Notre Dame Outscores Boyd-Buchanan In Jamboree Thriller

Prep Basketball Kicks Off With Eight "Games" At GPS Monday Night

  • Thursday, November 12, 2015
  • John Hunt
Silverdale Baptist Academy's Brannon Walls (10) drives for a lay-up against a Signal Mountain defense that includes Jarren Radden (30) among others. SBA defeated the Eagles, 9-7, with Walls scoring 7 of the Seahawks' 9 points.
Silverdale Baptist Academy's Brannon Walls (10) drives for a lay-up against a Signal Mountain defense that includes Jarren Radden (30) among others. SBA defeated the Eagles, 9-7, with Walls scoring 7 of the Seahawks' 9 points.
photo by Dennis Norwood

Chattanooga got its first look at high school basketball  Monday night at GPS when 10 schools from Hamilton County gathered for a little pre-season jamboree action.

It was a chance for players, coaches, referees and even sports writers to knock the dust off as we get ready for another exciting season.

Notre Dame beat Boyd-Buchanan in the highest scoring game among the guys by a 19-17 final while the GPS and Silverdale girls were the only ones who finished in a tie with a 7-7 final score.

Other winners included the East Ridge girls over Notre Dame, 11-6; Boyd-Buchanan girls over Soddy Daisy, 10-3; GPS over Chattanooga Christian, 11-7; Silverdale boys over Signal Mountain, 9-7; Signal Mountain girls over Tyner, 13-7; and McCallie over Tyner, 11-6.

The first regular season games begin on Tuesday with Hall of Fame contests at several local schools.

EAST RIDGE GIRLS 11, NOTRE DAME 6: The Lady Pioneers appear to be much improved over last year and they were intent on shooting layups to get started.

Rickell Hill, Cassie Jordan and Jayla Stone all scored as East Ridge built an early lead and never looked back.

Jordan finished with four points to lead East Ridge while teammate Stone was next with three.  Allison Hoffer had four points for Notre Dame with Annie Ripper scoring the other two.

"It was messy, but it's a whole lot better than last year.  Improvement is being made and that's what  I'm most excited about," said East Ridge coach Blaine Brewer.

NOTRE DAME BOYS 19, BOYD-BUCHANAN 17: By far the best contest of the evening, it was fast paced and intense from the opening whistle.

Tyler Byrd was the go-to guy for the Fighting Irish as he scored the first bucket and then finished things off with a three-point play for the winning margin at the buzzer.

With Byrd and Davian Wheeler leading the way, Notre Dame built a 16-11 lead before the Buccaneers scored six unanswered points.

Parris Clarke scored back-to-back buckets to get the Bucs within one before Cade Evans scored on a layup for a 17-16 lead with less than 10 seconds remaining.

Byrd never slowed down as he took the inbounds pass and went coast-to-coast, scoring on a drive along the base and getting fouled in the process.  His free throw was just a little icing on the cake.

"This was a great start for us as we had fun out there.  We were ready to get started," said Notre Dame coach J.P. Nerbun, knowing that he still has quite a few players still involved in football.

BOYD-BUCHANAN GIRLS 10, SODDY DAISY 3: The Lady Bucs never trailed as they scored the first eight points.

Marissa McCalla's free throw was the first point before Maddie Wright scored on a short turn-around jumper in the lane.  Abbie Sewell then bagged a 3 before scoring again on a putback for the 8-0 lead before Morgan Hopkins converted a three-point play the old fashioned way for the Lady Trojans with just less than three minutes remaining.

Wright sank two free throws at the end for the final seven-point margin.

"Our goal was to get the first-game jitters out, but we are tall and have a lot of talent and are looking to have an outstanding season.  Maddie will get double-teamed a lot this year, but she'll be okay," said Lady Bucs coach Tracey Walker.

GPS GIRLS 11, CHATTANOOGA CHRISTIAN 7: Kate Dirkse and Addie Henry combined for the first five points, but Annika Fischer's short baseline jumper was the only other points the Lady Chargers would score as the young Bruisers won by scoring 11 of the final 13 points.

Hannah Sanders got GPS on the board before Brooke McCurdy's 3 tied it at 5.  McCurdy scored again for a 7-7 tie before Alexis West and J.J. Dunigan provided the margin of victory with the final two buckets.

"I thought that we played with a lot of confidence and we even had some folks make a few shots, but we played hard the entire 12 minutes and that's what I was looking for," said first-year GPS coach Wes Moore.

SILVERDALE BOYS 9, SIGNAL MOUNTAIN 7: The Seahawks raced to a 9-3 lead before hanging on for dear life at the end.

Brannon Walls scored seven of those nine points while Tyler Mossburg knocked down a jumper from the line for the other two points.

Briston Reese knotted the score with a 3 to start Signal Mountain's scoring while Tucker Smith and Jarren Radden scored two each at the end.

"I thought we played solid defense as that's what we're building this team around, but we're just thrilled to be playing someone other than ourselves," said Silverdale first-year coach Slater Belew.

SIGNAL MOUNTAIN GIRLS 13, TYNER 7: Samantha Maffett gave Tyner the early 2-0 lead while Kendall Davis canned a 3 shortly afterward and the Lady Eagles never trailed again.

Janie Boals scored three straight points to give Signal Mountain a 6-2 lead before a 3 from Leaundra Melton drew Tyner to within one.

Aryn Sanders scored five of the last seven points with Boals getting the other two as the Lady Eagles were able to hang on for the win.

"We were a little bit out of synch at times, but it was a good start for us as we're glad to be playing other people finally.  It was good to bang on someone other than ourselves," said Signal Mountain coach Kendra Bell.

 SILVERDALE GIRLS 7, GPS 7: Maddie Caldwell scored in the first minute to give Silverdale a quick lead while Emily Skelton's three-point play knotted the score at 7-7 after Brooke McCurdy had given the Bruisers a 7-4 lead with a 3 from the baseline.

Neither team had a lot of luck shooting from the field as many shots were simply hurried or even taken at bad times.

It was more of a defensive struggle at times, but that's what Silverdale coach Tim Thompson was looking for.

"We played hard, but defense is what's going to make this team.  They worked hard the entire time and I liked that," said Thompson.

McCALLIE 11, TYNER 6: Junior Clay's free throw gave McCallie an early 1-0 lead before the Rams took the lead on back-to-back buckets from Ke'Marcus Young and Jeremy Elston. 

By the time Tyner scored on an inside move by Tim Burrage in the final minute, the Blue Tornado had scored eight straight points and were clearly in control.

Cameron Bett knotted things with a 3 from the corner while the first of two free throws from Chavis Rahming gave McCallie the lead again at 5-4.  Four straight points from Clay made it 9-4 while a putback from McCallie's Seth Clark was the last points of the evening.

"It was fun, but I was just a little bit nervous," said Tyner's first-year coach Keitha Booker.

"The guys played hard and I loved our intensity," he added.

(email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@gmail.com)

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