The Rhea County boys' basketball team doesn't have a lot of experience coming back for the 2019-2020 basketball season. But what they do have is one very passionate, energetic leader in senior Ricky Guthrie, and a team full of guys who feed off of his energy and are hungry to win.
The Eagles pounded the ball inside to Guthrie throughout Thursday night's Hall of Champions game against Ooltewah, and the big man rewarded his team with a game-high 28 points, leading them to a 59-45 victory over the host Owls.
“(Ricky) is just a force,” said Eagles coach Daniel Curtis. “They all love him and rally around him. They feed off of Ricky; if he's doing good, we're all doing good. And they're proud as heck for him, they don't care. It's a very unselfish group, just a good group of kids.”
Curtis feels that one positive aspect of his team's lack of experience — the Eagles have six seniors, but only a couple of players who have played at the varsity level — is that there are no egos and that everyone is pulling in the same direction.
“They feel like they're all in this together,” Curtis said. “It's like going into a fight, and you know you need help, and Ricky's the help they've got.”
Rhea County (1-1) jumped out to a quick 12-6 lead midway through the first quarter, as Guthrie scored eight early points. But the hot shooting of Ooltewah's AJ Hyndman kept his team in it as the Owls (1-2) closed the quarter on a 9-5 run to trail by just two.
Hyndman went 2-of-5 from behind the arc in the period, and finished 5-of-11 for a team-high 21 points.
It was a see-saw battle in the second quarter, with Ooltewah taking the lead briefly after an eight-point spurt. There were three ties and three lead-changes in the quarter, as Rhea County took a slim one-point margin into the locker room behind Guthrie's 16 first-half points.
“I just have to be physical down low, and help my guys run the offense,” said Guthrie. “If it weren't for the offense, I wouldn't score all of those points, so I give credit to my point guard and my coach who got me there.”
Rhea County came out of halftime and jumped on the home team, using an 8-0 run of their own to open up a nine-point lead.
Again it was Hyndman who steadied the Owls, knocking down two huge treys to pull his team back to within four. Employing a full-court press, Ooltewah forced a couple of Eagles' turnovers that led to easy buckets, and Rhea County's margin was back to three heading into the final frame.
The fourth quarter was dominated by the Eagles' intensity on the defensive end of the floor, and Guthrie on offense. The Eagles allowed just one basket in the quarter, and the fiery senior scored another eight points to help his team pull away for the victory.
Rhea County played mostly a zone defense, switching to man-to-man on a few occasions. The Eagles kept the Owls out of the paint most of the night, forcing contested 3's, where everyone but Hyndman shot just 1-for-11. Rhea County only allowed 17 points in the second half, much to Curtis' surprise.
“I didn't know it was under 20; that makes me grin a little bit,” said Curtis. “We rotated really well, and we got the shots from them that we wanted and rebounded it pretty good.”
“That defense has come a long way,” Guthrie said. “About a week before the season started, Coach Curtis put us through boot camp. That was physical, and got us ready for the defensive side of the ball. We're a small team, and we're young, and we just need to continue to get more physical, rebound the ball better, and get after the ball and leave some skin on the court.”
For Ooltewah, they have played up-and-down in the early part of this season, with a win over Notre Dame and a hard-fought loss to McCallie earlier in the week. But head coach Jay Williams is optimistic that his team is on the right track, and has plenty of talent that will mesh as the season progresses.
“Rhea County is very well coached and plays really hard, and I don't think we matched their intensity tonight,” admitted Williams. “We have to learn to show up and have great practices every day.”
“But it's still early and there's no panic or anything. We just have to keep doing good things consistently, and play through the bad times. We need to develop a personality we're comfortable with, and we haven't done that yet. What we also have to do is play with a lot of intensity and play really hard. That means a lot at any level, but especially the high school level.”
Hunter Hill scored 12 points for the Eagles, while teammate Hunter Brady chipped in ten. Tarel McClurkin scored 12 for the Owls.
RHEA COUNTY GIRLS 80, OOLTEWAH 21: Five Lady Eagles scored in double digits, led by Haley Cameron's 17 points, as Rhea County cruised to an easy win over the Lady Owls. After opening up a 15-point lead through a quarter, the Lady Eagles put the game away in the second, taking a 51-13 lead into halftime.
Joining Cameron in double-figure scoring for Rhea County were Maddie Taylor with 15, Mallory Hampton with 12, and Macy Welch and Emma Gentry with ten apiece.
MacKenzie Bernier led the Lady Owls with seven points.
GIRLS SUMMARY
RHEA COUNTY 22 29 24 5 – 80
OOLTEWAH 7 6 2 6 – 21
RHEA COUNTY (80) – Cameron 17, Maddie Taylor 15, Hampton 12, Welch 10, Gentry 10, Smith 4, Patton 3, Conley 3, Mathis 2, Tran 2, McClure 2, Reeves, Kaitlyn Taylor, Tankersley.
OOLTEWAH (21) – Bernier 7, Thompson 5, Tharp 5, O'Donnell 4, Casteel, Gatica, I-Garcia, Collier, Sutton, Soto, Turman, Dillard.
3-POINT GOALS: Rhea County 9 (Cameron 2, Maddie Taylor 2, Welch 2, Gentry, Patton, Conley); Ooltewah 1 (Tharp).
BOYS SUMMARY
RHEA COUNTY 17 12 12 18 – 59
OOLTEWAH 15 13 10 7 – 45
RHEA COUNTY (59) – Guthrie 28, Hill 12, Brady 10, Rekoske 4, Kuer 4, Waldo 1, Allen, Brackett, Vincent.
OOLTEWAH (45) – Hyndman 21, McClurkin 12, Petty 6, Corbin 4, Moore 1, Sims 1, Haynes, Williams, McHone, Serven, Mackaluso.
3-POINT GOALS: Rhea County 1 (Rekoske); Ooltewah 6 (Hyndman 5, Petty).