The Cope Cougars took sole possession of the Bossier Parish middle school eighth-grade boys basketball district lead with a hard-fought 40-37 victory over the Greenacres Mustangs on Thursday at Greenacres.
Devin Bilbo poured in 15 points to lead the Cougars. Semaj Poole added eight, Josh Norris chipped in with seven and Starwasky Hampton had five.
Deveon Carley had a big game for the Mustangs with 19 points. Jyrell McClendon added six.
Cope and Greenacres were evenly matched this season. The Cougars won the first game 29-28 in overtime.
Cope improved to 7-1 with two games to play. Greenacres dropped to 6-2.
Greenacres won the seventh-grade game 38-28.
Matthew Scripture led the Mustangs with 12 points, including three 3-pointers. Keon Manning added 11. Gavin Ashworth and Dashon Collins scored six each.
Marquis Harris paced the Cougars with 13 points. Joseph Manning added eight.
Also Thursday, the Elm Grove Eagles clinched the seventh-grade championship with a 35-15 victory over Rusheon at Elm Grove.
Elm Grove improved to 8-0. The Eagles have a three-game lead over Cope with two to play.
James Jordan led Elm Grove with with 13 points. Arnett Hines had six points, four rebounds, five steals and two assists.
Michael Feaster led the Eagles with nine rebounds. He also had four points, three steals and two assists.
Rusheon won the eighth-grade game 39-28.
Gabe Larry paced Elm Grove with 13 points. He also had four steals.
Jalun Reed had seven points and three assists. Brady Norcross scored five points. He also had four rebounds and two steals.
The Benton Tigers swept the Haughton Bucs, winning a tight eighth-grade game 32-29 and the seventh-grade game 45-31.
Ashur Hall led the Benton eighth-grade squad with 11 points. Owen Wainscott added eight. Todd Dominick hit a 3-pointer late to give the Tigers the lead.
Jack Edwards led Haughton with eight points. Jake St. Andre chipped in with five.
Jalen Taylor led a balanced Benton seventh-grade attack with 13 points. Evan Cole added nine, Davis Sellers eight and Caleb Cassidy seven.
Haughton also had balanced scoring. Zion Nelson led the Bucs with six. Toddriq Sweeney, JJ Dudley and DJ Gladney all scored five. Coleman Stafford grabbed five rebounds.
In Tuesday’s seventh-grade action, Elm Grove defeated Cope 44-22, Benton topped Greenacres 37-29 and Haughton got past Rusheon 25-20.
In eighth-grade games, Cope edged Elm Grove 35-32, Greenacres defeated Benton and Rusheon nipped Haughton 50-48.
At Cope, the Cougars got off to a great start and then held off an Eagles rally in the eighth-grade game.
Starwasky Hampton and Devin Bilbo scored 10 points each to lead Cope.
Gabe Larry paced Elm Grove with 10 points and 10 rebounds. He also had two blocks. Zane Elmore also tossed in 10 points. Bryce Roberts added five.
James Jordan had 14 points, eight rebounds and three steals for the victorious Elm Grove seventh-grade squad.
Michael Feaster also had a good all-around game with 11 points, four rebounds, three steals and two assists. Ja’Monte Gordon scored nine points and had two assists.
Kendall Parker topped Cope with six points.
At Benton, Carley led Greenacres to the eighth-grade win with 12 points. Jacob Smith added six.
Alex Garcia, Devin Brooks, Jordan Boyd and McClendon all scored four.
Ashworth topped the Greenacres seventh-grde team with eight points. Manning added six and Jyson Thomas five.
At Rusheon, Coleman Stafford grabbed 10 rebounds and scored five points for the victorious Haughton seventh-grade squad. DJ Gladney scored five points and had seven rebounds.
Jake St. Andre pumped in 17 points for the Haughton eighth-grade team. Peyton Stovall added 10.
NOTE: The above report is based on information received from coaches. It will be updated if more information is received.
— Russell Hedges, rhedges@bossierpress.com
