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Last Tuesday night, the Rice Consolidated Raiders hosted the Brazos Cougars for a non-district game.
The Raiders ended up coming away with the win with a score of 61-51 in double overtime against the Cougars.
Both teams threw everything they had at each other as they pushed each other to their limit. The game was so tightly contested that they needed not one but two overtime periods to decide the winner.
The game started with the Raiders opening the scoring and going on a 6-0 run to establish an early lead. The Cougars responded with a three pointer to cut the Raiders lead down to inly three points.
The Raiders responded with two more points to increase their lead to five points going up 8-3 in the early moments of the 1st quarter. That was all the offense the Raiders had in the 1st , but the Cougars still had more to give.
They scored four more points in the 1st to cut the Raiders lead from 8-3 to 8-7 as they trailed by only one-point heading into the 2nd quarter. To start the 2nd quarter the Cougars continued to score as they took the lead with a score of 9-8.
The Raiders quickly evened things up by making a free throw attempt, but the Cougars scored back-to-back possessions to extend their lead to 13-9. But as was a common theme in this game, no lead was safe, and the Raiders came storming back.
The Raiders went on a 6-0 run to retake the lead with a score of 15-13, but the Cougars quickly evened things back up at 15 a piece. For the rest of the 2nd quarter, though it was all Raiders as they outscored the Cougars 8-3 to carry a 23-18 lead into halftime.
In the 3rd quarter both teams’ offenses started to turn up the heat as they combined to score 34 points in the 3rd quarter. It started with the teams going back-and-forth trading scores.
After the Cougars cut the Raiders lead down to 32-29, the Raiders went on another big 6-0 run to extend their lead late in the third. They extended their lead to 39-29 to give themselves a nice 10-point cushion on the score board.
The Cougars scored two more times before the 3rd ended to the Raiders one score to bring a 41-34 score into the 4th quarter. In the 4th quarter the Cougars came out with some fire in their belly as they held the Raiders high-flying offense to only five points.
Meanwhile the Cougars offense went to work; they were all over the Raiders in the 4th, and it led to a lot of quality scoring chances. The Cougars scored 12 points in the 4th to even the score up at 46 points apiece and take the game into overtime.
Overtime is always an exciting time, and this game was no different as both teams wanted to come away with the win in this one. In the first overtime frame both teams scored five points to keep the game tied at 51-51.
In the second overtime, though the Raiders drove the nail into the coffin to end this game. The Raiders scored 10 points all while shutting out the Cougars in the 2nd overtime period to win the game 61-51.
Stats for the Raiders were: AJ Jenkins with 18 points, 11 rebounds and six assists, Jireh Cobia with 13 points and one assist, Avan Woolridge with 12 points and seven rebounds, Kordae Johnson eight points, five steals and five assists, JJ Grounds with eight points and four rebounds and DJ Amos with three points and three rebounds.
This game showed just how much talent and grit both of these teams have, it’s just unfortunate someone had to lose this game.
Both teams will look to build off the momentum from this barn burner of a game when they play their next games after the Christmas break on Monday, Dec. 29, when the Cougars will face Harmony Science Academy and the Raiders will take on El Campo.
