CCC Basketball Teams Honored
Lonzo Saunders
Issue date: 4/16/09 Section: Sports
| |
|
For the Lady Cougars, Coach Dean Williams was selected as the South Region Coach of the Year. Alyssa Hallice was selected First Team All-Region, while Laura Banks was selected Second Team All-Region. Jen Ramos was selected Honorable Mention All-Region.
For the men's basketball team, Jeremy Ham and Lonzo Saunders were selected Second Team All-South Region.
With their All-Region players, the Lady Cougars helped lead the Cougars to the NCCAA National Tournament by receiving the at-large bid. This was the first time the Lady Cougars made it to the NCCAA regional tournament since 2003.
As one of the top ten teams in the nation voted by the coaches in the coach's poll, the Lady Cougars came into the South Region Tournament with the number one seed.
Winning their first game against Toccoa falls in the tournament, the Lady Cougars ended the game with the score 59-51. Alyssa Hallice and Laura Banks, the All-Region selectees, came up big for the Lady Cougars, with Alyssa Hallice scoring 18 points, 14 rebounds, and 5 blocks, while Laura Banks scored 12 points and grabbed 16 rebounds.
In the championship game, however, the Lady Cougars lost to Atlanta Christian College, a team that the Lady Cougars defeated twice in the regular season. Alyssa Hallice scored 14 points and 10 rebounds, while Laura Banks scored 11 points; but the Lady Cougars' leading scorer was Lauren Leabhart with 15 points.
The men's basketball team entered the quarterfinals against Atlanta Christian College, a team the Cougars played against in last year's championship game. The Cougars and Chargers split the regular season record at 1-1, with each team winning at home. The Chargers would break the series tie to advance to the South Region Semi-Final as they defeated the Cougars 76-72, ending the Cougars' season at 10-16.