Cougars Roar to Victory: Senior Night Triumph Over Westwood
Published 3:09 pm Wednesday, February 5, 2025
It was a clean sweep for the Grace Christian Cougars during their senior night against the Westwood Wildcats. The Lady Cougars kicked off the night with a smothering defensive performance allowing just nine points in the first half during their 34-26 win.
The evening started with a heartfelt moment as the Lady Wildcats let GCA win the tipoff and passed the basketball to senior No. 11 Reagon Delanoy to score the game’s first points. Delanoy sustained a knee injury during practice last week, ending her season.
“We wanted to let Delanoy start and score if she was capable, and thankfully she was,” Raley said. “I thought the girls were able to compartmentalize everything from that point on, forget that it’s senior night, and for the next 30 minutes play a regular basketball game.”
Controlled chaos was the theme for the Lady Cougars defensive showing who got a hold of an eight-point lead after the first quarter and didn’t look back. Leading 16-9 at the break the Lady Cougars offensively were moving the ball and getting everyone involved, including five different scorers No. 2 Lanie Gay, No. 5 Kate Poitevint, No. 10 Sara Kate Crews, No. 11 Reagon Delanoy, and No. 33 Chloe Brogdon.
“We played defense aggressively,” GCA girls basketball head coach Kelsey Raley said. “But I was worried about foul trouble. It put the heat on Westwood and made them make errors.”
After 24 minutes of action, the Lady Cougars stretched their lead to ten, leading 29-19. Westwood cut it to five with 3:18 remaining in the game, 31-26, but it was the defensive display that held the Wildcats scoreless for the remainder of the game.
Raley’s group sits at 2-5 teetering between third and fourth place with one Region Three game remaining before postseason play begins.
Following senior night festivities which were held between the girls’ and boys’ basketball games honoring the GCA winter sport senior cheerleaders: Grier Albritton, Madelyn Ard, Madison Deese, Angeline Doan, Ali Roberts, Kate Sigman, Emori Vickers, and Alyssa Harrison who is part of the danceline. Boys and girls basketball players: Preston Barnett, Owen Earnest, Keith Eidson, J.J. Walker, Cade Wells, Dawson Worsley, Chloe Brogdon, Sara Kate Crews, Reagan Delanoy, Sybil Lee, and Kate Poitevint.
The GCA Cougars boys’ basketball team took center stage. They were in a defensive clash, leading 9-7 after the first quarter and then trailing by one at halftime, 21-20.
“I stressed all week that we needed this game,” GCA head basketball coach Chris Williams said. “We want to secure the region, we needed this win, at halftime we put it all together.”
The second half for the Cougars was defined by contagious effort and putting their bodies on the line to create more possessions highlighted by Eidson taking a charge during the third quarter and Wells’ and-one finish at the rim where he wouldn’t be denied around the rim with 1:05 left in the third quarter.
Williams’ group turned a one-point deficit at the break into a 42-34 lead after 24 minutes of action. The fourth quarter was more Cougar dominance on the court extending their lead to 12 points, 42-34 with four to play.
With their 61-48 victory, the Cougars split the regular season head-to-head matchups, now holding a 5-2 record in GIAA A Region 3 play. They lead the Wildcats by 0.5 games for first place and are on a four-game region winning streak.
“I’m extremely proud of the guys,” Williams said. “They fought all four quarters, that’s what I’ve been asking them to do all season long. They put everything together. Even though it’s a big game, I wanted them to stay calm. Don’t think just because we’re up doesn’t mean the game is over. We handled their (Westover’s) run and stayed locked in…” he said, “Jacob Elkin came in and had a great game. If I had an MVP for the game it would definitely be him because he didn’t shy away from anything, played hard defense, and took some great shots. He and Owen Earnest secured the game for us, they both played some great ball.”
The Cougars were led in scoring by No. 22 Elkins who finished with 14 points, shooting a scorching hot 71 percent from the field and 60 percent from behind the arc. He converted on three of his five three-point attempts. No. 2 Boyett nearly finished with a double-double, 12 points, and nine big-time physical rebounds. No. 5 Wells was one of four Cougars to score in double-figures finishing the night with 11 points, eight rebounds, and three steals.
No. 10 Eidson had a double-double, ten points, and a team-high ten rebounds. No. 20 Worsley had a stellar eight-point, six assists, and two steals stat line. No. 12 Earnest was consistent at the point guard position again finishing with nine assists and the keys to the offense, also scoring six points and bringing in four rebounds.
The Cougars defeated Highland Christian 66-43 to all but solidify the No. 1 seed in the Region 3 tournament next week beginning and Monday, January 10th and all day January 11th. The Lady Cougars picked up their third region win defeating the Highland Christian Academy Eagles 60-35 and clinching the three seed in next weeks Region Tournament.
Eidson led the Cougars with a near 20-20, 23 points and 18 rebounds, he was also a menace on defense picking up seven steals on the evening. Boyett finished with 19 points and seven rebounds, Elkins continued his hot stretch of scoring pouring in 12 points on 40 percent from behind the arc. Worsley tallied six points, eight rebounds, and four blocks. Earnest led the Cougars with seven assists and a plus/minus +26.
The Lady Cougars themselves had a dominant performance and was led by Poitevint who had herself a career-high game, 21 points and 22 rebounds. Brogdon had a double-double finishing with 13 points and 10 rebounds. Martin had eight points and ten rebounds, Kate Crews scored nine points, eight grader Anna Claire Moore had an impressive eight point, seven rebound, and six steal stat line.
The Lady Cougars and Cougars will be on the road to wrap up the regular season Southwest Georgia Academy on February 6th prior to the beginning of the GIAA A Region 3 Tournament. The girls will play at 6:00 p.m. and the boys play at 7:30 p.m.
