Chattanooga Christian basketball coach Eddie Salter holds some really tough practices with his Chargers and he expects them to transfer that high-energy to game day.
It seemed to work on Thursday night as Salter’s Chargers raced to a 21-5 lead after the first quarter and never looked back as they improved to 6-1 with the impressive 64-40 non-district win over visiting Boyd-Buchanan.
That 24-point margin of victory equaled the CCS girls as they also prevailed by the same margin – 48-24 – over the Lady Bucs in the first game of the evening.
The Bucs are young and not as experienced as some Boyd-Buchanan teams in years past, but they never had a chance in this latest game as the Chargers came out firing on all cylinders and played with a ton of energy and enthusiasm for the entire 32 minutes.
Cade Evans scored on a drive down the lane in the first minute as Boyd-Buchanan knotted the score at 2-2, but Jack Stimart followed with a short jumper in the lane and John Rhodes bagged a 3 from the wing as the Chargers had a 7-2 lead midway through the first quarter.
The difference was 11-4 when Ryan Rhodes got the hot hand as he scored the next 10 points for the Chargers as they were comfortably in front by 21-5 when the first quarter ended.
That 16-point lead was 17 at intermission with CCS still in control at 35-18.
A 3 from Riley Covington followed by a pair of free throws from Evans allowed the Buccaneers to get within 11 at 39-28 with 2:41 left in the third stanza, but the Chargers finished the third stanza on a 10-4 run and the margin was 49-32 with one quarter remaining.
Michael Hogue sank a 3 in the final minute while Cameron Webb scored on a layup in the waning seconds as CCS had its biggest lead at the end.
Coach Salter was all smiles when he came out of the CCS dressing room.
“That was the best I’ve seen us play so far this season. We forced some turnovers early, got some easy buckets and basically didn’t look back,” he said afterward.
“We knew they wouldn’t quit as they have a good team, but it was almost like an old district rivalry we had in years past. Both teams are still adjusting to new coaches, but I’m really pleased with the way we played tonight.
“I was expecting a nail-biter because I saw how they came back and beat Red Bank, but I really liked our defensive intensity and am really happy with the way we played,” Salter concluded.
Boyd-Buchanan coach Daniel Gilbert refused to use youthfulness as an excuse for the lopsided loss.
“Those guys have a good team and they did a good job of exploiting our weaknesses. They play hard all the time and don’t take a second off as they took advantage of every mistake we made,” Gilbert began.
“We gave them way too many second chances as they killed us on the boards, but I thought we did a better job of attacking their zone in the second half. We dug ourselves a deep hole early that we weren’t able to get out of.
“We got to within 11 points once in the second half, but were never able to get within single digits. I thought we played better than we have in other games, but you can’t tell it by the final score,” he added.
Rebounding was a huge advantage for the Chargers as they enjoyed an unofficial 36-16 advantage on the boards.
Ryan Rhodes finished with a double-double, scoring 27 points and snagging 10 rebounds to lead the winners. Ben Moore and John Rhodes both followed with eight points apiece with Moore also grabbing 11 rebounds.
Stimart had six points and six rebounds as the Chargers emptied their bench in the waning moments. Nine of 11 CCS players scored at least two points.
Evans was the only Buccaneer player in double figures as he finished with 14 points. Max Walker and Covington were next with nine points apiece.
Covington and Matt Serven both had four rebounds each for Boyd-Buchanan.
The road doesn’t get any easier for the Buccaneers as they play at Tyner Friday night. The Chargers return to action on Monday when they host Rhea County.
CCS GIRLS 48, BOYD-BUCHANAN 24: The Lady Chargers also got off to a fast start as they had a commanding 11-2 lead after one quarter and 33-8 at the half.
Addie Henry scored 13 points for CCS, now 5-1 on the young season.
Madison Blevins was next with nine points while Katie Davick hit some big shots and finished with seven. Katie Dirkse also had seven points for the winners.
Meredith Balthrop led the way for the Lady Bucs as she finished with 12 points. Laney Bone was next with six.
GIRLS SUMMARY
BOYD-BUCHANAN 2 6 6 10 -- 24
CHATTANOOGA CHRISTIAN 11 22 12 3 -- 48
BOYD-BUCHANAN (24) – Bone 6, Parker 4, A. Taylor 2, Hill, M. Taylor, Balthrop 12, High.
CHATTANOOGA CHRISTIAN (48) – Hughes 6, Pruitt, Blevins 9, Henry 13, Davick 7, Sandhoff, Fischer 2, Walker 2, Hendry 2, Dirkse 7, Fikkert, Rolleston, Jipping.
3-POINT GOALS: Boyd-Buchanan 2 (Balthrop 2); CCS 8 (Hughes 2, Blevins 3, Henry 3).
BOYS SUMMARY
BOYD-BUCHANAN 5 13 14 8 -- 40
CHATTANOOGA CHRISTIAN 21 14 14 15 -- 64
BOYD-BUCHANAN (40) – C. Evans 14, Edmondson, Walker 9, Gilley, E. Evans 3, Covington 9, Baker, Serven 2, Oliver, Baubach 3.
CHATTANOOGA CHRISTIAN (64) – Covington, Moore 8, Davenport 5, R. Rhodes 27, J. Rhodes 8, Loyal, Hogue 3, Stimart 6, Ellison 3, Webb 2, Wharton 2.
3-POINT GOALS: Boyd-Buchanan 5 (C. Evans, Covington 3, Baubach); CCS 8 (Davenport, R. Rhodes 5, J. Rhodes, Hogue).
(email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@gmail.com)