Needing a win over crosstown rival Wylie to avoid its fourth loss in five games, the Cooper boys basketball team played about as well as it could for 26 of the 32 minutes Tuesday. But after going up 45-24 with about 5:40 remaining in the game, the Cougars had to stave off a furious Bulldog rally to get out of Wylie’s gym with a 53-48 victory.

Cooper, which still led by 18 with 2:19 to play, saw its advantage trimmed to four (52-48) with just over five seconds remaining. But the Coogs did just enough from the free-throw line in the fourth quarter to avoid collapse and pull out an important District 2-6A win.