Abbott Fuels Late Rally, Sale Creek Trips Whitwell, 68-57

6-A Regular Season Champs Win 11th Straight

  • Thursday, January 29, 2015
  • Larry Fleming

Hayden Abbott, one of several Sale Creek basketball seniors honored between games Thursday night, hit back-to-back 3-pointers to key a fourth-quarter comeback and lead the District 6-A regular season champion Panthers to a stirring 68-57 victory over the gutty Whitwell Tigers.

“Hayden hit some big shots that got some momentum going for us, got the crowd back into the game and the energy level picked up,” Panthers coach David Helton said. “Dylan Johnson got a couple of steals and layups and it snowballed from there.”

The Panthers (17-7, 11-0) are within one win – they play at Lookout Valley on Tuesday – of completing an unbeaten district season.

Sale Creek will carry a No.

1 seed into the district tournament and also earned a bye into the semifinals with an automatic berth to the regional. South Pittsburg will host the district and regional tourneys.

Thursday’s come-from-behind win – the game was postponed from Tuesday – stretched Sale Creek’s winning streak to 11 and it has won 15 of the last 16. The Panthers haven’t lost since East Ridge beat them, 59-49, on Dec. 18 in the Don Burton Classic.

The Panthers are familiar with being on the short end of the score and those experiences helped take down the Tigers (6-17, 1-8), a win that completed the regular season sweep. Sale Creek won at Whitwell, 86-58, on Nov. 21.

“We’ve been down quite a bit at different times in games,” Helton said. “We weathered the storm and got back up by 10 points. We understand that if we keep playing hard we’re going to get that run that’s going to propel us. The guys didn’t get rattled because they believed we were going to win.”

There were three impressive offensive runs in Thursday’s game – two by the visiting Tigers.

However, Sale Creek’s fourth-quarter spurt came at the most opportune time – in the final eight minutes.

Whitwell, trailing by 11 early in the second period, went on a 13-6 run – Logan Burdette and Tyler Gholson each had two field goals – and got back into the game at 25-21 in the second period.

Sale Creek had a 31-25 halftime lead.

Trailing by four points 90 seconds into the third quarter, the Tigers torched the Panthers with a 20-2 run – Burdette scored nine straight points in one stretch – and bolted into a 45-33 lead with 2:03 left in the third period.

“(Logan) has had a very up and down season,” Tigers coach Heath Thacker said. “He has some games where he plays well and some he doesn’t. Tonight was one of those games where he played really good. We’re fortunate to have him.”

Johnson slowed the Tigers’ momentum by hitting a corner 3 and followed that with a layup and the Panthers pulled to within 45-38.

Burdette’s floater gave him 11 consecutive points and the Tigers had a 47-38 cushion. Sale Creek’s Preston Turner hit a lane floater and Burdette’s free throw – his 12th straight point – gave the Tigers a 48-40 lead going into the fourth quarter.

Burdette led all scorers with 23 points, including 17 in the second half.

The Panthers had eight minutes to overtake the Tigers, who have lost five straight games.

“That much time is always a concern to us,” Thacker said. “We knew they could make a run on us and we started missing some shots we had been making and it snowballed on us real quick. That’s basketball.”

Sale Creek’s Spencer Hodge scored on a putback and Abbott made a layup ahead of Broden Parris’ field goal and the Tigers had a 50-44 lead 40 seconds deep into the fourth period.

Hodge’s putback trimmed the deficit to four. After a Whitwell turnover, came down court and ripped a 3 from the right wing. On the other end, the Tigers committed another turnover. Abbott again caught a pass and drained a wide open 3 against the Whitwell zone and suddenly the Panthers had a 52-50 lead and the partisan crowd was rocking with.

“I thought those shots were a momentum changer,” Abbott said. “I thought it brought us back into the game, along with the other players and the guys were giving me the ball. We’ve done things like this in the past, but I was uncomfortable when we got down.

“But I had a thought in my mind that we were going to pull it out.”

There was still 4 minutes, 42 seconds left.

“Hayden has hit some big shots the whole time he’s played for coach Helton,” Thacker said. “He went cold for a while, but we said if he heats up we’re in trouble. After he hit that second 3, we called timeout and told the guys we have to know where he is on the floor.

“We switched out of the zone and went man on them, but they were already hot and kudos to them. They executed and beat us down the stretch.”

That man again, Burdette, tied the game at 52-all with a floater. Johnson’s three-point play – he hit an off-balance baseline floater while falling out of bounds – gave Sale Creek a 55-52 lead.

Whitwell’s Jace Sullivan scored. The Panthers lead was one.

Abbott, who scored 10 of his 14 points in the fourth period, positioned himself for a putback, Johnson hit from the wing and added a layup – those three scores came in a 42-second burst – and Lance Burton’s field goal with 2:22 left capped a 20-4 run that pushed Sale Creek’s lead to 64-54.

Johnson led the Panthers with 18 points, 13 in the second half. Hodge added 15 points and Turner matched Abbott’s 14.

Gholson finished with 11 points for the Tigers.

Whitwell girls 42, Sale Creek 37: The Lady Tigers (7-12, 2-6) got a combined 27 points from Kemmy Smith and Hailey Andregg in the victory.

Smith finished with 16 points and Andregg added 11, helping the Lady Tigers pull away from a 28-all tie by outscoring the Lady Panthers 14-9 in the fourth quarter.

Abbey Burton led Sale Creek (4-18, 3-7) with a game-high 17 points, 13 coming in the second half. She hit two 3s in the fourth period. Tayla Willis scored 10 points.

Summaries

Boys Game

Whitwell                                             8 17 23 9 – 57

Sale Creek                                          15 16 9 28 – 68

Whitwell (57) – Patton 7, Tucker, Parris 6, Meade 6, Sullivan 4, Morrison, Logan Burdette 23, Lockhart, Tyler Gholson 11.

Sale Creek (68) – Spencer Hodge 15, Hayden Abbott 14, James, Burton, McGhee, Preston Turner 14, Tulloss 2, Ellis, Mobley, Dylan Johnson 18, Kirk.

3-Point Goals – Whitwell 2 (Patton 1, Burdette 1), Sale Creek 5 (Abbott 2, Johnson 2, Turner).

Girls Game

Whitwell                                             8 3 17 14 – 42

Sale Creek                                          7 6 15 9 – 37

Whitwell (42) – Muir, Kemmy Smith 16, Hailey Andregg 11, Brown, Rains, Pickett, Hagg, Headrick 8, Worley 7.

Sale Creek (37) – Smith, Abbey Burton 17, Janow 2, Stoker, Sanders 2, Tayla Willis 10, Olivia Kidwell 6.

3-Point Goals – Whitwell none, Sale Creek 3 (Burton 2, Willis 1).

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

 

Sports
Chattanooga Women Third At Spring Break Shootout
  • 3/18/2024

The Chattanooga Mocs got off to a solid start at the Spring Break Shootout. The ladies are 4 under on Lake Jovita Golf & Country Club’s South Course carding 280 over the opening 18 and 284 ... more

Sweetwater's Keke Norfolk Signs With Cleveland State
Sweetwater's Keke Norfolk Signs With Cleveland State
  • 3/18/2024

Keke Norfolk of Sweetwater High School signed a National Letter of Intent with the Cleveland State women’s basketball team this past week. Norfolk a 5’9” guard/forward, becomes the first signee ... more

Vol Baseball Win Streak Ends At 17 At Alabama
  • 3/18/2024

No. 5/5 Tennessee's 17-game winning streak came to an end with a 6-3 loss to No. 12/14 Alabama on Saturday night at Sewell-Thomas Stadium in Tuscaloosa. The Crimson Tide (16-3, 1-1 SEC) ... more