Basketball Recap: KJ Shouse Jr. Key Part of Team Effort in Comets Win

It's playoff time, and Carolina International had no trouble coming through when it counted. They snuck past the Mountain Heritage Cougars with a 61-56 victory on Friday. Given the Comets' advantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 100th, while the Cougars are ranked 207th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

KJ Shouse Jr.

Points

02/28/25 @ Mountain Heritage	24
02/25/25 vs Mount Airy	19
02/22/25 @ Queen's Grant	23
02/21/25 vs Valor Preparatory Academy	35
02/14/25 vs Valor Preparatory Academy	21
+ 6 more games

Carolina International got their win on the backs of several key players, but it was KJ Shouse Jr. out in front who shot 80% from the field en route to 24 points and seven boards. Shouse Jr.'s evening made it 11 games in a row in which he has scored at least 16 points. Rylan Leak was another key player, putting up 12 points and five steals.

Despite the loss, Mountain Heritage still got an impressive performance from Jace Loven, who went 6-for-9 on his way to 18 points. Another player making a difference was Lawson Higgins, who dropped a double-double with 12 points and 16 rebounds.

Carolina International is on a roll lately: they've won four of their last five matches. That's provided a nice bump to their 22-8 record this season. The wins came thanks in part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 71.4 points over those games. Mountain Heritage moved to 23-3 with that loss, which also ended their 15-game winning streak.

Carolina International didn't take long to hit the court again: they've already played their next contest, a 66-54 defeat against Corvian Community on the 4th. Mountain Heritage does not have any more games scheduled as of now.