LAFAYETTE – For nearly three quarters, Cox appeared finished, destined to end one game short of destiny.

But sometimes, the good teams like things harder than they should be, and Monday night, in Lafayette’s Cajundome, the Cougars proved once more they’re the team to beat in Class 4A.

Cox, down 17 points with a minute to play in the third quarter, went on a 30-6 run to take the lead, and then held off a late Carroll rally to win 62-59 and move into the Class 4A finals against O. Perry Walker on Friday at 8 p.m.

“Oh boy, that’s hard to explain,” Cox coach Tyron Mouzon said. “That was the most gutsiest effort I’ve seen from my team in the four years I’ve been coaching them. They realized the urgency of it. We dug ourselves a huge, huge hole. I was doubting it there for a second.”

Most folks would feel some pain for Carroll. Not Cox’s Calvin Thompson.

“Can I imaging it?” Thompson said, laughing. “Three years we were that team. I don’t want to sound mean, but I’m kind of glad that somebody else gets the feeling and not us.”

Chants of overrated came way too early from the Carroll fan-base (they started early in the first quarter), and they were geared at not only Cox, but Georgetown signee Greg Monroe.

And when the game finished, Carroll’s fans weren’t. A scrum started behind Cox’s bench after the final buzzer, and Mouzon and his coaching staff had to pull his players away from the melee.

From the beginning, the pressure was on Cox. But when you’ve got Monroe on your team, as well as a long and athletic supporting cast, anything is imaginable.

Monroe finished with 19 points, 12 of which came in the fourth quarter, and 10 rebounds.

“Of course, I’m used to it now,” Monroe said of the “overrated” chants. “I’m not sure if they were saying it in the fourth quarter.”

However, it was a freshman who really gave Cox the momentum. Brockton Bush came off the bench and scored 10 fourth-quarter points and made one important steal in the comeback.

“Brockton Bush came in and gave us a huge spark,” Mouzon said. “He hit a huge 3, made a steal. He helped turn the tempo of the game.”

Said Carroll head coach Chris Oney, “I scouted them to a T. I started scouting them last April. He was a freshman. I told my guys to back down on him and to (go to) Greg. I thought if he shot, it was a good shot for us.”

Oney beat himself up after the game, taking complete blame for what is likely one of the biggest breakdowns this season.

It all started after Carroll’s Terrance Henry threw down an emphatic dunk. Monroe converted a layup. Then, to begin the fourth quarter, Monroe blocked Carroll’s Terrance Henry, who still finished with 18 points and 12 boards.

After the teams traded missed shots, Monroe made a layup and the ensuing foul shot, and suddenly, the game was within 10. Monroe then came up with a steal and the ball eventually got into Taj Givens’ hands. After a foul, Givens hit two free throws, and Carroll’s lead was down to 49-42.

A Henry layup pushed the lad to 10, but Bush answered with a 3. Henry again made a layup, and then Bush turned the ball over with a walk. Henry’s third straight layup gave Carroll a 53-42

It appeared the Bulldogs had withstood Cox’s rally. The relief was brief. Monroe answered with a layup, then Carroll turned the ball over. Monroe followed that with a turnaround jumper and Cox found itself down only 53-46.

Carroll again threw the ball away, and again Cox made it pay, this time on a Bush trey. Another Carroll turnover followed, and another Bush shot came, this time on a layup, and this time making it a one basket game.

After another Carroll turnover – its fourth in a row – Malcolm Taylor was called for an intentional foul on Monroe, and the complexion of the game had completed its reversal.

Monroe made only one of the two free throws, but with Cox retaining possession, Justin Fairman gave the Cougars a 54-53 lead, their first since midway through the second quarter.

“That’s when the momentum shifter there,” Monroe said.

The run wasn’t done.

A Monroe layup and then a Tony Locure jumper finished off the 30-6 run that all but ended the game, giving Cox a 60-53 lead with 1:17 remaining.

Carroll cut the lead to 62-59 with fewer than 30 seconds remaining, but two desperation 3’s fell harmlessly to the ground, and Cox’s players sprinted to the bench to celebrate the win.

“My kids played well enough to win, but I feel like I let them down,” Oney said. “I don’t think I coached well enough to win. I’m willing to accept full responsibility.”

He added, “Part of me just died.”