Cougars pull away from Govs

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Updated: March 9, 2012 8:20AM

MUNSTER — It’s been a tough year for West Side coach Rod Fisher.

Sure, his team defeated Morton in the opening game of the Class 4A Sectional Tuesday night, 48-26, but the Cougars’ 17th win didn’t exactly come easy.

Morton trailed by one point with a minute left in the first half and was down only 23-18 at halftime. It appeared an upset was brewing.

“I basically said the season’s going to be over...’’ Fisher admitted.

While the Cougars (17-4) eventually put some distance between the Governors (7-14) and themselves, it was just another chapter for Fisher’s book about this team doing things the hard way.

“They haven’t listened all year,’’ he said. “The best thing about this year is that it will be over, and then they’ll be sophomores and not freshmen. This is the roughest season I’ve ever went through. My first year at Wirt wasn’t even this hard. It’s a lack of discipline, a lack of experience (only one player in junior Mariah Hopkins) and no vocal leadership.’’

Freshman guard Ashley Danzy scored seven of her game-high 13 points in the third quarter to help the Cougars take a 37-24 lead entering the final quarter.

Another freshman, point guard Amari Ferguson, scored 11 points.

The Governors stayed close for a half, because of West Side’s failure to get the ball into the middle.

“In order for us to be successful, it all starts with getting the ball in the middle,’’ Fisher said. “If we do that, we can create. The whole idea is to get the ball in the paint and try to break down the defense.’’

Morton freshman Tatyana Skinner scored eight of her 10 points in the first half, including six in the second period, and junior Keonna Baldwin had all eight of her points in the first half, keeping the Governors in the hunt for the upset.

“This is the way we’ve been going all year — we play with some teams and then we struggle,’’ Morton coach Tom Haluska said. “I’m proud of the girls and how hard they’ve worked. All year we’ve been improving. It’s hard, but it’s fun. I’m looking forward to next year with this team. It’s a good group of kids.’’