By Joe Joe Wright

joejoe.wright@cordeledispatch.com

One might want to add the nickname “Bandits “ to the Cougars list of names. They  stole the ball 19 times in Cairo took an early lead and never was challenged by the Syrupmakers. In a game that saw 12 different Cougars score points the Crisp County squad beat Cairo 63-36.

“For the most part the boys worked the ball in and took good shots,” said Stacy Stephens Cougar Head Coach.

Taking a 14 to 6 lead in the 1^st period the Cougars were dominant on defense and consistent on offense. After scoring 23 points to Cairo’s 9 in the 2^nd period the Cougars had a commanding half time lead of 37 to 15.

Crisp County got some under classmen some playing time in the third stanza scoring only 6 points and giving up 13. However, the 20 to 8 run that Crisp County made in the  4^th quarter smashed any hopes that Cairo had as the Cougars finished 63-36.

For the night Crisp shot 61% from the field and 66% from the line and added 20 rebounds as a team. The Cougars added 13 assists and of course the 19 steals in the winning effort.

Quinatvious Dean punched in 17 points for the winners to lead the scoring, followed by Shabazz Maddox with 10, Valdis Daniel and Ijon Owens both added 6 points and Jaleon Perry added 5. The Cougars will be at home on Friday January the 8^th at 6:00p.m. hosting an all important region game against Bainbridge. Then  they travel 9 miles up the road to take on rival Dooly County at 6:00p.m. on Saturday.