Cougars beat Dadeville in Tigers’ opener

By Dusty Harper (Contact) | Alex City Outlook

Published Monday, November 30, 2009

The Dadeville Tigers did not have an answer for Central-Coosa’s Joe Russell on Saturday night in Hanover. The 6-foot-3 senior netted 35 points in a 62-49 win over the Tigers, spoiling Dadeville’s season opener and improving the Cougars to 2-1.

Russell finished off a double-double by grabbing 10 rebounds. He was 15 of 22 from the foul line, a big reason the Cougars kept their fourth quarter lead. They led 35-15 after two quarters, but Dadeville sliced the lead to 11 before Central pulled away for the victory.

“We played a good first half, but we were flat in the second,” said Coosa’s Joe Belyeu, whose team was coming off of a loss to Sylacuaga. “We had to hold on to win, and we’ve got to improve in that area.”

Dadeville head coach Rodney Taylor said Russell was too much for his team to handle.

“Joe was dominant all night,” Taylor said. “We stood behind and let him catch it, and he’s too strong for that. They dumped it to him the whole game and he knocked down his free throws.”

Taylor’s team was 4 for 11 on free throw shooting, while the Cougars were 26 for 41. Coosa was 12 of 34 from the field and connected on four 3-pointers.

John McGhee closed with 14 points and 6 rebounds. Marcus Judkins added 9 points, and no other Cougar had more than 2 points. Cameron Thomas pulled down 7 boards and Jeremy Murray dished out 5 assists.

The Cougars (2-1) played late last night at Horseshoe Bend, travel to Childersburg today and will participate in the Coca-Cola Classic Friday and Saturday at Benjamin Russell.

“We will be playing a lot of games this week,” Belyeu said. “I hope we are up to the challenge.”

Kyle Caldwell led the Tigers (0-1) in scoring with 19. Taylor said his team did a few things well, considering the circumstances.

“We played a little better in the second half and actually outscored them 34-27,” Taylor said. “Kyle was decent from outside and we got some easy transition baskets. The first half was an eye opener for us. We’re going to need to do a better job of executing our offense. But, we’re working for February. It’s going to be a process with our team.”

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