Coogs have nothing to regret

The La Marque Cougars have nothing to be ashamed of.

They just ran into one of the best basketball teams in the nation and maybe of all time: the Houston Yates Lions. They own a 56-game winning streak and 14 straight games of 100 or more points. I bet there are some college teams who couldn’t beat the Lions.

Personally, I have never seen a team like Yates. The Lions have two, possibly three Division I athletes. Brandon Peters is an absolute beast who can hurt an opponent inside or outside. Joseph Young shoots the ball as well as anyone and can take it to the rack when necessary. Alex Davis is a mammoth 6-foot-8, who can block shots, rebound and score.

That’s just the surface.

“How do you defend that?” La Marque coach Cedric Mason asked.

It’s a good question because no one has been able to figure it out.

Most impressively, Yates runs 12 athletes out there who are in excellent shape and as fast as anyone, who could start on almost any other team in the region. Eleven players have scored in double figures.

When Yates makes a substitution, it doesn’t lose much.

As one Huntsville coach said, “After the first three guys, I can’t tell when Yates is putting in its bench.”

And the Lions keep coming after you with a relentless full-court press. It puts an enormous amount of pressure on an opponent to play flawlessly, even when Yates isn’t, which is nearly impossible, especially for high school kids.

La Marque played a perfect first quarter against Yates. The Cougars forced eight Yates turnovers and only let it go twice. They shot 58 percent compared to 36 by Yates. And they out-rebounded the Lions.

Still, La Marque led by just four points after the first.

“We played with them, but they are really good,” La Marque senior Wes Henderson said. “We had to be perfect.”

Very few are, and the Cougars were close, still losing by almost 20 points.

In any other year, La Marque makes it out of Region III. Unfortunately, just not this one.