Duke torches Mustangs with outside shooting

The Cougars improved to 14-8 and 8-6 in 2A-3 conference play Friday night, picking up a 72-61 win over Buffalo Island Central in Monette.

After the first quarter closed with a 13-13 tie, Rector moved ahead 32-27.

But the third quarter is where the boys in blue and white really made their mark, outpacing the Mustangs 18-11 en route to moving ahead 12, 50-38.

"I thought we came out and gave a real good effort in the second half, especially the third quarter," Cougar coach Mark Manchester said. "We started making more of our outside shots and our offense picked up the pace."

Providing the bulk of the outside punch for the squad were juniors Justin Duke, six from long range, and Blake McCarroll, four from the land o' plenty.

"We're a much better team when those guys are shooting like that," Manchester said. "They spread out the defense more and just boost our entire offense. Shooting's contagious. They help get everyone else going, too."

Shooting was not only contagious for the Cougars; it spread like wildfire. Four Rector players scored in double figures on the night. Duke led the way with 24 points following a blistering night beyond the arc. McCarroll notched 14 in the win. Jackie Graham and Derek Wyss finished with 13 and 12, respectively. Also scoring for Rector were Coty Banning 3, Daniel Hester 2, Drew Boyd 2 and Garrett Evers 1.

Junior high

The Junior Cougars were downed in their meeting with BIC, 44-32.

Rector trailed throughout: 16-9; 24-16 and 34-27.

Tyler Kirklin and Cody Hager led Rector with 13 and 12, respectively. Also scoring were Kirk Horton 5 and Dan Blackshare 2.

Loss to Bay

A big third quarter by host Bay Tuesday night hurt the Cougars, as they fell to Yellowjackets, 73-66. Rector clung to a five point lead, 47-42, going into the final stanza, but Bay put up 31 points in the fourth to claim the win.

The Cougars led 19-13 after the first quarter and were up 32-26 at the half.

Three Yellowjackets put up big numbers on the night to propel Bay to the win. Troy Brown and Wade Hamilton scored 23 points each. Jesse Harris had a double-double, scoring 20 and grabbing 12 rebounds.

Graham paced Rector with a game-high 30 in the loss. Duke had 21 on the night. Wyss added nine, while Hester and McCarroll finished with three points each.

Juniors fall to Bay

The Junior Cougars were downed 44-32 at Bay. Rector led 5-3 after the first quarter, but fell behind 10-9 at the half before going into the fourth trailing 30-19.

Horton finished with eight to lead Rector. Also scoring were Kirklin 5, Cody Hager 5, Caleb Holcomb 4, A.J. Hager 4, Shane Newman 2 and Blackshare 2.

The Cougars will journey to Cherry Valley this Friday, as they are slated to face the Cross County Thunderbirds. The senior boys are scheduled to visit Manila on Monday. The junior boys will take part in the district tournament at Bay beginning next Monday.