In front of a capacity filled crowd the Nimitz Cougars took on the Spring Lions for prime playoff position in District 16 6A. In the first quarter Springs Swiss army knife of a player, unsigned senior Christyon Eugene came out on fire scoring 8 points from inside and out. Soph. Ashton Smith came off the bench to pace the Cougars with 5 points as Nimitz led after one 15-14. The second quarter started off with unsigned senior Andre Washington establishing himself down low, he scored 6 points in the quarter, and along with unsigned senior Carl Reynolds heady plays the Cougars looked to be in control. Springs Eugene kept the Lions in it leading all scorers with 13 points as the Lions led the Cougars at the half 32-30. The third quarter was a back and forth affair that saw on of the best scorers in the city come alive, unsigned senior Keionte Cornelius scored 14 points in the quarter from all three levels, along with Midwestern State football signee Titus Howard Jr. who came up with all the hustle plays the Lions needed. Reggie Comeaux would also come alive for Nimitz in this quarter, as he hits 2 three pointers and gets fouled leading to a big 4-point play. Spring would take a 52-48 lead into the fourth quarter with Cornelius leading all scorers with 22 points. It looked to be a run away in the last period with Spring leading 56-48 with about seven minutes to go, Nimitz mounted a 9-0 run where Spring didn’t score for four minutes taking a 57-56 lead. Washington and Comeaux were bruising down low as they seemed to get every rebound and put back, to lead Nimitz to a 68-65 advantage with six seconds remaining. Spring in bounded the ball, Cornelius raced up the court and found back court mate Christyon Eugene open for a HUGE game time three at the buzzer. The Cougars fought valiantly in overtime, but the city’s most DANGEROUS back court closed out the game for Spring as the Lions earned a 79-75 win. Keionte Cornelius led all scorers with 31 points, Christyon Eugene scored 30 points and had 7 rebounds. Nimitz was led by Andre Washington with 15 points, Carl Reynolds who scored 14 points, and Reggie Comeaux who scored 13 points and grabbed 8 rebounds. This now puts Spring against Klein and Nimitz against Klein Collins in respective first round playoff match ups. Spring will be a tough out in the playoffs with one of the best back courts in the city, a combined 61 points had me feeling just like Marcus Sloan, “they both were cooking with the good grease”. Nimitz bruising style of play could propel them to an extended playoff stay also. Great job to both teams, and to all the fans who came out in support, the atmosphere was electric and reminded me of the golden ages of Houston basketball.
