Cougars come down to the wire against Mohawk

GAME 1: SAULT COUGARS vs MOHAWK MOUNTAINEERS

SAULT STE. MARIE, ON – The Cougars came into the weekend, the last of the season, looking for that elusive first win of the season. It was a rough start to the game for the Cougars as the Mountaineers came out looking to spoil the Cougars changes at a victory. Mohawk would get themselves out to a 25-7 lead at the end of the first quarter, one that the Cougars were looking to put behind them. Taylor Elliott and Skylar Toms would be the only scorers in the quarter for the Sault.

The second proved to be much better for the Cougars on both ends of the floor. On the defensive end the Cougars would out rebound the Mountaineers 15-7 on their own glass and 8-2 on the offensive board. Andrea Gorman would pull down 6, Taylor Elliott had 4 and Jayme Meser and Skylar Toms each had 3. Cassidy Sabourin made her presence felt after missing most of the second half of the season, but returned to play her two games as a Cougar. Sabourin would have 4 points in the frame tying Skylar Toms for highest offensive output in the quarter. The Cougars defense would keep the Mohawk starters in check and would actually outscore the Mountaineers 13-12 in the frame. Despite the better quarter the Cougars were still down 37-20 going into the half.

Mohawk would come out of the second with their offence taking advantage of the Cougars defense. The Cougars bench would provide a nice relief in the third with Sarah McLeiod and Emma Filion coming in to hit for 2 points and Sabourin hitting for 3. Mohawk's Liana Hughes and Sam Pocrnic would work over the Cougars defense to have the Mountaineers up 58-31 after the frame.

The fourth quarter was eerily similar to the third, as Mohawk continued to knocked down some shots over the Sault. Again, the Cougars bench trio of McLeod, Filion and Sabourin would come on to score, but it wouldn't be enough to get back into the game as Mohawk would finish game one with an 80-44 win.

Cougars Scoring: Skylar Toms (9 points, 9 rebounds, 1 assists, 3 blocks), Cassidy Sabourin (9 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assists, 1 block), Taylor Elliott (6 points, 12 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 steals), Emma Filion (6 points, 11 rebounds, 2 blocks)

GAME 2: SAULT COUGARS vs MOHAWK MOUNTAINEERS

SAULT STE. MARIE, ON – In the last game of the season for the Cougars, they recognized three graduating athletes of their program. Cassidy Sabourin, Emma Filion, and Sarah McLeod played in their final game for the Women's program on Sunday, a game that was worth the price of admission and came down to the final seconds. The Cougars started off a bit slow in the first as they allowed Mohawk to get out to an 11-2 lead out of the gate. That stretch wouldn't last long as the Cougars broke out of the funk half way through the quarter and would pour it on the rest of the game. The post players did most of the damage in the first with Emma Filion, Cassidy Saburin and Skylar Toms accounting for most of the Cougars points. They would fight back in the quarter to go into the second down 19-13.

The second was even closer as the Cougars continued their strong play to press hard for their first win. Skylar Toms led the Sault in the second quarter with 10 big points. Most of the rebounds were taken care of by Cassidy Sabourin and Emma Filion in the quarter, and both players would round out the scoring for the Cougars offence. With the Sault pressing Sam Pocrnic of Mohawk did her best to keep the Mountaineers in the lead. At the end of the second the Cougars found themselves within striking distance 38-29.

With a palpable energy in the stands the Cougars roared out of the gate in the third quarter, playing possibly their best quarter of basketball of the season. The Cougars offence was spread around and shot a remarkable 60% from the field in the frame. Cassidy Sabourin led the charge with 7 points in the third and chipping in with 5 rebounds. Taylor Elliott and Andrea Gorman also had 4 points apiece and a combined 10 rebounds to frustrate Mohawk. The Cougars remarkable run in the third in which they outscored Mohawk 21-10, would give them a lead going into the fourth 50-48.

The building was buzzing in the fourth as the Cougars had a lead in the final frame, as they tried to lock down that first win. Sam Pocrnic of Mohawk and Skylar Toms of the Sault went back and forth to shoulder the offensive load for their respective teams. After a couple lead changes Cassidy Sabourin would hit a shot to put the Cougars up two with 51 seconds left. Right after the Sabourin shot, Mohawk would go to the line from a foul and make both free throws to tie the game at 68. Mohawk would have last possession to try and avoid overtime. The Cougars set up defensively and Grace Mahler of Mohawk found herself with the last shot, which she put up with less than a second of game time on the clock. The shot would bank in off the backboard for the game winning, buzzer beater 3 point shot to send the Mountaineers away with the 71-68 win.

Cougars Scoring: Skylar Toms (25 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals), Cassidy Sabourin (13 points, 12 rebounds, 1 assists, 2 steals, 1 block), Emma Filion (10 points, 7 rebounds, 1 assists, 1 steal, 1 block), Taylor Elliott (9 points, 15 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 blocks)