For the second time in three games this season, the McMinn County Cherokees took control and basically ran roughshod over the Cleveland Blue Raiders. The first win by The Tribe was a 22-point victory in Athens. Tuesday's 13-point win was on the biggest stage of the season so far as McMinn captured the District 5-4A championship with a 67-54 win.
Both teams will return to the court at home Saturday night at 7 p.m., in the first round of the Region 3-4A tournament. McMinn Co. will host Shelbyville, while Coffee Co. travels to meet the Blue Raiders.
Jasen Brooks led the Blue Raiders (21-8) with 22 points while Judah Sault reached double figures with 13 and Alex Hyder added 10.
“I told our guys I want them to soak all this in. They were just chomping us,” said Blue Raiders head coach Reggie Tucker. “It wasn't anything they did out of character. They didn't re-invent the wheel, they ran the same stuff they've been running all year. The beat us for every 50/50 ball and they were tougher than us in the paint.”
McMinn's Hayden Smith led The Tribe (23-7) with 15 points followed by Reese Frazier with 13, Davian Evans with 11 and Tucker Monroe with 10.
The night started on an even playing field with the Cherokees taking a 9-8 lead into the second quarter. Sault and Hyder gave the Raiders their second lead of the night with back-to-back 1-pointers. The Cherokees came back with a 10-0 run that put McMinn up 24-17 and closed out the first half with a 26-21 lead.
The battle was on offensively in the third quarter with both teams looking to gain control. The advantage went to the Cherokees who, after the Blue Raiders pulled to within 36-33 with just over three minutes left in the quarter, powered bck to open a 10-point gap with 1:16 left in the third. Hyder and Brooks closed out the quarter for Cleveland with a 3 and 2-pointer, but the Raiders trailed 50-43 at the buzzer.
“From a defensive standpoint we take pride in defending, we take pride in our matchups. Tonight we just didn't do that,” said Tucker.
The Raiders could get no closer than eight points in the final eight minutes and the Cherokees spread the court beginning with just over three minutes left in the game to put a lock on the win.
“Those guys, they wanted it more. You could tell they wanted it more. They were tougher than us tonight,” said Tucker.
“We're going to take off Wednesday and get back in the lab Thursday and Friday. I don't know who we play, I don't care. But, Whoever comes to this things Saturday, they'd better be ready.”
Bears 61, Mustangs 54: Coaches say basketball is a game of streaks and nowhere was it more evident than the District 5-4A consolation game between Bradley Central and Walker Valley Saturday.
The Mustangs came out firing behind the hot shooting of Cash Coates who tossed in 10 first quarter points and ended with a game-high 27. Hobert Brabson ended with 12 for Walker Valley.
But, It was the Bears (20-6) who picked up the torch in the third quarter and blasted in 18 while holding the Mustangs (19-11) to just six points. From there Walker valley was never able to make up the difference as Bradley matched the Mustangs point-for-point in the final eight minutes to lock up the win.
“The first half we played too slow. We let Cash (Coates) get into a rhythm and he was hitting shots. He had 16 at halftime,” said Bears head coach Zach Carpenter. “I thought we did a nice job at halftime making adjustments. Our defensive intensity stepped it up and got some turnovers and we were able to get some easy buckets. That's a credit to these guys as to how hard they play. We let defense turn into offense for us.”
Dee Reid led the Bears with 15 point followed by Ramireon Taylor with 11 and Kaleb martin with 10.
Bradley was good for 43% (22-51) for the game while the Mustangs hit on 44% of their shots for 44.7%.
Rebounds were almost equal with the Mustangs grabbing 26 boards to the Bears' 25.
From the free-throw line the Mustangs were good on 11 of 13 shots while the Bears dropped in 14 of 16.
Walker Valley did well from behind the 3-point arc finding the mark 47% of the time (8-17). The Bears were 3 of 13 for 23%.
The Mustangs hurt themselves with turnovers losing the ball 19 times in several critical situations leading to Bradley points. The Bears had just seven giveaways on the night.
“I just don't think we showed up,” said Mustangs coach Will Campbell. “I thought Bradley did a good job of bringing pressure. I thought that was a good move on his(Carpenter's) part. We didn't do a good job of responding to it.”
“I thought it was a total team effort. Anybody who got in the game, when they stepped onto the court they contributed. That's a testament to the guys' hard work and how close we're getting together as a team.”
Both teams play again Saturday on the road in the first game of the Region 3-4A tournament. The Bears will go against Franklin County while the Mustangs travel to Warren County. Both games tipoff at 7 p.m., CSC.
“We didn't pay well enough to win the ballgame. We didn't make adjustments when we needed to,” said a disappointed Campbell. “We didn't do a good enough job as a coaching staff to help our guys ad put them in a position to be successful. That's on me. I'll take that one. I need to do a better job moving forward of giving us the opportunity to be successful. I don't think I did a good job of that tonight.”
All Tournament Team: MVP; Hayden Smith — McMinn Couunty; Melo Chapman — Ooltewah; Jaylen Taylor — Rhea County; Cash Coates, Caleb Sausville, —Walker Valley; Dee Reid, Ramireon Taylor — Bradley Central; Davion Evans, Caden Hester, Tucker Monroe McMinn County; Jasen Brooks, Judah Sault, Alex Hyder — Cleveland.
Championship Summary
MCMINN CO. 9 19 22 17 — 67
CLEVELAND 8 13 22 11 — 54
MCMINN CO. (67) — Hayden Smith 15, Reese Frazier 13, Davian Evans 11, Tucker Monroe 10, Peak 7, Hester 9, Benton 2.
CLEVELAND (54) — Jasen Brooks 22, Judah Sault 13, Alex Hyder 10, Gober, Thomas 2, Adams, Leeper 7, McLeskey.
3-point goals: McMinn County 5 (Monroe 2, Smith, Peak, Hester); Cleveland 3 (Hyder 2, Leeper).
Records: McMinn County 23-7; Cleveland 21-8.
Consolation Summary
WALKER VALLEY 13 11 6 23 — 53
BRADLEY CENTRAL 11 12 18 20 — 61
WALKER VALLEY (53) — Cash Coates 27, Hobert Brabson 12, Barber 4 , Sausville 5, B. Campbell 3, G. Campbell, Smith 2.
BRADLEY CENTRAL (61) — DeeReid 15, Ramireon Taylor 11, Kaleb Martin 10, Botts 8, Carpenter 4, Ary 4, McDaniel 7, Kirkpatrick 2, Brownlow.
3-point goals: Walker Valley 8 (Coates 3, Brabson 2, Barber, Barber, Sausville, B. Campbell.
Records: Walker Valley 19-11; Bradley Central 20-6.
(Email Richard Roberts at richardvol55@yahoo.com)