Cougars and Panthers in a Cat fight

From the opening tip off till the final horn Crisp and Americus went at it full steam. Yall will have to forgive me I can’t say Americus –Sumter South Campus. In my day it was Americus High Panthers and that’s what I am going to call them.
In a contest that saw several lead changes the Panthers came out on top 44-40.
In what can only be described as a defensive fight. The Americus Panthers jumped out to 12 -9 lead at the end of the 1st period of play. The Cougars bounced back taking the lead in the second quarter and finally going into half time down 23-22. Crisp County was tied with or beat Americus in every stats category except the most important final score category. After the Cougars took the lead in the 3rd period they would not relinquish it till late in the 4th period when a couple of crucial mistakes put them behind and in this epic defensive struggle they could not overcome it.
The Cougars offensively were led by Ijon Owens with 13 points and defensively by DJ Tolbert and Valdis Daniel.
“We have to not mistakes late in the game this is a game we could have won,” said Head Coach Stacey Stephens. “They went to the foul line numerous times and we only went one time all night and that was with 5 seconds to go in the game.” “ When you only give up 44 points you are suppose to win, “ Coach Stephens further expounded. The Cougars are 0-1 on the year and play Wilcox Friday night in Rochelle.