Ooltewah's Trapping Defense Keys 78-36 Victory
by John Hunt
posted November 30, 2009
The Ooltewah Owls know how to make life miserable for opposing basketball teams.
The Owls aren’t real big and they aren’t real physical, but they’re extremely quick.
They take advantage of that quickness with a trapping defense that causes all kinds of problems for the other team.
Such was the case Monday night at Ooltewah when the Owls hosted the East Hamilton Hurricanes.
Another big first quarter proved to be the difference as the Owls improved to 3-0 on the young season with a relatively-easy 78-36 victory.
Gentry Bell canned the first of two free throws at the 7:09 mark of the first quarter to cut Ooltewah’s lead to 2-1.
By the time Bell scored again on a reverse layup with 1:53 remaining in that same stanza, Ooltewah's advantage had increased to 22-3.
It never got much closer.
The difference was 30-5 after one stanza and 48-14 at intermission.
The Owls switched to a 1-3-1 zone defense in the second half and it too was effective as the lead was 40 points at 68-28 when the third quarter ended.
East Hamilton coach Michael Stone tried every combination of players he could to counter the Ooltewah attack, but nothing seemed to work.
“It’s real obvious that we’re in the building process with a new team, but the good news is that we didn’t quit tonight.
"We saw them earlier in their game against Central and we knew what was coming, but our guys kept doing what we asked.
“Sometimes you have to learn in the line of fire, but we are young and are still learning,” Stone said after his team fell to 0-3.
Jervon Johnson had the hot hand for the Owls as he scored 16 of his game-high 27 points in the opening eight minutes.
Delorius Hixson, who followed Johnson with 14 points, scored six straight to open the second quarter as the lead increased to 36-6 with 5:58 to play before intermission.
Needless to say, Ooltewah coach Jesse Nayadley was mostly pleased with what he saw.
“We aren’t tall, but we’re quick and we have long arms. We try to use our strength to our advantage by forcing as many turnovers as possible.
"It’s an up-tempo style of play and we aren’t doing too bad at it right now,” Nayadley said.
“We worked on our zone in the second half for the first time and I was fairly pleased with it too. We’re a defensive-minded team and our defensive pressure helps our offense go.
“It’s never the same guy two games in a row. Jervon (Johnson) had the hot hand tonight and I’m sure he could have hit a bunch more 3s if we had kept feeding the ball to him.
“We know what it’s like to be on the other side of a score like this, so we really didn’t want to rub salt in the wound in the second half.
"Now we have to get ready for East Ridge,” he added, referring to Tuesday night’s game on the road against the Pioneers.
While Johnson and Hixson were the two scoring leaders for the Owls, Wesley Richey was also in double figures with 10 points.
Andre Moton was next with eight while Josh Lloyd followed with seven.
Cody Knox scored 10 points to lead the Hurricanes while Robby Byerly was next with nine.
East Hamilton girls 48, Ooltewah 36:
The Lady Hurricanes placed three girls in double figures as they won for the third straight game without a defeat.
Tiffany Lewis led the way with 15 points while Alexis Adams had a dozen. Jessica Caudle finished with 10 points.
Kianna Delaney was the lone Lady Owl in double figures as she finished with 12 points. Ri Lawrence was next with six.
GIRLS SUMMARY
East Hamilton 8 12 11 17 -- 48
Ooltewah 8 10 6 12 -- 36
EAST HAMILTON (48) – Jessica Caudle 10, Ivins, Newton 5, Coleman 3, Tiffany Lewis 15, Alexis Adams 12, Stubbs, Moon.
OOLTEWAH (36) – Alvey, Bradley 3, Cook 5, Kianna Delaney 12, Harris, Newson 4, Lawrence 6, Barrett 4, O’Shea 2.
3-POINT GOALS: East Hamilton 4 (Caudle, Newton, Lewis 2); Ooltewah 1 (Delaney).
BOYS SUMMARY
East Hamilton 5 9 14 8 -- 36
Ooltewah 30 18 20 10 -- 78
EAST HAMILTON (36) – Caldwell 1, Shargraves 3, Jones 4, Bell 3, Byerly 9, Ca. Knox, Templeton 2, Ungas 4, Cody Knox 10, Watkins.
OOLTEWAH (78) – Whitman 4, Wesley Richey 10, Jervon Johnson 27, Lloyd 7, Delorius Hixson 14, Creech 4, Stephens 2, Moton 8, Dupree, Putman 2, Bruell.
3-POINT GOALS – East Hamilton 1 (Shargraves); Ooltewah 5 (Johnson 4, Lloyd).
(Email John Hunt at tnmoose2002@aol.com)
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