The Cougar middle school teams picked up a pair of overwhelming wins Thursday night as they trounced visiting Breckinridge County at Cougar Gym.

In the opener, Trey Goff poured in 26 points to lead the seventh-graders to a 49-28 win over the Tigers. In the second game, the Cougars held the visitors scoreless until the 2:45 mark of the second period, scoring the game's first 31 points and going on to a 59-27 whitewash of the visiting Tigers.

SEVENTH-GRADE GAME

In a move designed to motivate his starters to pick up their play, coach Kevin Johnston began this game with a group that usually comes off the bench.

While the move seemed to backfire in the early part of the game, it paid off later when his starters returned to take control.

The Tigers (2-9) outplayed the first group of Cougars, running out to an 11-5 lead with 1:25 left in the first period. Johnston inserted his usual starters at that point and they battled back to make it a two-point game, 11-9 at the start of the second period.

The game was tied twice and the lead changed hands four times in the second period before the Cougars closed out things with an 11-0 run to grab the upper hand.

Trailing 18-17 with 1:38 left in the half Goff hit a jumper from just inside the arc to put the Cougars in front to stay. Goff followed that with a three-pointer with a minute left to make it 22-18.

Bryson Lowe hit a three with 23 seconds remaining to make it 25-18, before Goff beat the halftime buzzer with another three that made it a 10-point lead, 28-18 at the break.

Grayson County (12-5) extended the lead to 12 points, 37-25 at the start of the fourth quarter, then scored the first 12 points of the period to ensure the win.

In addition to his 26 points, Goff added four rebounds, two assists and three steals. Dustin Woosley had a fine game for the Cougars, scoring six points, leading the team on the boards with eight rebounds and adding three assists and two steals.

Conner Schultz had five points, four rebounds, four assists and five steals. Bailey Logsdon scored four points and added two assists and four steals. Lowe and Hunter Young both scored three points, while Jack Davis had two to complete the scoring.

EIGHTH-GRADE GAME.

This game was over nearly before it started as the Cougars held the Tigers scoreless until nearly the end of the second period.

Grayson County led 24-0 at the end of the first period, then scored the first seven points of the second before the Tigers got on the board on a put-back basket from Matthew Ballman at the 2:45 mark.

The Cougars led 33-4 at the half, then pushed the lead to 35 points, 50-15 at the start of the fourth quarter. A 15-footer by John Clements at the 4:35 mark gave the Cougars their largest lead of the night, 40 points at 57-17. The Tigers then closed out the game on a 10-2 run against the Cougar bench to make the margin a little more respectable.

Ten players scored for the Cougars, led by Cole Akridge with 13 points and Colton Williams with 10. Zac Williams hit two three-pointers and finished with nine points. Clements also hit a pair of threes and finished with eight points.

Gage Akridge scored five points, while Dylan Logsdon had four. Tristan Willis and Hunter McCrady both had three points, while Tanner Tyra and Carter Goff had two each to round out the scoring.