousino regain the lead in the final minutes of the game.
“All year, we’ve been fighting back,” said Lake Shore head coach Mike Jackson. “Our record don’t dictate how our games have been. We lost maybe 10, 12 games by less than six points. So people can say what they want, we’ve been in every game fighting. I think (we’re) a good team. And I know they can fight. I know we’re a good team. Defensively, we can lock and that’s what we did.”
Lake Shore sophomore Jason Pruitt and junior Ja’Sean Dean were both singled out by Cousino head coach Joe Kohls as players that especially killed them. Pruitt had 10 points in the third quarter and finished with 18 overall, and Dean was right behind with 17. The duo finished as the game’s leading scorers.
Jackson pointed to senior De’Angelo White, who missed the last month with a sprained wrist. He gave the Shorians a spark off the bench with eight points.
“All year, we’ve been fighting back,” Jackson said. “Our record (6-17) don’t dictate how our games have been. We lost maybe 10, 12 games by less than six points. So people can say what they want, we’ve been in every game fighting. I think (we’re) a good team. And I know they can fight. I know we’re a good team. Defensively, we can lock and that’s what we did.”
The Patriots and Shorians had met once already this season, with Cousino taking a 66-63 win in January. They were scheduled to play again earlier this month, but Lake Shore