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CORDELE— Crisp County High School’s basketball teams held their Senior Night on Friday during region games against Monroe High School. The CCHS senior basketball players, cheerleaders, and team managers were honored on the night, as the Cougar teams split the games with Monroe.

The Lady Cougars came all the way back from 13 points down in the second quarter to defeat Monroe 55-51 on the night, while the Cougars fell to Monroe in the boys’ game 83-70.

Lady Cougars 55, Monroe 51

The Lady Cougars got on the scoreboard first during Friday night’s game after Peyton Bozeman scored on a fast break layup, but Monroe went on to outscore Crisp 8-0 over the remainder of the first period to take an 8-2 lead into the second.

E’lacious Holt knocked down a three for the first points of the second quarter to get the Lady Cougars back within three points of Monroe’s lead at 8-5, but Monroe went on a 9-0 scoring run over the next several possessions to take a 17-5 lead.

Crisp then responded with a 12-0 scoring run from there to tie the score at 17-17 entering halftime. Adasia Lee scored six of the points for the Lady Cougars on the big scoring run, while Aaliyah Hardemon hit a three and added a two-point basket for five of the points, and Chelsey Harvey split a pair of free throws for the other point during the run.

The lead swapped between the two teams several times during the third quarter and Monroe ended up outscoring Crisp 19-15 overall in the period. Hardemon scored eight of the 15 CCHS points in the quarter on a pair of three-pointers and a fast break layup following a steal, while Harvey, Bozeman and Jadah Mumphrey combined for the other seven Crisp points. Monroe led 36-32 entering the fourth quarter.

The teams traded small scoring runs for most of the fourth quarter and Monroe was ahead 50-45 late in the contest. A quick 6-0 scoring run by the Lady Cougars on scores by Hardemon, Bozeman, and Harvey put CCHS ahead 51-50 with 1:20 to play in the game.

Monroe split a pair of free throws to tie the score at 51 apiece shortly after, and the Lady Cougars then got back in front on a layup by Harvey off of an offensive rebound after a wild sequence. Crisp led 53-51 with less than 10 seconds to go after the score. Hardemon then stole the subsequent Monroe inbound pass and hit a pair of free throws to put the game away with less than a second to play, and the Lady Cougars came away with their first region win of the year by the final score of 55-51.

Crisp outscored Monroe 23-15 in the fourth quarter led by eight points from Harvey. Hardemon had six in the period and Lee had four, while Holt and Bozeman combined for the other five.

Final stats for CCHS in the game were as follows: Hardemon- 19 points, four rebounds, two assists, and four steals; Harvey- 11 points, six rebounds and four steals; Lee- 10 points, six rebounds, one steal and one blocked shot; Bozeman- seven points, two rebounds, one assist and two steals; Holt- five points, two rebounds, two assists, three steals and one block; Mumphrey- three points, seven rebounds, one steal and one block; Vernasia Sanders (only Lady Cougar senior)- four rebounds and one steal; Tykeemah Armstrong- two steals and one block; Zabria Armstrong- two rebounds; Nikujha Smith- one steal.

Monroe 83, Cougars 70

The Monroe Tornadoes, who recently had to forfeit all of their earlier wins this season due to playing an academically ineligible player for the majority of the year, defeated the Cougars 83-70 in a highly competitive game on Friday night.

Monroe opened up the game with the first six points, but the Cougars outscored the tornadoes 15-7 over the remainder of the quarter to take a 15-13 lead into the second period. PJ Coleman led Crisp in first quarter scoring with seven points, while Ty McKenzie put up four, with Malik Hall and Cortez Thomas each adding a bucket.

The Tornadoes subsequently outscored the Cougars 24-18 in the second period. KJ Williams paced the Cougars in the second period with five points on a layup and a three-pointer. McKenzie, Hall, Coleman, and Nathan Willis all got on the second quarter score sheet as well, but Monroe led 37-33 at halftime.

Monroe then edged the Cougars in third quarter scoring 19-17 to take a 56-50 lead into the final period. Willis and Willie Poole both hit three-point shots in the third quarter, and DJ Nixon made a pair of layups for four points. The other seven Crisp third quarter points came on scores by Jayren Fox, Williams, McKenzie and Coleman.

A 12-0 scoring run early in the fourth period from Monroe put the Tornadoes in front 68-50. The Cougars chipped away at the Tornado lead for the remainder of the game, but they ultimately fell by the final score of 83-70.

The five CCHS seniors who played all contributed to the cause in their Senior Night game. Final stats for each of the seniors in the defeat against Monroe were as follows: Williams- 15 points, one rebound and one steal; Willis- seven points and five rebounds; Hall- six points, four rebounds and one steal; Nixon- four points, two rebounds and one assist; Mar Daniels- four points.

Final stat lines for other CCHS contributors: Coleman- 12 points, four rebounds and one assist; McKenzie- 10 points, 10 rebounds, three assists, one steal and one block; Fox- five points, three rebounds, three assists and one steal; Poole- five points, two rebounds, two assists, and two steals; Thomas- two points, two rebounds, and one steal; Courtney Griffin- two rebounds.

Crisp County’s boys’ varsity team will play against Worth County in Cordele tomorrow night for the region 1-AAA title following the girls’ game that tips off at 6 p.m.