Cougars shake off slow start to romp past Hillside in NCHSAA opening round

Monday February 22, 2010 

Halfway thru the opening stanza Apex and Hillside had only combined for 6 points.  The visiting Hornets had opportunities to take a lead but could not capitalize from the free throw line, going 2 of 6 in the 1^st quarter.  Sunil Ram hit a three-pointer, which was the start of a 5-1 run to end the 1^st quarter.  Apex led 10-4 heading into the 2^nd quarter.

Reserve forward Carson Bowen began the 2^nd quarter with a pair of buckets inside for Apex, igniting another run.  The 11-2 Cougar run was punctuated by a Connor Belicic three-pointer from NBA range.  Hillside switched from a man to man, to an offset 2-3 zone, which was more effective, but could not completely stop Apex.  Offensively, the Hornets still could not get anything going and found themselves down 23-11 at the halftime break.

Things did not get much better for Hillside in the pivotal 3^rd quarter, as their deficit ballooned early.  Cougar guard had his best quarter of the game with 5 of his 8 points in the period.  However, the 3^rd belonged to Weston Murphy.  The Cougar standout took advantage of his size inside and showed off his outside touch, knocking down two treys on his way to 14 points in the quarter.

Apex led 45-26 after three quarters of play and poured it on in the fourth quarter, going onto the second round with a 63-34 victory.  Murphy led all scorers with 20 points.  The Cougars other leading scorers were Belicic with 13 points and Sunil Ram with 10 points.  Sophomore Torian Graham led Hillside with 8 points.

Notes:  Boy was I wrong about this one.  I thought the speed of Hillside would give Apex some trouble.  There was a clear size advantage for Apex coming in, but once again it was the outside shooting of the Cougars that was big.  Weston Murphy also came up huge.

Kerry Smith

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