County rivalry was at its best on Saturday night as the Alexander Cougars played host to the New Manchester Jaguars. The Lady Cougars won the first game 52-28. The AHS boys took the second game, 64-58.

The girls kicked off the night's action, as the Lady Cougars started the night off strong. Early key rebounds and few missed shots gave Alexander the edge early and a 21-10 lead to end the first.

The Lady Jags came out with strong defense to start the second, holding Alexander to no points for their first few drives. In a low scoring second, the Lady Cougars rebounded and kept a 29-18 lead into the half.

In the third, stellar defense from Alexander held New Manchester to just one point. With the Lady Cougars adding ten baskets to their total, they went into the final quarter with a 39-19 hold on the game.

The fourth found the Lady Jags looking to close the gap, but the Lady Cougars were just too strong to allow them a chance at a comeback and held on to a 52-28 win.

"I am just so proud of our girls tonight and they all played so great", said Alexander head coach Marcy Camp. "I asked them to correct some things on the court and they did."

Molly Brown led the Lady Cougars with 18 points and Claudia Hester backed her up with 15.

Leading the Lady Jags, Deesha Brefford had eight points and Alysia Harris earned six.

In the night's second match, it was the boys taking the court in a fast paced contest.

Both teams started their attack early and often, especially from the three-point line, but it was New Manchester that cut through with an early 18-13 lead.

Keeping the pace high, the second quarter found both teams battling fiercely to go into the half with the upper hand. Defensively, both teams kept each other in check, but it was the Jags holding steady and up 34-28.

The third stayed tight as Alexander mounted on a comeback run, jumping the Jags with a tough offensive attack. Holding steady, New Manchester kept the Cougars within reach, but this time Alexander found a 47-45 advantage into the fourth.

Both teams had a shot at the win and played with extreme intensity until the final seconds of the game. But, the Cougars were able to mount off of their slight advantage to hang on to a 64-58 win at home.

"I'm excited that we came out in the second half and played with a lot of energy", said Alexander head coach Jason Slate. "We didn't have that in the first half, but decided at halftime we had to change that to beat New Manchester."

Mikell Lands led the Cougars with 15 points scored. For the Jags, it was Ryan Edwards putting up a solid 21.