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The Grace Christian Academy Cougars (1-4) fell to the Sherwood Christian Academy Eagles (4-2) 48-58. The Cougars gained the lead in the first half but were unable to keep it down the stretch.

The Cougars had a 42-40 lead going into the fourth quarter. The quarter was back and forth, seeing multiple lead changes and scoring runs from both teams. After battling for seven of the eight minutes in the quarter, Sherwood put the game on ice. 

Eagles’ guard Joshua Kendrick hit a 3-pointer with a minute left to put Sherwood up 53-48. The game turned into a foul fest after that shot, and Sherwood didn’t let the lead up.

“Right now, we’ve got a problem with stamina,” said Cougars’ Head Coach Travis Harrison. “Mental and physical when it comes to finishing games… I’m not glad about the result, but I’m thankful for the opportunity to test that early so that we’re ready down the stretch.

Junior guard Owen Earnest led the team in scoring with 14 points in the loss. Harrison said he is going to work on getting the team past Monday night’s result as quickly as he can.

“I know my guys, they like to live in their head,” Harrison said. “The first thing I’m going to do tomorrow in practice is just get them running. Not as a punishment, but just to get them moving and to shake this one off.”

The Cougars travel to North Florida Christian School next. The away matchup tips off at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 19.