Rusty Howard Holds Off CCS In Season Opener, 48-41

McGary Says Hustlin' Tigers Have Lot To Work On

  • Tuesday, November 18, 2014
  • John Hunt

The Howard Hustlin' Tigers won their season opener at Henry Bowles Gymnasium on Tuesday night over neighbor Chattanooga Christian, but Howard coach Walter "Moose" McGary was anything but happy about what he witnessed.

"I've got a better basketball team than that, but we just need to learn that this is a team sport and that we'll play much better when we grasp that concept," he said after meeting with his team following the final horn.

As is the case with most teams at the beginning of the season, Howard played well in spots as did the Chargers.  But as expected, both missed a lot of easy opportunities and that's what had both coaches scratching their heads.

"This is such a young team and they're trying to learn a brand new system, but they played as hard as they could," said CCS first-year coach David Conrady after his team fell to 1-2 for the young season.

Ryan Rhodes sank a jumper from the wing with just over five minutes remaining in the first quarter to give CCS a 6-4 lead, but Howard went on a 13-0 run and had a 17-6 advantage before Ben Moore's drive along the baseline trimmed the gap to 17-8 when the first quarter ended.

A layup by Will Patton got the Chargers to within five points at 21-16 with 1:51 left before intermission, but a short bank shot by Thomas Robbins allowed Howard to take a seven-point lead into the dressing room at the break.

The Chargers got to within four points on two occasions in the second half, but they never regained the lead as Howard managed to stay ahead for the final two stanzas.

Patton converted a three-point play the old-fashioned way at the 4:11 mark of the third quarter to trim Howard's lead to 29-25 and a 3 by Rhodes at the start of the fourth quarter got the visitors within 32-28, but it never got any closer as the Hustlin' Tigers were able to withstand the CCS pressure.

Ironically, both teams had nine points in the third quarter and 16 in the fourth, so that run in the first quarter was basically the difference in the game.

"My guys just need to understand the game of basketball, but I can teach them a lot if they'll just listen," added McGary.

"We have a lot of mistakes that need fixing and we have a lot of room to improve, but we're Howard and we face pressure situations every time we play.  We just have to learn how to withstand it.  But it's just a matter of us doing what we're capable of doing.

"This is no slam against Chattanooga Christian, but we should have beaten them much worse than we did.  Those young men left this gym thinking that they can beat Howard. 

"Some of our kids dropped their heads and quit in the second half, so I'll be interested to see who comes to practice tomorrow without any excuses," the former Chattanooga Moc All-American concluded.

Conrady also has UTC connections as he spent several seasons as John Shulman's assistant. 

"We've just got to be smarter with the basketball and we have to do a better job of keeping the other team off the glass.  I knew that this would be a difficult challenge, but I was anxious to see how we'd respond to a much-faster pace.  For the most part, I liked what I saw," he added.

Sayyid Muhammed was the leader for Howard as he scored 11 points and finished with 14 rebounds as the hosts won the battle of the boards, 35-29.

LaDarius Brown and Terrance Byrd both finished with 10 points apiece for Howard with Byrd also snagging seven boards.

Rhodes was tops for CCS with a dozen points while Patton was also in double figures with 11

Rhodes had six rebounds for the Chargers while Coleman Dirkse, Amos Corbett and Patton all had five.

CCS GIRLS 63, HOWARD 41: The Lady Chargers had a scoring advantage in every quarter as they slowly pulled away for their third straight win without a loss.

Joanna Smith, Hannah Henry and Kate Dirkse all finished in double figures for CCS with 14, 13 and 12 points, respectively.

Venus Geiger was tops for Howard with 14 while Deyshala Rice was next with 13, including 11 in the fourth quarter.

GIRLS SUMMARY

CHATTANOOGA CHRISTIAN  11  15  15  22  --  63

HOWARD   5  9  8  19  --  41

CCS (63) -- Hughes, A. Henry 8, H. Henry 13, Dirkse 12, R. Farlett, S. Farlett 7, Pruitt 6, Smith 14, Stimart, Gadd, Fikkert, Royer 3.

HOWARD (41) -- Eberhardt, Geiger 14, Lane, Powell 2, Rice 13, Rollins 8, Smartt, Williams 2, Hubbard 2.

3-POINT GOALS: CCS 1 (S. Farlett), Howard 3 (Rice 3.)

BOYS SUMMARY

CHATTANOOGA CHRISTIAN 8  8  9  16  --  41

HOWARD   17  6  9  16  --  48

CCS (41) -- Vincent, Patterson 2, Fortmiller 4, Rhodes 12, Moore 4, Dirkse 6, Corbett 2, Baker, Patton 11, Fulmer.

HOWARD (48) -- Brown 10, Robbins 6, Hill 4, Muhammed 11, Byrd 10, Johnson 2, Norwood, Ramsey 3, Hatcher, Stallion.

3-POINT GOALS: CCS 2 (Rhodes 2), Howard 4 (Brown 2, Byrd, Ramsey).

(Email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@Comcast.net)

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