Cleveland coach Reggie Tucker knows that with his team unbeaten and ranked No. 1 in Class 3A that they are going to get everybody’s best shot any time they take the court, especially on the road.
He got that and more from host Ooltewah on Friday night, as the Blue Raiders escaped with a thrilling 60-56 District 5-3A win. The back-and-forth contest had five ties and eight lead changes, and the largest lead was just seven points by Cleveland near the end of the second quarter.
“We know we’re going to get everybody’s best shot,” said Tucker.
“Our guys know that they have a target on their back and their front. Every game we play is going to be a packed house. A lot of people want to come see us take our first ‘L’. That’s fine, our guys know that. (Ooltewah) made shots tonight; every time we felt like we were ready to make a run they made a big shot. They played well; it was a good basketball game.”
Cleveland (21-0, 7-0) entered the game averaging 71.2 points per game – 77.8 in district play – but Ooltewah’s zone defense caused problems for the Blue Raiders. They were forced to take a lot of 3-point shots, where they finished the game just 6-of-27.
Particularly cold from the floor was star JaCobi Wood, who had just five points through the first three quarters. But when Wood struggled, Grant Hurst became more aggressive offensively. The junior came out of the gate firing, hitting two of his five 3-point attempts in the first quarter.
Cleveland built an early 9-4 lead, but the Owls (9-13, 1-7) came charging back on the shoulders of junior Tarel McClurkin. The Owls finished on an 11-2 run led by McClurkin’s eight first-quarter points and led by four after one frame.
“We mixed things up a little bit (defensively), and felt like we probably did need to do a few different things with them,” said Owls coach Jay Williams. “We talked about how we couldn’t play them in third block PE and beat them; we know we can’t play an individual game against them. Everybody knows that shooting can be up or down, but defensively you can come play hard every night if you’re willing to, and I felt like we did.”
Hurst kept it rolling in the second quarter, knocking down another trifecta and scoring seven more points. He finished the game with 19.
The Blue Raiders also locked down defensively, forcing 12 turnovers by the Owls in the period. The effort was led by James Hall off the bench, who might not get a lot of attention because his impact doesn’t show up in the box score, but it certainly isn’t lost on Tucker.
“James Hall played phenomenal,” the first-year head coach said. “What he’s given us night in and night out goes unnoticed. I’ll put it this way, we’re not 21-0 without the way he’s playing. 50/50 balls, rebounding out of his area, boxing out, keeping balls alive. Those are things I look for.”
“The thing about our team is that we don’t dictate how hard we play based on whether we make shots. We’re a defensive-minded team, and I felt like our guys got after it defensively. Everything was pretty well contested, (Ooltewah) just made shots. We’re going to have bad shooting nights, our guys understand that, but we’re not going to have too many bad defensive nights.”
Cleveland held Ooltewah to just eight points in the second quarter, but two fast-break buckets by the Owls near the end of the period made the score 26-23 at the break.
After a 3-pointer by Mo Schramm to open the third quarter, Ooltewah scored the next seven points to re-take the lead. The Owls matched the Blue Raiders shot for shot, with AJ Hyndman knocking down two triples on back-to-back possessions midway through the period. Hyndman had nine of his 13 points in the quarter, and the score was knotted up at 40 heading into the final eight minutes.
With the home crowd having reached a fever pitch at the possibility of the upset, Hurst hit another 3-pointer followed by a fast-break lay-up by Wood to give Cleveland a five-point advantage and quieten them momentarily.
That would all change moments later. An injury to McClurkin under the basket led to a brief pause in the action. During the injury timeout, coaches Tucker and Williams got into an argument that led to the two having to be restrained.
That incident lit a new fire under the Owls and their student section. Led by McClurkin, Ooltewah went on an 8-2 run to wrestle the lead back with 3:34 to play. McClurkin finished with a game-high 25 points, including nine in the final quarter.
But Cleveland’s veteran presence kept them poised, and they responded. Schramm headed the Blue Raider attack, scoring eight of his team-high 20 points in the period. Wood also began to find a few holes in the Owls’ defense, scoring eight himself down the stretch to finish with 13.
Despite running out to a six-point lead with a minute to play, the Owls wouldn’t go away. Deleon Petty hit a corner 3-ball to draw Ooltewah back to within three points. After exchanging free throws, the Owls found themselves with the ball and a one-possession game with 17.6 seconds to play.
Coming out of a timeout, the Owls were unable to get a 3-point look to tie the game, forcing Petty to drive baseline. The sophomore was fouled as his shot just fell off the rim short. He made one of his two free throws to cut the gap to two points, and Wood sealed the game for Cleveland seconds later as he made both of his free throws for the final four-point margin.
“We’ve got some veteran guys who kept their composure,” said Tucker. “They’ve been in fights like this before, so there’s nothing new to them. On the bench their composure never changed and they never got rattled, they just kept competing.”
Williams’ squad has lost a bevy of close district games – five of their seven losses have been by ten points or less – but he hopes this narrow defeat will lead to a renewed confidence.
“I just told them after the game that I was proud of them and that they played really hard. That’s what we ask of them; we hope to play well, but we expect to play hard,” he said. “I asked them before the game how many of them had played against a No. 1-ranked team, and of course only a couple of the coaches had. I told them this is fun, enjoy it. There are a lot of people in the stands, Cleveland always brings a lot of people. That’s what it’s all about. I wish we could’ve won, but ten years from now they can tell stories about how they battled the heck out of the number one team in the state.”
Cleveland hosts rival Bradley Central – who they beat 94-77 on December 13 – in a game that will most likely determine the regular season district champ. Ooltewah starts the week by hosting Class 2A McMinn Central before traveling to district rival East Hamilton on Friday.
Cleveland Girls 50, Ooltewah 16: The Lady Raiders overcame a slow offensive start to score 21 points in the fourth quarter on their way to a comfortable victory. They were led by Kara Williams, who had 12 points on four 3-pointers.
The game got off to a sluggish start for both teams, with Cleveland (15-7, 6-1) leading just 15-7 at halftime. The Lady Raiders extended that lead to 16 after three quarters against a young Ooltewah team (3-13, 0-7) looking for their first district win.
Faith O’Donnell tried to keep the Lady Owls close in the third period, where she hit two of her three from behind the arc. O’Donnell led Ooltewah with 11 points.
Cleveland put the game away in the fourth quarter, outscoring Ooltewah 21-3. The Lady Raiders showdown with Bradley Central next Tuesday night will be for the top spot in the district.
GIRLS GAME SUMMARY
CLEVELAND 7 8 14 21 -- 50
OOLTEWAH 4 3 6 3 -- 16
CLEVELAND (50) – Kara Williams 12, Person 7, M. Williams 6, Hurst 5, Alvorado 5, Chestnutt 3, Drake 3, Moore 3, Moody 2, Jackson 2, Anderson 2, Lee, Rouse, Tanner.
OOLTEWAH (16) – Faith O’Donnell 11, Bernier 2, Casteel 1, Thompson 1, Sutton 1, Poland, Tharp, I-Garcia, Collier, Soto, Turman, Dillard.
3-POINT GOALS: Cleveland 6 (K. Williams 4, M. Williams 2); Ooltewah 3 (O’Donnell 3).
BOYS GAME SUMMARY
CLEVELAND 11 15 14 20 -- 60
OOLTEWAH 15 8 17 16 -- 56
CLEVELAND (60) – Mo Schramm 20, Grant Hurst 19, Jacobi Wood 13, McGowan 5, Hall 2, Dale 1, Whaley.
OOLTEWAH (56) – Tarel McClurkin 25, AJ Hyndman 13, Deleon Petty 12, Williams 4, Sims 2, Haynes, McHone, Mackaluso.
3-POINT GOALS: Cleveland 6 (Hurst 4, Schramm, McGowan); Ooltewah 8 (McClurkin 3, Petty 3, Hyndman 2).
(Contact Kevin Llewallyn at Kevin.llewallyn@gmail.com)