The Cougars welcomed the Henderson County Colonels to their gym tonight. Henderson County was coming off a 20 win season a year ago and looking to keep the success from the previous year going. A regular power in region two, this would prove to be a really good test for the up and coming Cougars.

Despite spotting the Colonels a two point lead due to a technical foul suffered in pregame warm ups the Cougars fended off the Colonels for a 75-68 victory.

In the first quarter the Cougars and Colonels battled each other with neither team getting the upper hand. The Cougars finally got the upper hand with a 5-2 run to close out the first quarter in the lead 20-15.

The second quarter the Cougars and Colonels played almost to a draw. The Cougars also closed out the quarter strongly with a 4-0 run to extend the lead to 33-27. They would need a strong second half if they were going to pull away from the pesky Colonels.

In the second half the Cougars started to play a faster paced game and sped up the tempo. The increased tempo played straight into the Cougars hands as they started to pull away. The third quarter that had normally been a weak point to the Cougars became a strong point tonight as they extended the lead to 13 at the end of the quarter 52-39.

The fourth quarter the Colonels started to slowly pick and roll the Cougars to death and chip away at the lead. With the slowed down pace the Cougars offense started to sputter and the Colonels started to close the gap. But the Cougars didn't fold and held on for the win 75-68.

The Cougars go on the road Friday to take on Franklin-Simpson in their first district match up of the year.

Look for more in-depth coverage in Friday's News-Democrat&Leader.