Crest Ridge made the most of their trip to Concordia on Friday, Jan. 3 as the visitors from Johnson County swept past their hosts to mark the start of I-70 Conference action for the 2025 basketball season.

In a pair of contests which followed much the same script and were heard on KMMO-FM, the Cougar boys wrapped up the evening by defeating Concordia, 58-47. That came in the aftermath of the 59-51 decision which Crest Ridge’s girls claimed over the Lady Orioles in the opening broadcast. In both instances, Crest Ridge played well early, then held off a second-half run by Concordia before regrouping to win their contest by a fairly comfortable margin.

Cougars Benefit From A Late OutburstRiding the back of junior Wes Taylor, the Cougar boys were ahead 13-11 after one period prior to increasing their margin to 30-19 at intermission. Taylor had 14 points during the first two periods to lead the team’s charge into the halftime break.

Down 41-32 going into the final eight minutes, the Orioles suddenly got a spark from Aaron Brown and Maddox Inman as they keyed a 10-1 outburst which enabled Concordia to tie the score at 42 midway through the last period. Here however, Wes Taylor went back to work as he had a couple of big baskets down the stretch allowing the Cougars to
close out the game with a 16-5 run as they won going away, 58-47.

Taylor paced all scorers with a 26-point effort as Crest Ridge won for the eighth time in their last nine outings, improving to 9-3 overall. Meanwhile, Aaron Brown came off the bench to lead Concordia with a 12-point performance while Maddox Inman tallied 11 for an Oriole squad that dropped to 4-5 on the year.

Lady Cougars Rally LateEarlier in the evening, the Crest Ridge girls beat the Lady Orioles in come from behind fashion for the second time this season, locking up the victory during the last three minutes of play.

The Lady Cougars shot well at the outset, jumping out to a 15-5 lead barely four minutes into the game which preceded them holding a 21-11 advantage after one quarter. Crest Ridge extended that margin to 27-13 early in the second period before Concordia began to come back. The Lady Orioles trimmed the deficit to 39-35 after three quarters and then actually led, 48-44 with less then five minutes to go before the numerous ball-handling mistakes they made finally caught up with them. Utilizing the numerous seniors and substantial depth they have at their disposal, Crest Ridge went on a 15-3 run down the stretch to claim a 59-51 victory for themselves.

Knocking down eight threes along the way, the Lady Cougars now boast a sparkling 9-1 record for the season. They had three girls in double figures as Brilynn Fleming tossed in five trifectas and tallied 18 points to lead all scorers. Meanwhile, Kayley Martin, Gracyn Van Wey and Savannah Bramwell added 14, 10 and nine points for the winners. Falling to 5-3 on the year, Concordia’s girls were paced by Ava Mueller’s 17 points with Olivia Hemme scoring 15. Chipping in with nine and eight points for the Lady Orioles in a losing effort were Kynleigh Abney and Kaitlyn Maggert.