Bring on District!

Clark boys basketball inched up another notch in the area rankings this week, moving from 6th to 5th. This is thanks in part to their exciting OT victory over Judson on Saturday, which earned two players “Game Balls” in the Express News. Kyle Rutledge was honored for his 14 points and Adam Perez for his 3-pointer that sent the game into overtime. First up in district play is brandeis, which is also off to a good start this season. That game will be at 8pm Wednesday at Paul Taylor. You can get started on the rivalry game, though, Tuesday at Clark when the undefeated JV Cougars take on the broncos at 7:30. The Freshman teams will get things going on Tuesday with games at 5:00 and 6:15 at Clark.

The Clark girls varsity basketball will also take on brandeis Tuesday evening at 8:00 at Paul Taylor. The girls currently have a 1-1 district record. The Freshman and JV girls will visit brandeis for games on Wednesday at 5:30 and 6:45.

Get out and support your Cougars! GO COOGS!

Rutledge gets a little air and two

For the second time this season, the Clark Cougars varsity boys basketball team has defeated a state ranked team.  The Judson Rockets, ranked #22 by the Texas Association of Basketball Coaches, found out the hard way that the Cougars are a team on the rise.  Clark won 46-44 in an overtime thriller.

The Rockets looked like they would take off with a win in the first quarter.  Pinpoint shooting by Judson and Cougar misses gave Judson an early 21-11 lead.  The Cougars continued to fight but at the half the deficit was no closer, with Judson taking a 29-18 lead into the locker room.  The 3rd quarter was more of the same and going into the final period, Clark still trailed the Rockets 35-25.

In the 4th quarter, however, the Cougars defensive pressure and tough offensive hustle gave Clark a chance.  The defense allowed only three Judson points while the offense scored thirteen, none more important than a clutch three pointer by Adam Perez to send the game into overtime.

In the OT period, the Cougars took the lead for the first time and never gave it back to the Rockets.  An Ansley Benjamin putback and Adam Perez’s steal late in OT sealed the win. (continue reading…)

The Clark girls basketball team opened district play with a dominating 49-37 win over Taft this week. Kristen Lye accounted for almost half of the Cougar’s points with 23. Melanie Schwartz, Donna Matthews and Hannah Garcia all added 6 points each. Up next is Marshall on Friday at 6:00 in the gym at O’Connor. Good luck Coogs!

The Clark boys continue to improve, posting a 57-51 win over Seguin on Tuesday. Jacob Palacios led the Cougars with 18 points while Adam Perez added 14 and Kyle Rutledge had 11 points in the win. Clark moved up to #6 in the area in the most recent Express News rankings. Their record is now 9-5 overall with a big game against Judson on Saturday at noon at Paul Taylor.

Rutledge leads Cougars to win

The #8 Clark Cougars boys varsity basketball team began the Lone Star tournament with a win over #6 Wagner, 64-53.  Kyle Rutledge posted a game high 20 points followed by Jake Chapman with 14 points.  Jacob Palacios turned in 11 points for the Cougars. The Cougars outscored Wagner 19-7 in the second quarter to pull away for the win.

The victory follows a 60-46 win over Johnson at the beginning of the week.  They now carry a 7-3 record going into Friday’s games.

The Clark boys basketball team beat Fort Bend Marshall in the Bronze Level  Championship game of the McDonalds Texas Invitational tournament. The Cougars won 54-44, led by 12 points from Niko Maxwell. Jacob Palacios added 10 and Adam Perez and Kyle Rutledge each had 8. (continue reading…)

Clark wins

The 9th ranked Clark boys basketball team got their new season off to a positive start with a 59-43 thrashing of Roosevelt. Jacob Palacios led the scoring with 13, followed closely by Adam Perez, who had 12. Niko Maxwell added 8 points and Kyle Rutledge had 7. Also contributing points tonight were Jake Chapman, Cal Harr, Chance Villareal, Carter Josephs  and Shawn Casons. The Cougars jumped out to a 16-4 lead in the first quarter and never looked back.

Next up is a first for Clark basketball – a trip to the McDonald’s Texas Invitational Tournament in Pasadena. Touted as the biggest tourney in the state and one of the largest of its kind in the country, the Texas Invitational attracts many of the state’s top ranked teams  among the 48 boys teams and 32 girls teams from across the state. District 27-5A will be well represented with three schools in the mix – Clark, Taft and Warren. Tournament play begins on Thursday.

GO COOGS!!!

Benjamin scores against Falcons

The #2 Clark Cougars boys basketball team finished the regular season with their only loss in district coming at the end in an exciting double overtime game against Stevens.  Despite six three-pointers and 28 points from Jason Brickman, 4 blocked shots by Kyle Rutledge and a buzzer beating layup by Elhad Emerllahu to send the game into a second OT period, the Falcons prevailed 88-80.

The Cougars were going for a sweep of District 28-5A with a 15-0 record until meeting Stevens.  While the win would have been great for bragging rights, the Cougars still walk away with an outright district championship, a 28-6 overall record, a 15-1 district record and a dominating performance in the regular season.

Next up for the Cougars is a round one playoff game against East Central, next Tuesday.  Congratulations Cougars and BTHOEC!

PHOTOS

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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