The Cherokee Trail Cougars's three-game losing streak came to an end on Monday. Everything went their way against Golden as Cherokee Trail made off with a 74-51 win. The score was close at the half, but Cherokee Trail pulled away in the second half with 48 points.
Cherokee Trail's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Nathan Baack led the charge by going 6 for 8 from beyond the arc en route to 19 points and 0 assists. As a matter of fact, that's the most points Baack has scored all season. Jordan Mitchell was another key contributor, scoring 17 points.
Golden's loss came despite strong showings from Leif Hansen and Shad Garnett. Hansen scored 16 points along with nine rebounds and two blocks, while Garnett scored 14 points along with five rebounds and two blocks. That's the first time this season that Garnett posted two or more blocks. Another player making a difference was Luc Chevalier, who scored four points along with two steals.
Cherokee Trail's victory bumped their record up to 6-9. As for Golden, their loss dropped their record down to 11-3.
Both squads are looking forward to the support of their home crowds in their upcoming games. Cherokee Trail will take on Eaglecrest at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday. Eaglecrest presents a significant challenge as they come into the match much higher ranked than Cherokee Trail in Colorado (Eaglecrest is ranked 11th, while Cherokee Trail is ranked 95th). As for Golden, they will be playing in front of their home fans against Evergreen at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday. Hopefully Evergreen focused on turnovers this week since the team gave up 14 last Friday.
