It hasn’t been the best of starts to basketball season for the CSAS Patriots as they had lost three of their first four games, but they took a step in the right direction with a big win at Hixson Monday night.
Patriot head coach Zach Dragoo talked specifically about excessive turnovers in those earlier games and he had high hopes of greatly reducing those numbers against the Wildcats.
He didn’t know a specific number once the game ended, but he was sure it was substantially less as the Patriots played well on both ends of the court as they totally dominated Hixson to the tune of an 81-28 final score.
“This was definitely a step in the right direction as this was the best we’ve played on both ends so far this season,” Dragoo said after a brief post-game chat with his guys.
“We didn’t turn it over as much and I thought we did a nice job of sharing the ball on offense. And for the first time, we communicated on defense and that made a huge difference. We haven’t arrived by any stretch, but we showed tonight just what we’re capable of doing when we do things the right way.
“It seemed like everything clicked tonight as we followed the game plan. We just have to keep getting better as the season goes on, but I really liked what I saw tonight,” he concluded with a smile.
The Patriots have thrived on intense defensive pressure and a wide-open running offense that takes – and makes – a lot of layups, usually as a result of turnovers resulting from that defensive pressure.
That was the case on Monday as CSAS had three layups in their first three possessions and raced to a 24-0 lead before the Wildcats scored their first point.
Ron Suttles sank two of three free throws with 2:49 left in the opening stanza to cut the lead to 24-2, but the Wildcats could only add two more free throws as the difference was 30-4 when the first quarter ended.
Dontez Carter sank a short bank shot to begin the second quarter and that turned out to be the only field goal Hixson made in the first two quarters as the lead was 48-11 at intermission.
The third quarter was the most productive for the Wildcats as they scored 16 points during that span, but a free throw from Blaine Chubb and a layup from Jace Bone just ahead of the buzzer put the Patriots up 66-27 when the quarter ended, putting the Mercy Rule into effect for the final eight minutes.
C.C. Smith scored 14 points as CSAS had four players in double figures. Donathan Wheeler was next with 13 while Chris McDonald and Alex Lowry added 11 and 10 points, respectively.
Dontez Carter scored nine points to lead Hixson while Trey Carter was next with eight.
CSAS also had an unofficial 25-19 rebounding edge as Lowry snagged eight for the Patriots while Kyrion King had five for Hixson.
HIXSON GIRLS 31, CSAS 26: The Lady Wildcats built a 17-9 lead in the first half and appeared to be well on their way to their first win of the season before the Lady Patriots made a run and had a 21-20 lead when the third quarter ended.
The Lady Patriots were their own worst enemy in that fourth quarter as they sank just eight of 20 free throws in that quarter alone.
Beth Moore saved the day for Hixson as she scored seven of her nine points in the last eight minutes.
While Moore topped Hixson with her nine points, Eddy Brown was next with eight, including a big three-point play with 2:08 to play that extended a 27-26 Hixson lead to 30-26. Andrea Collier added seven points for the winners.
Zeva Phillips was the leading scorer for CSAS with a dozen points, including 10 free throws.
GIRLS SUMMARY
CSAS 2 7 12 10 -- 31
HIXSON 6 11 3 16 -- 36
CSAS (31) – Frye 4, Whiteside 2, Mitchell 3, Zeva Phillips 12, Sanders 2, Williams 3, Moore 5.
HIXSON (36) – K. Collier, A. Collier 7, Plank 5, Swanson, Lee, Douglass 5, White, Brown 8, Quarles, Moore 9, Beach 2, Kaylor.
3-Point Goals: CSAS 1 (Moore); Hixson 2 (A. Collier, Douglass).
BOYS SUMMARY
CSAS 30 18 18 15 -- 81
HIXSON 4 7 16 1 -- 28
CSAS (81) – Alex Lowry 10, Donathan Wheeler 13, Hetrick 6, Parris, Foster, C. C. Smith 14, Chris McDonald 11, Wright, Moss 6, Chubb 2, Kitchens 7, Bone 6, Hall 6.
HIXSON (28) – T. Carter 8, Suttles 2, Holmes, Tutt 6, D. Carter 9, Nash, Stewart, Ry. Burney 2, King 1, Jackson, Newcomb, Ri. Burney.
3-Point Goals: CSAS 3 (Lowry, McDonald, Kitchens); Hixson 2 (Tutt 2).
(Email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@gmail.com)