Cossatot River found themselves down 15 points in the second half against the Bearcats in the Conference 3A-4 opener and made a bid to overcome the deficit.
The Eagles got within 43-41 with 3:14 to play before the Bearcats (3-2, 1-0) got a conventional 3-point play from Tayden Washburn to end almost a six-minute scoring drought and the Bearcats went on to win 50-43.
Dakota Fonseca missed a couple of free throws with 1:04 to play but he would push it to a three possession game with a rebound putback with 25 second left and Reed Brackney (shown) put the exclamation point on it with a dunk with 6 seconds to go.
Washburn finished with 14 points and Brackney scored 13, to complete a double-double with his 10 rebounds.
Early on it was impeccable long range efficiency that ignited the Bearcats to a lead they would not relinquish.
Nick Widener hit four times from beyond the arc in the opening quarter and both Sadler Miller and Washburn added another as the first 18 points came on 3s.
The next three points also came on one possession as Brackney converted the conventional 3-point play.
Widener added a 2-point basket and had 14 in the quarter.
Cossatot River cut the deficit to 9 before halftime before the Bearcats settled for a lead of 34-22 at the half.
A Hayden Daniel basket, on a feed by Widener, made it 40-25, matching the game high lead, with 3:15 left in the third quarter.
But, it was 43-34 at the end of the quarter but the Eagles scored the next 7 and trailed by just two at 43-41.
Cossatot River 35 Lady Bearcats 31
The Lady Bearcats also had a 15-point lead in the third quarter but were unable to hang on as the Lady Eagles scored the last 17 points of the game to win 35-31.
Cossatot River took a 9-4 lead 7:40 before halftime but the Lady Bearcats, playing only five players all night, tied it on a midrange jumper from Emma Fox with 3:47 left in the half, then went in front on an Anna Ferguson basket 41 seconds later.
While Cossatot River managed only free throws after the early 3 in the second quarter and the entire third quarter the Lady Bearcats were busy building a lead.
Haylee Taylor started the second half scoring with a pair of 3s in the first minute, giving her four on the night and 12 points in the game.
A couple of baskets by Raelynn Franklin offset four Cossatot free throws and it was 29-14 with 1:01 to play in the third quarter.
Franklin, who finished with 9 points, scored again with 6:41 to play and it was 31-18.
Cossatot had scored twice from the floor before that and then used defense to set up easy shots and found their touch from long range.
Both Tempi Terry and Franklin were dominant on the boards with Terry snagging 16 rebounds and Franklin 11.
Junior High Bearcats 47 Cossatot River 12
The opener of the three-game set was never close. Drake Brackney had scored twice in the first 22 seconds and the Bearcats (8-3, 2-0) were well on their way.
It was 16-2 through a quarter and 27-8 at the half.
The Bearcats went two-platoon throughout the first three quarters and saw 10 different players contribute in the scoring column.
It was Colt Whitehouse, from the second group, who would lead the way with 11 points. Brackney finished with 8 and Cooper Smithson had 7, including a dunk.
It was a Whitehouse basket that enacted the sportsmanship rule with 3:59 to play.
Before it ended Colton Simmons hit a 3 and David Young scored for the second time in as many nights.
Each of the teams are finished until the second semester with the junior high boys set to play the final of a four game set at Charleston on January 5 and the senior high teams hosting Charleston the next night.
BEARCATS HANG ON TO WIN 3A-4 OPENER OVER COSSATOT RIVER
