An ugly win is still a win in East Ridge boys’ coach Bill Goddard’s book. In a game where there were more turnovers than field goals his Pioneers played just a bit more on the pretty side than the Bucs of Boyd Buchanan in the second game of the evening at Chattanooga Christian School.
In the boys’ opener of the inaugural Thanksgiving Tournament, the Pioneers defeated the Bucs by a score of 46-31. For Boyd Buchanan, playing shorthanded due to some injuries, it started out on a wrong note and never got better.
A mistake on the jersey number of a Buc player allowed East Ridge to sink a free throw off an administrative foul for a 1-0 lead before the teams took the floor. East Ridge rushed out to a 13-6 lead at the end of the first period and the closest Boyd Buchanan could get was four points the rest of the way. Both teams were guilty over and over of poor passing and their mistakes stung them repeatedly. Boyd’s miscues were multiplied by an at times swarming, pressing defense by the Pioneers.
The Buccaneers moved to a zone defense at the half and that seemed to hold the Pioneers at bay for a while. However once East Ridge (2-1) figured it out towards the middle of the fourth quarter they again applied a constrictor-like defense and forged ahead before finally winning by 15.
When asked about his teams’ play, Coach Goddard responded, “We’re a team still trying to find our cohesiveness and haven’t shot well the last two games. It may be a confidence thing – related to last night’s loss at Rhea County. We do have some guys that can shoot the ball. Also, I don’t want to take anything away from Boyd; they played hard even though they were shorthanded.”
The Pioneers’ Shannon Brown led all scorers with 14 points with help from Dominique King with 10. Boyd’s Zach Allen finished with nine to lead the Bucs.
Boyd plays again on Friday with the girls tipping off against host CCS at 3:30 p.m. and the boys at 5:00. The East Ridge girls play Hamilton Heights Christian Academy at 6:30 and the Pioneer boys end the day’s play against Hamilton at 8:00 p.m.
On Saturday Hamilton Heights opens play against the girls of Boyd Buchanan with the boys following at 5. The CCS girls and boys end the tourney with East Ridge at 6:30 and 8 respectively.
Score at half: Boyd Buchanan-18; East Ridge – 22
Score by Quarter:
Boyd Buchanan 6-12-8-5 31
East Ridge 13-9-9-15 46
(Email Dennis Norwood @ ladyvols56@att.net)