WALLIS — Brazos High School boys basketball won a close match Jan. 27 at Cougars Gym vs Danbury High School by a final score of 48-35. The game was closer than the final score showed as Danbury stuck right with Brazos, but the Cougars made a few more big baskets down the stretch. "They played
hard was the big thing,” said Bra - zos head boys basketball coach
Jason Tucker.
"They were getting good
looks early, they were just miss ing a lot of layups. The layups were there, so it's like just keep shooting them. They're gonna have to start falling because it's right there by the hoop. They kept hustling around. They made a lot of good things happen. Getting extra chances on the offensive boards, getting a lot of turnovers off that team in that little press and trap and stuff that we were doing, so that wore them
down finally. They took care of their business.”
Cougars senior guard and forward Bryson Bennett logged nine points for the outing and is very valuable on the floor just based on his athleticism. Bennett was also the starting quarterback for the football team that went on a deep playoff run in 2022. "We
had a rough start to the tourna - ments because we went to the second round of the playoffs, then we came back that week and we had a basketball tournament,” Bennett said on the transition from football to basketball. "We did bad, but then we started pro- gressing. I’m glad we got this win tonight. It means a lot to us.”
It was a neck-and-neck start to the first quarter until Brazos went up 13-8 on a layup and free throw from Bennett, along with a jumper from freshman Jarvse Dickerson near the baseline from an inbounds play with 45 seconds to go. Danbury’s Camrin Lynch then hit a shot from just inside the wing to put it at 13-10 to end the first quarter.
Brazos had as big as a sixpoint lead in the second quarter at 24-18 after another tight pe- riod. Brazos was able to create some separation in the final minute of the quarter on a free throw and layup from junior center Javien Dickerson before a transition layup at the 15 second mark from Danbury made it 24-20 going into halftime.
The Cougars expanded their advantage in the third quarter on two free throws from Jarvse Dickerson, a step-up three from senior forward Carlos Salto, and a floater from Bennett in the paint with 1:20 on the clock to surge ahead 31-23 at the end of the third quarter.
A turnaround jumper from Bennett made it 34-23 at the 7:15 mark in the fourth quarter and Brazos held on to their comfortable lead, then Lynch made a crucial and one basket for Danbury from just inside the elbow with 5:52 to go, but missed the free throw to put it at 36-28.
Jarvse Dickerson went on to hit two technical foul free throws to take a 10-point lead, then the Cougars splashed six more free throws with four of them being tech free throws to go along with a put back layup from sophomore Williams Newby to ice the game for a 48-35 win.
