Hamilton Heights Averts Upset Against Gutty Central, 61-54

Baylor Edges Brainerd, 48-46, For Title Shot At Hawks

  • Saturday, December 27, 2014
  • Larry Fleming
Abdulhakim Ado scores on a dunk in Hamilton Heights' hard-fought 61-54 win over Central on Saturday in the BOP tournament at Chattanooga State.
Abdulhakim Ado scores on a dunk in Hamilton Heights' hard-fought 61-54 win over Central on Saturday in the BOP tournament at Chattanooga State.
photo by Dennis Norwood

Central played the role of David on Saturday against Hamilton Heights, which came in as Goliath for no other reason than its considerable height advantage.

The Purple Pounders played courageously the entire game, but when it came down to crunch time the once-beaten and third-ranked Hawks pulled out a 61-54 victory in the semifinals of the Best of Preps basketball tournament in a jam-packed gym at Chattanooga State.

“The boys from Harrison came to play,” Central coach Rick Rogers said.

In the second boys’ semifinal, Baylor rallied to defeat Baylor, 48-46, when Spencer King hit a 3-pointer with 1:33 left to play. That shot gave the Red Raiders a 48-44 lead.

Brainerd’s Jesse Walker made a field goal with 1:07 left, slicing Baylor’s lead to two. Neither team scored down the stretch, although Walker’s short baseline jumper rimmed out at the final buzzer.

Hamilton Heights (13-1) will play the Baylor (5-2) on Monday at 8:30 p.m. for the tournament championship.

The Hawks stretched a six-point lead to 40-30 when senior Milos Andelic and sophomore C.J. Massengill hit back-to-back shots late in the third quarter.

The never-say-die Pounders wouldn’t go away and when junior Rodney Benford buried consecutive 3-pointers from the left wing, Central was within 45-43 with 6:10 remaining.

“We had to stay calm and weather the storm,” Hawks coach Zach Ferrell said. “I told the kids that (Benford) is a guy we cannot leave open because he can get it going really quick.”

Hawks junior Abdulhakim Ado made a free throw and Central junior Ryan Montgomery dropped in a layup and the difference was still a point.

“We came out to make a statement,” said Montgomery, who delighted the crowd on Friday with some acrobatic dunks in a win over Boyd-Buchanan. “Everybody automatically expected us to lose, but we fought the whole game. I thought we were going to pull it out. With a couple more shots we would have done it.”

That’s when Hamilton Heights senior Joan Duran drilled a 3, Andelic dropped in a fastbreak layup and junior Ezekiel Balogun dunked off an assist from Ado to give the Hawks a 53-45 advantage at the 2:15 mark.

Duran would score four more points down the stretch as the Hawks, ranked No. 3 in the state by MaxPreps and considered the pre-tournament favorites, sealed the win.

“The difference was (Duran),” Rogers said. “Without him they go down. He beat us.”

Duran and Balogun each scored 14 points while Andelic, a native of Montenegro who missed four games prior to this weekend’s tourney with an ankle injury, finished with 15 points. Balogun added eight rebounds.

“I played great,” said Duran, who had seven rebounds and two blocks. “Not my best game, but I did what was best for my team. I was a playmaker for my teammates at times and at other times I was the man. We knew Central was a good team, but they were better than I expected.”

Benford scored 14 points, including three 3s, to lead the Pounders (8-3) while Montgomery tossed in 12 and Jamichael Poole added 11.

“We knew Central would come at us hard,” said Ado, the 6-foot-10-inch post who added 12 rebounds and 11 blocked shots. “Everybody in the area thinks we’re overrated and not that good. Yesterday, a coach said we were slow. What kind of a team is slow and wins by 42 points? We take all those things as a challenge.”

Ado was referring to Hamilton Heights’ 78-36 win over Notre Dame in Friday’s opening round.

Now, the Hawks will be going for their second tournament title in two weeks. They won the Rhea County Holiday Hoops championship last week in Evensville.

Clearly, the capacity crowd came to see if the Pounders could hang with the much taller Hawks and keep from being overwhelmed by a defense that can smother the life out of an opponent.

Central played the Hawks even in the first period, with Poole scoring six of the Pounders’ 12 points.

Hamilton Heights went up 18-12 starting the second quarter, but Central got its first lead at 22-21, but Charnchai Chantha hit a field goal, Ado had a two-handed dunk off a Chantha assists and the Hawks went back into the lead at 25-24.

They ended the first half with a shaky 27-26 lead after Balogun hit a lane floater with 1.9 seconds on the clock.

The Hawks outscored the Pounders 9-1 starting the third period to build a 36-27 advantage only to see Montgomery make a bucket and add a free throw in a span of 11 seconds.

Andelic’s layup and Massengill’s jumper from the left wing provided the 10-point cushion.

Hamilton Heights was up 44-36 just 40 seconds into the fourth quarter and the margin was still eight when Benford went off, hitting clutch 3s 15 seconds apart to pull the Pounders to within 45-43.

The Hawks had a 46-45 lead when Duran made his clutch 3 with 4:15 on the clock.

“I’ve added the 3-point shot to my game and I thank God for that,” Duran said. “My game is really on the inside, but when my team needs me to make 3, I can do that. If (the defense) gives me an open 3, I’m going to take it.”

On Friday, Central beat Boyd-Buchanan, 66-46, but the points were harder to come by due to the Hawks’ tenacious defense, which held the Fighting Irish under 40 points the day before.

“If you want to play on our team, you have to love to play defense,” Andelic said. “We had to defend (Benford) very well after he made two 3s. We did very well on him after those shots.”

Benford did not score in the final 6 minutes and 9 seconds.

However, Benford is quickly making a name for himself as an offensive weapon opponents will have to tightly defend, or pay the consequences.

“I’m one of the best 3-point shooters in the city,” Benford said. “I felt very confident late in the game and me knocking down some shots put momentum on our side.”

In the day’s final game, Baylor (5-2) proved a hard nut to crack for the Panthers (9-2), whose only other loss was to Hamilton Heights.

Brainerd enjoyed a 24-19 halftime lead and came out hot to start the third quarter.

Da’V Moore took a cross-court lob pass and threw down a powerful dunk to get things started. Then Walker scored six straight points and Moore made a reverse layup that gave the Panthers a 34-27 lead.

Baylor’s Tyler Searberg answered with two straight 3s, one from the left corner and the second from the right side, and Baylor climbed to within 34-33.

Brainerd’s Kentrell Evans was fouled by Baylor’s Patrick Urey on a 3-point attempt and made all three free throws with 43.2 seconds left in the quarter. Brainerd led 39-35 heading into the final period.

The Panthers’ Dajuonta Ross hit a field goal. Baylor’s John Whaley and Seaberg countered with 3s and Spencer King made a bucket and the Red Raiders had a 43-41 lead with 4:25 left.

Malik Beavers nailed a high-arcing 3-pointer from the left wing that tied the game at 44-all. Seaberg made one of two free throws and King ripped his clutch 3 for a four-point advantage.

“That was because Urey had a great drive and kick-out to me,” said King, who scored a team-high 15 points. “The shot was the result of hours of practice in the gym.”

Baylor coach Austin Clark said King’s shot “was huge” because the Red Raiders had to make “every possession count” in a game like Saturday’s.

“We knew Brainerd was strong inside and we started in a 2-3 zone, but gave up too much penetration,” Clark said. “We weren’t concerned about their 3-point shooting because they don’t shoot a lot of 3s. I changed to a 1-2-2 zone, which we don’t use very much, and they kids did a great job with that defense.”

Following King’s nifty 3 and Walker’s two-point answer, the two teams battled back and forth for the final 66 seconds.

King missed the front end of a one-and-one with 12.4 seconds left in the game.

With less than four seconds left, Baylor’s Adam Brogdon blocked Kendall Evans’ shot from the left side. The Panthers retrieved the ball, worked it into Walker just to the right of the goal. His baseline jumper hit the rim, almost hit the net and oddly came out as the final horn sounded.

“We expected a tough game,” said Brown, sitting in a quiet locker room with his assistant coaches. “(Walker) is a self-proclaimed top flight player and I thought that shot was going in. It bothered him, but we’ve got to let this one go and get ready for Monday.”

Brown felt the Panthers’ defense “went flat” in the second half and that allowed the Red Raiders to grab and protect the lead.

“They got some looks in the second half and knocked down shots,” Brown said. “In the first half they got the same looks but they were contested. Our defense stopped rotating. They’re a great ball team and well-coached and the fought harder than we did. They wanted it more than our guys.”

King’s 15 points paced the Red Raiders. Seaberg finished with 14 points and Urey added 13 points. King and Seaberg each had three made 3-pointers.

Notre Dame 35, Boyd-Buchanan 34: In the day’s first loser’s bracket game, the Fighting Irish (5-8) were led by Tyler Byrd’s 10 points.

Jack Keebler led the Bucs with 11 points.

Ooltewah 54, Ringgold 52: Jarek Boyd pumped in 20 points to pace the Owls (7-8) in the narrow win over the Tigers (7-2). Boyd scored 18 points Friday night in the Owls’ loss to Baylor. Edward Hayes added 11 points.

Jordan Ransom grabbed game scoring honors with 21 points for Ringgold. Kile Sholl added 11 points, including three 3-pointers.

Scoring Summaries

Semifinals

Central                                                               12 14 7 21 – 54

Hamilton Heights                                        12 13 13 21 – 61

Central (54) – McKenzie 5, Tiller 7, Billingsley, Hayes 5, Ryan Montgomery 12, Rodney Benford 14, JaMichael Poole 11.

Hamilton Heights (61) – Joan Duran 14, Ado 8, Chantha 2, Ezekiel Balogun 14, Micakovic 4, Milos Andelic 15, Adheke 4, Massengill 2.

3-Point Goals – Central 6 (Benford 3, McKenzie 1, Tiller 1, Hayes 1, Hamilton Heights 3 (Duran 2, Andelic 1).

Brainerd                                                           16 8 15 7 – 46

Baylor                                                                13 6 16 13 – 48

Brainerd (46) – Sow, Ross 4, Tipton 9, Evans 3, Melvin, Beavers 7, Cothran 2, Jesse Walker 15, Moore 6.

Baylor (48) – Sneed, Brogdon, Maize 3, Whaley 3, Tyler Seaberg 14, Spencer King 15, Patrick Urey 13, Johnson.

3-Point Goals – Brainerd 4 (Tipton 3, Beavers 1), Baylor 9 (King 3, Seaberg 3, Maize 1, Whaley 1, Urey 1).

Monday’s Schedule

Championship Game

Baylor vs. Hamilton Heights, 8:30 p.m.

Consolation Game

Central vs. Brainerd, 5:30 p.m.

Fifth Place

Notre Dame vs. Ooltewah, 2:30 p.m.

Seventh Place

Boyd-Buchanan vs. Ringgold, 11:30 a.m.

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

 

 

 

Baylor's Austin Maize blocks a perimeter shot by Brainerd's Kentrell Evans. The Red Raiders held on to beat the Panthers, 48-46, and will play Hamilton Heights for the BOP tournament title on Monday.
Baylor's Austin Maize blocks a perimeter shot by Brainerd's Kentrell Evans. The Red Raiders held on to beat the Panthers, 48-46, and will play Hamilton Heights for the BOP tournament title on Monday.
photo by Dennis Norwood
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