Fort Frye's Ethan Wagner (14) contests a shot by Frontier's Avery Powell during Tuesday's game at Hank Morus Gym. (Photo by Mike Morrison)

NEW MATAMORAS — In his pre-game interview with WJAW’s Keith Wharton, Fort Frye head coach Eric Henniger mentioned that his team had been waiting for a break-out kind of game from senior Chatum Courson as they prepared to renew an old rivalry with the Frontier Cougars at Hank Morus Gymnasium Tuesday night.

Right on cue, Courson delivered and then some as he poured in 31 points to lead the Cadets to a 53-43 win to remain perfect in the season’s first four games.

Courson scored 16 points in the opening half as the Cadets built a 15-point lead and then after the Cougars made a valiant second half comeback, he put the game away by converting six consecutive free throws in the closing minute of the game.

“He has been very unselfish these first few games and it was good to see the ball finally go through the hoop for him,” said Henniger of his senior guard. “He was huge for us tonight.”

Courson’s night got off to a great start as he scored eight points in the first quarter including a buzzer-beating three-pointer from just inside the half-court line to give the Cadets a 14-6 lead.

Fort Frye's Kainan Bradford (24) handles the ball as Frontier's Jacob Bowersock defends during Tuesday's game at Hank Morus Gym. (Photo by Mike Morrison)

The Cadet senior added eight more including another three in the closing seconds of the first half as Fort Frye carried a commanding 28-13 lead into the break.

Frontier struggled to get the ball up the court as the Cadets pressed for much of the first half forcing the Cougars into 10 turnovers.

A quick start to the second half would be a key for the Cougars if they had any chance of getting back in the ball game and they did just by going on a 17-4 run that cut the Cadet lead to just two.

Senior Avery Powell accounted for 10 of those points while junior Jacob Bowersock scored the other seven.

“The kids could have quit after halftime but Coach (Scott) Murphy got them going and we made it a game,” said Frontier head coach Roger Kirkpatrick. “We had them on the ropes and if we would have hit one or two open shots that we had who knows what might have happened.”

Courson put an end to a 10-0 Cougar run by coming up with a steal and a finish at the other end to increase the Cadet lead back to four heading to the final quarter.

A slashing drive to the bucket for two by Bowersock quickly closed the lead back to two before the Cadets answered with a 6-0 run to push the lead back to eight.

A two-pointer by Grady Hesson and a pair of free throws apiece by Courson and Kainan Bradford accounted for the Cadets points in the run.

Minutes later yet another three by Courson pushed the lead back to nine before the Cougars came clawing right back thanks to five straight points by Powell which closed the lead back to four with three and a half minutes to play.

After Courson and sophomore Caden Henniger both made a pair of free throws the Cougars made one last charge with two-pointers from Bowersock and Powell to once again close to within four with a little over a minute to play but Courson made all six of his free throws attempts in the closing minute to seal the deal for the Cadets.

Fort Frye made all 14 of their free throws in the fourth quarter and made 16-of-19 in the game.

“We’ve got some guys that can shoot this year for sure,”said Henniger. “It was nice to see them in a close game make so many clutch free throws.”

Courson’s night included 5-of-6 from behind the arc and a perfect 10-for-10 at the charity stripe.

Powell and Bowersock accounted for all but four of the Cadets’ points with 24 and 15 points respectively.

Frontier made just one-of-16 shots from behind the arc which may have led to their demise more than anything else.

“We were taking good shots and we had the right kids taking them. We just couldn’t get anything to fall,” said Kirkpatrick. “We played physical and they played physical. They just made the shots when they needed to.”

Bradford added eight points for the Cadets who will look to stretch their season-opening winning streak to five Monday when they host Belpre.

“Our guys really deserve to get off to a start like this after the last two or three years we have had,” said Henniger. “They have worked so hard to get to this point and they are really starting to build some confidence.”

Frontier slipped to 3-1 with the loss and will travel to River on Friday for the first of three games they will play in four days before Christmas.

“We will get back in the gym tomorrow and get ready for these games we have coming up and see what we can do, “said Kirkpatrick, who was honored before the game by the Cougar crowd for his 33 years of serving as athletic director. “I’m proud of the kids and proud of their effort and one of these days the shots are going to fall for us.”