College Park downs Oak Ridge

THE WOODLANDS, Texas – Evan Cooper exploded for 32 points and the No. 25 state-ranked College Park High School boys’ basketball team remained unbeaten in District 14-5A play Tuesday night at home with an 80-61 victory over neighbors Oak Ridge.

Cooper hit 9-of-16 shots from the floor and added 12 free throws in 15 attempts to compliment seven steals, six rebounds and five assists, as the Cavaliers (23-6, 7-0) jumped out to an early lead and maintained a double-digit advantage throughout.

Cooper joined the Cavaliers squad in rockin’ the blonde(?) look Tuesday.

“For me it’s good to see. It’s a sign of unity,” Cavaliers coach Clifton McNeely said. “I’ve talked a lot about the chemistry and the relationships that these guys have both on and off the floor. It’s a great group and I think that’s where our success is.

“You can really see that when you watch us play out there. They share the ball. They move the basketball and it carries over.

“I don’t know who initiated it and I don’t know how many moms that are out there that are happy but if it brings them together and it helps them achieve the goal that they’re trying to accomplish and achieve, so be it.”

And the College Park student section was in on it, wearing yellow to the game.

“Tonight was Yellow Night,” McNeely said. “I have to hand it (to the crowd). Obviously I’ve been here all seven years, this is the best our student body has been in terms of coming out and supporting us. They were tremendous over at The Woodlands, they came back here on Friday night against Lufkin.

“Here it is a school night and tonight it’s Yellow Night, they came and got after it. There’s no doubt that our players appreciate and play off it and thrive off of it. Our student body really should be commended, especially these last three ballgames, for being there and giving us support.”

College Park took an early 18-9 lead and held a 38-23 advantage at halftime.

“Our guys played well from start to finish,” McNeely said. “We forced them into a lot of turnovers and we didn’t take advantage necessarily of all of our opportunities tonight. We’ve got to do a little bit better job of finishing, especially on Friday night going over to Kingwood.

“I thought from start to finish they did a great job of keeping their focus and their composure. They knew coming that Oak Ridge was struggling, but they came in and played and got after it. So I’m really pleased with our guys.”

The War Eagles managed to trim the margin to 58-47 after three quarters.

“It was one of those things where we had the momentum defensively, we’d force a steal and miss an easy shot or we’d miss free throws, so at times we were our own worst enemy,” McNeely said.

“But defensively the intensity was there, the tempo and the pace that we wanted to play at was there. So I felt very comfortable that over the course of 32 minutes our guys would be able to sustain that.”

Zach Wright (eight rebounds, six assists, two steals) and Justin Mauck (seven rebounds, five steals, two assists) added 12 and 11 points respectively while Layton Zinsmeister (four assists, three rebounds) finished with nine points.

Bryon Makel contributed five points; Desmon Fleming, returning from an injury, finished with four points as did John O’Donnell. Riley Zinsmeister scored one point and grabbed five rebounds while Jayden Holden (four rebounds) scored two points and Vishal Duvvuru saw playing time as well.

The Woodlands High School boys' basketball team kept pace with a 55-42 victory at Atascocita Tuesday. Joey Trinkle scored 18 points and Hayden Galatas added 12 more for the No. 17 state-ranked Highlanders (25-3, 6-1).