Red Bank Falls To Riverdale, 77-64, In Rhea Tournament

Tight Defense Bails Out Cold-Shooting Hawks In Win Over Mustangs

  • Friday, December 19, 2014
  • Larry Fleming

 EVENSVILLE, Tenn. – Red Bank basketball coach Nick Fike has a method to his madness.

Fike has the Lions playing in this week’s Hoops Holiday Tournament at Rhea County High School and also will guide them in the Sonic Shootout at White County on Dec. 27 and 29-30.

“It’s all about getting ready for the district (6-AA) tournament,” Fike said Friday night after the Lions fell to Class AAA Riverdale, 77-64. “These Christmas tournaments are a bridge to the postseason.

We’re in a really tough district with Tyner, Howard, Brainerd and Central. We’re playing better and slow growth is still growth.

“But this loss stings.”

The Lions trailed by five points, but ran off 11 straight points to take a 31-25 second-quarter lead. Riverdale’s Brad Woodson, son of Warriors coach Kevin Woodson, made three free throws with two-tenths of a second left in the half that cut Red Bank’s lead in half.

The Warriors came out on fire in the third quarter, outscored the Lions 27-10 and opened a 56-41 lead. Riverdale scored a whopping 33 points in the quarter, getting 18 points in the first three minutes.

“I told our guys at halftime the first three minutes of the second half would dictate the outcome of this game,” Fike said. “Riverdale caught fire, but we had a never-die mentality. Our problem is we’ve been having slow starts and play better in the second half. We flipped that tonight.”

Red Bank (5-7) outscored the Warriors 9-2 starting the fourth quarter and trimmed its deficit to 63-58, but Riverdale scored 14 of the final 20 points to close it out.

“We’ve been up and down this year,” coach Woodson said. “We’ve won three straight and my guys must have thought this one was going to be easy. That can happen when you start three sophomores and a junior and one senior.”

Brad Woodson led the Warriors (6-6) with a game-high 29 points, including three 3-pointers. Gentry Bonds added 17 points and had four 3s. Bonds scored 10 points and drained a pair of 3s in the Warriors’ decisive run in the third quarter. Sidney Bell contributed 14 points.

Malik Davis scored a team-high 19 points for the Lions. Malik McConnell tossed in 17 points and Kolbi Suttles added 10.

Red Bank plays Sequatchie County on Saturday at 11:30 a.m. at Rhea County High.

The Hamilton Heights Hawks (9-1) overcame a stunningly sloppy offensive performance – they made 5-of-26 shots (19.2 percent) in the first half and finished by making just 17 of 57 (29.8 percent) – with some stout defense to finally subdue Walker Valley, 48-25.

Hamilton Heights, winning its second game in the three-day tourney, struggled mightily in the first half and went to the dressing room with a 15-14 lead over the Mustangs, who are still playing without starters Bryce Nunnelly and Kenny Bunton.

Bunton, who suffered a dislocated hip in a 67-66 loss to Ooltewah on Dec. 9, said before Friday’s game he’s hopeful of returning to action on Feb. 5. He expects to receive a doctor’s release during an examination the day before.

“I’m doing OK,” Bunton said. “The doctor popped my hip back into place on the first try and there was no ligament damage at all. I asked the doctor what the odds are that it might happen again and he said, ‘The odds were extremely high that it happened the first time.”

The Hawks’ defense held the Mustangs to three points – Josh Jones’ 3-pointer – in the third period while stretching their lead to 28-17. The tight defense extended into the fourth period as the Hawks kept the Mustangs scoreless for almost 7 minutes and 30 seconds until Jones scored over Ado.

That defense turned into offense in the fourth period.

Hamilton Heights’ Ezekiel Balogun had three steals that turned into field goals, including two dunks, at the other end in a 1-minute, 42-second stretch that capped a 21-5 spree and resulted in a 37-19 scoreboard advantage with 4:18 remaining.

“We just didn’t bring it from the beginning,” Hawks coach Zach Ferrell said. “We looked like we had been taking exams all week and had no energy from the start. I can’t remember a game where we shot that poorly in my two years as head coach.”

The Hawks appeared as if they would rather have been somewhere else.

Ferrell didn’t agree.

“These kids want to play every day,” he said. “They just have to come back focused and be ready to play (Saturday).”

The Hawks will play Cannon County on Saturday at 2:30 at Rhea Middle School.

Balogun finished with 13 points and made all four of his field goals in the second half. Joan Duran scored 10, but 6-foot-11-inch Abdulhakim Ado managed just three points and one field goal.

Jones paced the Mustangs with nine points.

Hamilton Heights’ Lady Hawks got revenge for their only loss of the season when they outscored the Lady Buffaloes, 30-19, in the second half and breezed to a 47-29 quarterfinal win.

Clarkrange edged Hamilton Heights, 54-51, at home on Nov. 13 in a Hall of Fame game.

The final score was 47-29 and Elizabeth Balogun scored a game-high 15 points for the Lady Hawks (9-1).

Western Kentucky head coach Michelle Clark-Heard and one of her assistants attended Friday’s game and the Lady Hilltoppers have already offered scholarships to Lady Hawks freshmen Jazmine Massengill and Balogun.

Karen Meadows led Clarkrange with 13 points.

Hamilton Heights’ defense held Clarkrange to single-digit scoring in the first three quarters.

The Lady Hawks take on Baylor on Saturday at 1 p.m. at Rhea Middle. Baylor defeated Brainerd, 51-29,

In the day’s quarterfinal game at the high school, the host Lady Golden Eagles (11-3) raced to a 21-9 first-quarter lead and coasted to a 50-27 victory over Red Bank.

Rhea County scored just 11 second-half points, a mere two in the final quarter and still won by 23 points.

“I’m proud of the girls for the way they came out focused and ready to play,” Lady Eagles coach Shane Johnston said. “We were working on chemistry and combinations on the floor, sets we may have been struggling with and try to get better at those things.”

Jessee Wallis scored eight of her team-high 10 points in the first period.

Danielle Usher tossed in seven points for the Lady Lions.

On Saturday, the Lady Eagles play Ooltewah at 10 a.m. and Wilson Central at 1 at Rhea High.

Scoring Summaries

Boys Games

Riverdale                                            15 13 33 16 – 77

Red Bank                                             14 17 18 15 – 64

Riverdale (77) – Brad Woodson 29, Somerville 4, Edwards 2, Gentry Bonds 17, Sidney Bell 14, Mathews 9, Chavez, Wiggins, Martin, Gutierrez 2.

Red Bank (64) – Kolbi Suttles 10, W. Davis 8, Malik McConnell 17, Stamper 2, Autry 8, Malik Davis 19, J. Davis.

3-Point Goals – Riverdale 7 (Bonds 4, Woodson 3), Red Bank 5 (Stamper 2, Suttles 1, Autry 1, M. Davis 1).

Walker Valley                                   3 11 3 8 – 25

Hamilton Heights                            5 10 13 20 – 48

Walker Valley (25) – Wagner 3, Conway 2, Melton, Herd 5, Eslinger, Murphy, Swafford 2, Williams 2, Josh Jones 9, Montgomery 2.

Hamilton Heights (48) Laing, Pitts 3, Joan Duran 10, Ado 3, Chantha 2, Ezekiel Balogun 13, Micakovic 6, McCartney, Olatunji, Adheke 4, Massengill 5, Abukakar.

3-Point Goals – Walker Valley 3 (Wagner 1, Herd 1, Jones 1), Hamilton Heights 3 (Micakovic 2, Pitts 1).   

Other Boys Scores

Rhea County 58, Sequatchie County 53

Cannon County 61, Cookeville 58

Chattanooga Patriots 71, Rhea County Academy 40

Glenwood 55, McMinn County 51

Berea Academy 63, Soddy-Daisy 53

Clarkrange 55, Elizabethton 38

Girls Games

Rhea County                                      21 19 9 2 – 50

Red Bank                                             9 5 3 10 – 27

Rhea County (50) – Davis 2, Revis 5, Freeman,  Busrus 3, Jessee Willis 10, Baker, Thurman 4, Kaylor 8, Clark 4, Keen 6, Levi 8, Morgan, Brown.

Red Bank (27) – A. Brown 5, Babb 3, D. Brown, Claiborne, Evers 6, Danielle Usher 7, Simpson 4, Stewart 2.  

3-Point Goals – Rhea County 2 (Revis 1, Kaylor 1), Red Bank 1 (A. Brown 1).

Clarkrange                                          6 4 8 11 – 29

Hamilton Heights                            12 5 14 16 – 47

Clarkrange (29) – Shaver 5, Edwards, Bush, Smith 2, Garrett, Cottle, Karen Meadows 13, Cooper 9.

Hamilton Heights (47) – Massengill 9, D. Balogun, Elizabeth Balogun 15, Todorova, Onome 6, Monyei 2, Kasaciunaite 4, Plentauskaite, Bordeeva 5, Hunt 6.

3-Point Goals – Clarkrange 1 (Shaver 1), Hamilton Heights none.

Other Girls Scores

Wilson Central 57, Cannon County 40

Sequatchie County 45, Ooltewah 44

Walker Valley 61, Happy Valley 42

Cookeville 50, Chattanooga Patriots 18

Rhea County 51, McMinn County 37

Saturday’s Schedule

At Rhea County High School

10 a.m. – Ooltewah girls vs. Rhea County

11:30 a.m. – Sequatchie County boys vs. Red Bank

1 p.m. – Wilson Central girls vs. Rhea County

2:30 p.m. – Riverdale boys vs. Rhea County

4 p.m. – Red Bank girls vs. Cannon County

5:30 p.m. – Hamilton Heights-Baylor girls loser vs. Wilson Central-Rhea County loser

7 p.m. – Hamilton Heights-Baylor winner vs. Wilson-Rhea winner, girls championship

8:30 p.m. – Riverdale-Rhea winner vs. Hamilton Heights-Cannon Co. winner, boys championship

At Rhea Middle School

10 a.m. – Glenwood boys vs. Chattanooga Patriots

11:30 a.m. – Brainerd girls vs. Clarkrange

1 p.m. – Hamilton Heights girls vs. Baylor

2:30 p.m. – Hamilton Heights boys vs. Cannon County

4 p.m. – Red Bank boys vs. Sequatchie County

5:30 p.m. – Rhea-Wilson Central girls loser vs. Baylor-Hamilton Heights loser

At Rhea Central Elementary

10 a.m. – Sequatchie County girls vs. McMinn County

11:30 a.m. – Soddy-Daisy boys vs. Elizabethton

1 p.m. – Chattanooga Patriots girls vs. Happy Valley

2:30 p.m. – Rhea County Academy boys vs. McMinn County

4 p.m. – Cookeville girls vs. Walker Valley

5:30 p.m. – Berean Academy boys vs. Clarkrange

(E-mail Larry Fleming at larryfleming44@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter @larryfleming44)

 

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