Elhad carries the Cougars to victory

Behind senior Elhad Emerllahu’s 37 points, the Clark Cougars blew out the East Central Hornets in the first round of the 2010 basketball playoffs 91-66.  Playing at St. Mary’s University on the court he might call his college home, Emerllahu had his way with an over-matched Hornet team.  Jason Brickman posted 25 and Ansley Benjamin added another 18.

The Cougars jumped ahead early but the Hornets shooters heated up and they took a 15-7 lead with three and a half minutes in the 1st quarter.  The Cougars put their own run together and tied the game 18-18 before East Central closed the quarter with a 3 point shot to make it 21-18 Hornets at the end of the 1st.

Clark regained its composure in the 2nd quarter, outscoring the Hornets 25-18 and went up 43-39 into halftime.  The second half was all Cougars as they scored the first 7 points on their way to a 21 point quarter, holding East Central to just 7 points in the 3rd.   With a 64-48 lead starting the 4th, the Cougars kept up the scoring and shut down the Hornet defense for the victory.

Next up for the Cougars, now Bi-District Champs is the Area game against Austin Bowie.   Clark vs. Austin Bowie will take place Friday or Saturday at a site to be determined.

• PHOTOS
• PHOTOS Express News
• ANALYSIS
• EXPRESS NEWS article

Palacios scores 2 of his 11

The Clark Cougars boys basketball team won their eighth consecutive game taking the sting out of the East Central Hornets by a score of 78-63.  The win came in the first round of this weekend’s SAISD tournament.

In the first quarter the teams went back and forth.  As the clock ran down to what looked like to be a even quarter, senior Sam Perez hit a buzzer beating 3 pointer to give the Cougars a 19-16 lead at the end of one.  The Cougars pulled away in the second and at the half, it was Cougars 43, Hornets 32.

The Cougars started with the ball in the 2nd half and quickly scored on a give and go eliciting a rapid response from the East Central coach and a time out.  The damage had already been done, however, as the Hornets could not adjust to the Cougars quick offense and smothering defense.  A couple of errant passes by the Cougars kept the Hornets from being blown out and the third quarter ended with Clark up by 16, 58-42.

The fourth was more of the same as Clark built it’s lead helped by a foul and technical on the Hornets.  Jason Brickman sunk all four free throws and the Cougars advanced in the winner’s bracket with a solid 78-63 win over East Central.  The Cougars will continue their quest for a second tournament championship tomorrow with second round actrion today at 6:00pm at the Alamo Convocation Center (Alamo Stadium).

Good job, Cougars!

• Boxscore
• PHOTOS from envisionfilmvideo.com

Cougars end season in playoffs

With what seemed like the entire East Central community watching, the Hornets defeated the Clark Cougars volleyball team in the first round of the 2009 5A playoffs.  The Cougars scored the first point of the match but that would be their only lead, falling 14-25, 17-25 and 16-25.  This was the 25th straight year the Cougars have made it to the playoffs.  Special recognition goes to this year’s Seniors – Vanessa Casanova, Claire Webster, Katlin Mazzocco, Kayla Jarzombek, Liz Bergman and Stephanie Peña.  Congratulations, you’ll be missed and good luck next year.

The Cougars are coached by Kristen Daniell.

PHOTOS from envisionfilmvideo.com