Bison men defeat Cougars

Coach Warren Ringland outlines the strategy to finish off the Cougars. Van’Go’photo The Buffalo Bison enjoyed a long-awaited first district win when they hosted the Leon Cougars on Friday. The men's victory helped soften the blow of the girl's loss at the hands of the Lady Cougars earlier in the evening.

Coach Ringland's squad was almost at full strength, finally, with Cameron Hughes and Logan Jones seeing their first action since being benched with injuries and Bobby Dorman was back from academic probation. The welcome depth on the bench allowed the Bison the luxury of rotating players in and out of the lineup and the squad responded with energy and intensity that carried them to the upset over the Cougars, who won the first meeting 46- 31 in the LHS gym.

Leon's D. Jones put the first point on the scoreboard and Jacob Hulsey anchored the Cougars' scoring with 8 first-quarter points. Buffalo had an answer in J.J. Kolb, who popped in three treys in a row, and the quarter ended with the Bison trailing 14- 18. The teams battled pretty evenly through the second period and went to the break separated by only two points, 24-26. In the third, Jacob Davis tied things with a rebound and a put-back and then another bucket for the Bison's first lead of the game. Buffalo was on top 34-33 going into the final quarter.

BHS’ Reid Courmier guards LHS’ LHS's Caleb Eagans had the hot hand in the fourth and the Cougars regained the lead but Bobby Dorman ruled the boards and also sank six charity shots in a row to put BHS back in front, 38-37. BHS padded their lead with more success at the free-throw line, as the Cougars were forced to resort to desperation fouls. Eagans sank a 3-pointer at the buzzer but it was not enough to save the day for Leon and BHS won 48-43.

For Leon, Hulsey led with 14, Eagans scored 12, Vince Hale added 10 and D. Jones 7. The Cougars were 12 of 25 at the line for 48%.

Kolb led BHS with 17 points. Dorman pulled down 13 rebounds and had 2 steals to go along with 8 points. Tate Hartley contributed 7. Davis added 6 points, 3 rebounds and plenty of hustle. Kyle Read had 3 big fourthquarter free throws. Hughes had a big game defensively, with 7 rebounds and 3 blocks. Reid Courmier had 2 points and 4 rebounds. Jones nailed a 3-pointer and Paul Mata added a bucket. The Bison were 59% at the line, nailing 13 of 22 at the line.

THIS WEEK... BHS travels to Malakoff Tuesday and on Friday the Bison host Teague. Leon has an open date on Tuesday and hosts Malakof on Friday