The Cleveland Blue Raiders defeated Walker Valley 49-41 Friday night at Cleveland Middle School in a battle between two Bradley County high schools to stay in a tight race at the top of the District 5-AAA standings.
The Blue Raiders jumped out to a quick 7-0 lead over the Mustangs and stayed slightly ahead for the rest of the game.
Cleveland fended off a strong fourth quarter Mustang run led by Walker Valley junior Josh Jones who poured in 14 points in the final eight minutes of play. However, just two points for Walker Valley in the third quarter was too much for the team to overcome as the Blue Raiders held on to win by eight after the Mustangs had cut the lead to five late in the game.
“We were too passive in the third quarter,” Walker Valley Head Coach Bob Williams said. “We weren’t attacking the goal, and that’s my fault. I got to get them to be more aggressive attacking the goal and using our strengths.”
Things got heated early on in the rivalry game, and Cleveland’s Mason Brown got a technical for pushing Jim Williams less than a minute into the second quarter. The aggressiveness ensued throughout the contest with both teams wrestling for rebounds and skirmishing for loose balls. Late in the fourth quarter, Walker Valley sophomore Bryce Nunnelly got into it with Cleveland’s Brady Swafford after a foul. Each was awarded with a technical, fouling Nunnelly out of the contest.
Much of the lack of scoring could be attributed to the aggressive and smothering defense from the Blue Raiders who held Walker Valley to a combined five points in the first and third quarters.
“We did a good job of matching up in our zone and identifying the shooters,” Cleveland Head Coach Jason McCowan said. “They shoot the ball really well. I thought we did a really good job of moving and talking and working together.”
Cantrel Ware and Jonathan Vecchio led the Blue Raiders with 13 and 14 points, respectively. Jones scored 14 points in the final quarter on his way to 19 for the game. However, he was the only player for the Mustangs to score in double figures.
“I liked some of our stuff, but it just wasn’t going in,” Williams said after the loss. “Even with the low scoring two quarters, we were still in the game ... we just couldn’t get over the hump.”
Bradley Central and Cleveland sit atop the divisional standings with the season coming to a close. The Blue Raiders are currently 9-1 in the division with two games next week against divisional opponents McMinn County and Ooltewah. Bradley Central is 10-1 in the division and plays its final divisional game on Feb. 6 against East Hamilton. The two teams split the two head-to-head meetings in the regular season.
“We realize that we’re going to be in a one game scenario to go to the district final,” McCowan said. “We know what’s in front of us, we just have to go get it.”
WALKER VALLEY LADY MUSTANGS 53, CLEVELAND 44 – The Lady Mustangs used a three-headed scoring attack from Peyton Davis, Kathaleen Alomar and Jaclyn Griffith to defeat crosstown rival Cleveland 53-44 in front of a packed crowd at Cleveland Middle School.
Griffith hit four 3-pointers for the Lady Mustangs to help lead the team to a victory. Walker Valley improved its record to 18-6 (9-2) as the team currently sits one spot ahead of Cleveland and second overall in the district.
Scoring Summaries
GIRLS SUMMARY
WALKER VALLEY 14 14 11 14 – 53
CLEVELAND 10 6 15 13 – 44
WALKER (53) - White 5, Spann 2, Griffith 14, C. Lay 2, Jones 2, Alomar 11, Davis 13, Mowery 4.
CLEVELAND (44) – Ware 4, Scoggins 14, Stamatiadis 1, Crump 2, Anderson 18, Person 1, McClendon 4.
3-point goals – Walker Valley 7 (White, Griffith 4, Davis 2). Cleveland 2 (Scoggins 2).
BOYS SUMMARY
CLEVELAND 9 16 7 17 – 49
WALKER VALLEY 3 15 2 21 – 41
CLEVELAND (49) – Dennard 2, Gibson 5, Constant 2, Ware 13, Brown 5, Vecchio 14, Hill 1, Gibson 5, McRee 2.
WALKER VALLEY (41) – Conway 3, Herd 3, Eslinger 1, Williams 2, Nunelly 7, Jones 19, Bunton 6.
3-point goals- Cleveland 4 (Vecchio 4, Brown 1, Gibson 1). Walker 5 (Herd, Conway, Nunnelly, Jones 2).
(E-mail Mark Pace at MarkEPace@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter @THEMarkPace)