Cougars take on 4A AC Reynolds. And after playing each other in some very close contest over the past few years, the Mountain Heritage and AC Reynolds varsity boys basketball teams squared off twice within less three days this past week.
The Cougars and Rockets came away with drastically different results on their home courts in Burnsville and Arden.
On Monday night at The Pit, the Cougars constructed a 12 point lead midpoint of the second quarter behind the inside play of Will Buckner (12 first half points) and the ball handling skills of Grant Buckner (6 points).
Heritage led 36-25 at the break after jumping to a 20-15 lead after the first eight minute session.
The Rockets put themselves behind the 8 ball early on when three Reynolds starters picked up three quick personal fouls in the first quarter and had to watch much of the first half from the bench.
As a result the Cougars entered the double bonus at the foul line in the first quarter.
The big lead allowed Coach Hank Newson to substitute liberally with nine Cougar players seeing action in the first half.
With the big lead the Cougars spread the floor late in the third quarter and took only high percentage shots the rest of the way.
 While the Heritage offense was shooting layups and converting back door plays out of its spread offense, the defense kept up the pressure and did not allow the 4A Rockets a basket in the 4^th quarter until the one minute mark in the 62-37 Cougar win.
Will Buckner finished with 16 points to pace the Cougars while Tim Hensley added 12 and Avery Austin and Grant Buckner contributed 6 points apiece.
In a trip to Asheville on Friday night the Cougars were not a fortunate in the hostile environment at the Rockets gym where adjustments to the Reynolds game play were obviously made.
Reynolds double up the score on the Cougars in the first quarter of the non-conference game 18-9 and it was pretty much an uphill battle the rest of the way for the Cougars as the Rockets drubbed the visitors from Yancey County 69-46.
No Cougar registered double figures in scoring. The Reynolds defense shut down the Heritage inside game as guards Avery Austin and Tim Hensley led the team with 9 and 8  points respectively, while Cougar big men Will Buckner and Bob Taylor were held to 5 and 4 points respectively in the lopsided loss.
The Lady Cougars pushed their early season record to 3-0 with back to back convincing wins over the Lady Rockets from AC Reynolds last week.
After a tight first quarter in which the two non-conference teams missed some easy inside shots, the Lady Cougars used their defense to run away from the Lady Rockets.
Behind the three point shooting of Kaylon Johnson, defensive prowess of Nyssa Freeman  and the inside presence of Samm Chandler and Brianna Woody, Heritage out scored Reynolds 18-4 in the second quarter and then cruised the rest of the way for a 54-33 victory.
Johnson continued her strong performance from behind the three point line to lead the team in scoring with 16 points while Brianna Woody gathered her 13 points on a variety of shots on the outside and in the lane.  Samm Candler fought and scrapped on the inside for most of her 10 points while Nyssa Freeman added 9 points from the point.
In their trip to Asheville on Friday it was pretty much the same story for the Lady Cougars who jumped out on top early and were never challenged in a 55-38 win.
Heritage constructed an 18 point lead in the first half and then traded baskets with the Lady Rockets in the second to earn another win over a 4A opponent.
Samm Chandler scored 16 points and Brianna Woody added 14 to pace the Lady Cougars who also got good scoring from Destiny Elkins, with 8 points and Nyssa Freeman and Kaylon Johnson who chipped in six points apiece.
Heritage hoop teams will be on the road this week with games at Enka on Wednesday and at Asheville High on Friday. 
By David Grindstaff
david@wkyk.com / yanceysports.com