CCS's Kate Dirkse takes the ball to the hoop.
photo by Greg Davick
The Chattanooga Christian girls and boys basketball teams had a big night Friday as they hosted district rival Grundy County.
The boys team sealed the top seed going into the district 7-AA tournament with a comfortable 73-39 over the visiting Jackets.
The Lady Chargers avoided a 7-AA tournament opener on the road with a 69-65 comeback win over the Lady Yellow Jackets.
The Chargers were led by John and Ryan Rhodes who had 18 and 17 points respectively. CCS jumped out to a 25-7 first quarter lead led by junior Ryan Rhodes who had 15 of his 17 points in the first quarter. The game was never in question after the first quarter.
CCS head coach David Conrady, in his second season as head coach, was proud of how his team finished the regular season but ready to start the next chapter.
"We won our 20th game, won the regular season, were undefeated at home and got the top seed going into the tournament," Conrady said. "Those are all things we didn't really talk about to start the season but I am proud of our guys. Now it is a new season. That book is closed and now we move on to tournament play."
The Chargers were 7-1 in the district this year with the only loss coming at Notre Dame. CCS earned the top seed with a point differential tie breaker with the Irish.
CCS junior Ryan Rhodes was 13 points short of his 1,000 point and it didn't take long for him to eclipse that mark. Rhodes was five of six from long range in the first quarter. Conrady presented Rhodes with a 1,000 point ball after scoring his 13th point.
"Ryan is a very hard worker," Conrady said of his sharp shooting junior. " He comes in early and shoots on the gun and when we don't have practice he is on the gun. That doesn't come with luck but a lot of work."
CCS will not play until next Friday. Sequatchie and Grundy County will meet in a play-in game on Tuesday. Bledsoe County and Signal also have a play-in game on Tuesday.
Tuesday's winners will face CCS and Notre Dame in the semifinals on Friday at Notre Dame.
CCS GIRLS 69 GRUNDY COUNTY 65
Grundy County hit 11 three - pointers and led by four late in the game but the Lady Chargers never quit and scored the final eight points to win the key district match up.
With the win, CCS will host a play-in game with Notre Dame on Monday. Grundy County will host Bledsoe County. Signal Mountain is the top seed and Sequatchie is the second seed.
Kate Dirkse led the Lady Chargers with 24 points. CCS was down 65-61 with a minute left in the game. 8th grader Madison Blevins hit a three-pointer to pull the Lady Chargers within one. Freshman Katie Davick scored the go ahead points with just under a minute left in the game.
Kate Dirkse, Addie Henry and Annika Fischer each scored a free throw in the final minute to secure the 69-65 win.
"We felt like if they kept doing what they were doing we would be fine," CCS head coach Laura Cottrell said. "We came out flat in second half and Grundy came out on fire. We felt like we were creating opportunities on offense but we knew we had to make stops. Our focus was on defense."
Grundy started the second half with three-three pointers and led much of the half. The visitors out scored CCS 20-11 in the third quarter.
Grundy's Mikayla Williams led all scorers with 30 points including six-three pointers.
Girls Scoring Summary
CCS 25 18 11 17 - 69
Grundy 17 15 20 13 - 65
CCS (69) Kate Dirkse 24, Henry 17, Fischer 13, Pruitt 7, Blevins 6, Davick 2
Grundy (65) Mikayla Williams 30, Nunley 11, Bosio 10, Burrows 7, Eads 4, Northcutt 3
3 pointers: Grundy 11 (Williams 6, Nunley 3, Burrows 1, Northcutt 1); CCS 3 (Blevins 2, Pruitt 1)
Boys Scoring Summary
CCS 25 17 16 15 - 73
Grundy 7 8 18 6 - 39
CCS (73) Ryan Rhodes 17, John Rhodes 18, Moore 10, Davenport 7, Patton 8, Corbett 6, Stimart 4, Vincent 2, Plating 2, Baker 2
Grundy County (39) Trey Hampton 11, Blaine Harris 11, Cooper 8, Eslinger 4, Adkins 3, Goins 1, Nance 1
3 pointers: CCS 9 (R. Rhodes 5, J. Rhodes 3, Davenport 1); Grundy 4 (Hampton 3, Adkins 1)