Elhad Emerllahu and Jason Brickman have been playing basketball for quite some time.  Pat Turner writes about their final season together as Clark Cougars.

Sophomore Perez steps up

If you missed the game between the Clark Cougars and the O’Connor Panthers, you missed an “Instant Classic”  A game that looked like a sure win in the first half and a definite loss in the second half turned out to be a double overtime thriller with veteran leadership and a super sophomore making the difference in a 76-72 district win.

The game started out promising with three, three point buckets (one by Jason Brickman and two by Jacob Palacios) for the first scores by Clark to give the Cougars an early 9-4 lead.  At the end of the first, Jacob Palacios would score on a put back off a Kyle Rutledge shot and a Jason Brickman steal ended the quarter with the Cougars leading 19-14.

In the second quarter, the score would tighten up as O’Connor would take their first lead of the game, 27-25 with 4:55 left before the half.  The Cougars regained the lead and went to the locker room up by two, 32-30.

• Coach Sylestine’s Post Game Comments
• PHOTOS by envisionfilmvideo.com
• Boxscore

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Clark wins

The boys basketball team remains undefeated in district with a 92-56 shellacking of Jay. Jason Brickman had 24 points to lead all scorers, Elhad Emerllahu added 16, Ansley Benjamin 13 and Sam Perez 11 to round out the Cougars in double figures.

The Cougars defeated Marshall 54-29 earlier in the week to open district play. Up next is O’Connor on Tuesday the 22nd at 4:30 following the girls game at Paul Taylor.

Brickman goes up and under for two

The Clark Cougars boys basketball team finished 4th in the SAISD Tournament over the weekend.  The team advanced to the semifinal round against #4 state ranked Wagner.  A game close at the half, Wagner took the lead at the end of the third quarter and then sat on the ball in the fourth to win 70-63.

The loss put the Cougars into the third place game against Madison.  The Mavericks won that game by nine.

Next up for the Cougars is the start of district play.

PHOTOS from envisionfilmvideo.com

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

The Clark boys basketball team won number 7 in a row beating Roosevelt 53-51 behind the still hot hand of Jason Brickman. Brickman had 23 points in the win while Elhad Emerllahu added 18. Brickman has had a strong showing this December including his MVP performance in the South Padre Island Tournament championship run. Other Cougars contributing points in the Roosevelt win include Ansley Benjamin, Manny Paz y Puente, Sam Perez and Jake Chapman.

The boys will play in the San Antonio ISD Tourney this weekend before starting district play next week.

The Clark girls open district competition tonight against Brandeis at Paul Taylor.

Congratulations to Jason Brickman.  The senior guard’s accomplishments this past weekend (see below) have earned him Player of the Week accolades from the Express-News.  The six game win streak by the Cougars has also earned them a #6 ranking in this week’s Express News Top Ten and a #10 state ranking by the Texas Association of Basketball Coaches.

The boys get back to action tonight against Roosevelt – there.

courtesy myuniversalsports.com

Not only did Clark win the South Padre Island Invitational, Jason Brickman was named tournament MVP and Elhad Emerllahu and Ansley Benjamin were named to the All Tournament team.  Read more about their weekend here from our friends at myuniversalsports.com.

Elhad Emerllahu p0ured in 20, Ansley Benjamin added 18 and Jason Brickman put in another 12 as the #10 boys varsity basketball team defeated Brackenridge 64-52.  The Cougars started strong in the first half and defensively shut down the Eagles early on.

The girls’ team also grounded the Eagles with a 66-26 victory.  Courtney Rhodes and Carolyn Chavana each had 14 and everyone contributed points in the win.  Defensively, Brackenridge only achieved double digit scoring in one quarter of play.  The girls record is now 9-4 and the boys are 5-3.

The teams head in opposite directions this weekend for tournaments.  The ladies are in Austin and the men head south to the South Padre Island tournament.  Good luck!

Clark Basketball

A great showing in the NEISD tournament this weekend ended with a  heartbreaking 2 point loss for the Clark boys basketball team. The Cougars defeated MacArthur 61-46 after beating Antonian in the tournament opener. They went on to beat Marshall 51-30 propelling them to the tournament championship game against Reagan. The Cougars lost the game 58-56. Jason Brickman had 21 points in the championship game and Elhad Emerllahu added 18 to lead Clark. At the end of the first week of the season the Clark boys are 4-1.

The girls basketball team had mixed results at the Southwest Tournament. The Cougars lost to Clemens 64 to 51 and dropped the next game to host Southwest in a close 68-66 contest. Clark then beat Boerne Geneva 80-18 and finished up with a 63-47 win over McCollum. Guard Carolyn Chavana had 27 points in the McCollum game. The Clark girls are 8-3 this season.