Basketball Recap: Cole Skates Past Young Men's Leadership Academy with Ease

Cougars

Previous 6 Games

01/24/25 vs Young Men's Leadership Academy	72-36
01/22/25 @ Great Hearts Northern Oaks	63-46
01/17/25 vs Randolph	61-32
01/10/25 @ Marion	63-56
01/03/25 @ Canyon Lake	55-45
12/31/24 vs Stockdale	72-46

Cole had already won five in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 17.8 points) and they went ahead and made it six on Friday. They breezed by Young Men's Leadership Academy to the tune of 72-36. Given the Cougars' advantage in MaxPreps' Texas basketball rankings (they are ranked 321st, while Young Men's Leadership Academy are ranked 704th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

Cole had a senior duo take command as Logan Beckstrom shot 4-for-7 from deep and almost dropped a double-double on 26 points and nine boards and Aaron Braxton dropped a double-double on 16 points and 11 rebounds. Beckstrom has been hot for a while, having posted 15 or more points the last 11 times he's played. Another player making a difference was Mackenzie Schonberg, who posted six points and nine boards.

Despite the loss, Young Men's Leadership Academy had strong showings from Raishaun Conaway, who almost dropped a double-double on 14 points and nine rebounds, and Kaleb Mcewen, who scored 12 points. That's the most points Conaway has posted since back in December of 2023.

Cole pushed their record up to 21-7 with the win, which was their third straight at home. A key ingredient in that success has been their performance when it comes to three-point shooting accuracy: their three-point shooting accuracy was 34.2% in those games and 27.6% outside of them. As for Young Men's Leadership Academy, their defeat dropped their record down to 14-10.

Cole will take on Marion at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday. One thing working in Cole's favor is that they have posted at least 55 points in their last six games. As for Young Men's Leadership Academy, they will head out on the road to take on Randolph at 8:00 p.m. on Tuesday. Young Men's Leadership Academy is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 60 points per game this season.