For a team down by six at the half and then to outscore their opponent 41-26 in the final 16 minutes you’d expect some adjustments to have been made during intermission. That was not the case Saturday night at the Chattanooga Christian School Thanksgiving Tournament as the host Chargers defeated the Bucs of Boyd Buchanan by a score of 51 to 42.
According to Charger coach Jim Arnold, "We didn't make any adjustments at half time. We play a similar type of defense to Boyd, where we just pack it in and gap it. We told our guards to calm down and make sure of their shots. We have some boys who can shoot the ball and they needed to do just that."
"We were ice cold on three pointers in the first half – something like 0 for 10. Then in the second half we must’ve hit six or seven," Coach Arnold continued. For the record the Chargers hit a half dozen treys while the Bucs were good for six themselves.
The Bucs led at half by 16 – 10 as they forced turn-overs and made the best of their offensive rebounds on the put backs.
In the second half CCS came out looking a bit more relaxed and began to chip away at the Boyd lead. Boyd was again playing short-handed due to having several key players still in pads for their semi-final football game Friday night against Rockwood.
At the 7:05 mark in the third period the Chargers' Brandon Arnold hit the first of his treys to move his team to within three of the Bucs at 12-9. Thirty seconds later Jordan Harris made a steal and drove the length of the floor to bring the Chargers to within one point of Boyd Buchanan.
The next few minutes saw a teeter-totter on the scoreboard as the lead changed changed hands several times before Arnold hit his second three pointer to give Chattanooga Christian the lead for good at 26-24. He nailed his fourth trey at the buzzer to put CCS' lead at 31-24 to end the period.
The fourth period saw an almost even output from the two teams, however the damage had been done in the third, as CCS outscored Boyd to the tune of 21-8. This was aided by Arnold's four 3-pointers plus an additional basket from the field. Jordan Harris tacked on two baskets and Jared Swafford nailed down a three for the Chargers. Scoring leaders for CCS were Arnold with 15, Swafford with 10 and John Mark Griggs with 10, as well.
The Bucs of Boyd had one player in double digits with Zach Allen hitting for three 3's on his way to 16 points. Others with three pointers for the Bucs were Matt Hagan with two and Jess Smith with one.
Both teams will be back in action on Saturday as the tourney wraps up. Boyd Buchanan plays Hamilton Heights with the girls tipping off at 3:30 and the boys at 5 p.m. Later in the day, the host CCS girls face East Ridge at 6:30 with the boys goinfg at it at 8 p.m. in the tournament finale. All games will be played at the Chattanooga Christian School gymnasium off of Broad Street.
BBS 6..10...8..18 - 42
CCS 8...2..21..20 - 51
Individual stats (FG – 3PT – FTA/FTM TP):
BBS: Allen 3-3-7/1-16; Hagan 1-2-0/0 8; Laguire 1-0-0/0 2; Bowen 3-0-3/2 8; Glissen 0-0-6/5 5; Smith 0-1-0/0 3.
CCS: Arnold 1-4-2/1 15; Caldwell 1-0-6/4 6; Harris 3-0-4/3 9; Swafford 1-2-2/2 10; Griggs 3-0-5/4 10; Daniel; Click 0-0-2/1 1; Anderson.
Personal Fouls: BBS-17; CCS-14
Three Pointers: BBS-6; CCS-6
FTM/A: BBS-6/18; CCS- 21/15
Fouled out: BBS: Smith; CCS: Swafford
Chattanooga Christian Girls Defeat Lady Bucs, 66-24
In the opening game of Saturday's contests in the Chattanooga Christian School Thanksgiving Tournament, the host Lady Chargers used a measured passing attack and tight press to defeat a determined Boyd Buchanan Lady Bucs squad by a score of 66-24. The win came in the first game of the tournament for the Lady Chargers; Boyd had earlier defeated East Ridge this past Tuesday night.
Leading the way for CCS was Chauncey Simmons with 17 points, followed by Mercedes Owens' 14 with two three -pointers. Rounding out the Lady chargers in double digits were Meg Sabourin and Chelsea Jones with 10 apiece.
BBS 10...5...7..2 - 24
CCS 24..18..18..6 - 66
BBS: Connell 9; Taylor 6; Hughes 5; Eppinger 3; Bowen 1; Pope; Kirk; Hixson; Reno; Walker; Shull; Cupp; Witt.
CCS: Brendle; Farlett 2; Reagan 7; Holland; Dyer 2; Chauncey Simmons 17; Thedford; Mercedes Owens 14; Fikkert 4; Meg Sabourin 10; Chelsea Jones 10.
Three Point Shots: M. Owens – 2 (CCS); M. Hughes – 1 (BBS)
Personal Fouls: BBS – 9; CCS - 17
(Email Dennis Norwood at ladyvols56@att.net)