When Chandler Jackson wants to get to the rim, he rarely drives straight-ahead without a plan. Northwest Whitfield’s point guard flashed his exceptional skills late in the Bruin’s 68-63 win at Signal Mountain. With the game tied at 59 apiece, Jackson had the ball at the top of the three-point line, but a long-distance shot was not on his mind.
Instead, he crossed the ball over from his left hand into his right, simultaneously moving laterally and toward the rim.
Jackson followed this move with a slight hesitation, freezing the Eagle’s zone just enough for him to spot an opening. Jackson quickly moved into this void and converted the right-handed layup, breaking the tie, and leading Northwest a thrilling 68-63 road win.
“Chandler is really quick with the basketball, and he’s a gym rat so he knows what he needs to do to get to the rim,” Whitfield coach Ryan Richards said. “He made some big baskets down the stretch to keep us in the game, and then to take the lead.”
If one had only watched the first few minutes of the game, the final score would have seemed comically low after witnessing brilliant shooting by both teams. During one hectic series, Northwest’s Jack Brock nailed a triple from the corner, followed by Signal Mountain’s Andrew Matukewicz’s accurate bomb from downtown on the very next possession.
In response, Whitfield’s Will Buckner dropped in a trey, which was followed by a Braeden Wolford three-pointer, which was quickly answered by a Buckner shot from the corner. This awesome display of shooting roused the crowd for the time being, but afterwards both teams were much cooler from beyond the three point arc.
“They’re high-school kids, so they are going to be streaky at times,” coach Richards said. “So when they’re hot, you want to ride them as long as you can and hopefully they’ll get back on. We are trying to find that consistency within the game.”
The rest of the game was a blur of layups and full-court traps. Whitfield’s athletic forward Payton Baker occasionally tried to exert himself around the rim, but the majority of his time on the floor, was spent finding openings to knife for put backs and other acrobatic layups. The Bruins consistently ran a play where Baker would run off a screen at the top of arc, and then take a pass as he began to go downhill, giving him momentum as he attacked the rim.
Meanwhile, Signal Mountain’s Braeden Wolford and Jermaine Stinson decided to take up volleyball in the second and third quarters, tipping the ball at the rim after misses until one of them managed to guide the ball through over the rim and through the twine.
Stinson was also a presence in the open court as the recipient of long passes from Zach Ottley and the other Signal Mountain guards. Meanwhile, Wolford had 10 of his game-high 22 points in the quarter and looked downright Shaq-like on the baseline.
Fourth quarter action saw the Bruins hold Wolford to four points and thus neutralizing Signal’s size advantage. Whitfield’s aggressive trap was never more effective than in those last eight minutes, especially with Jackson as the floor general. He pick the pocket of Eagles’ players several times and mostly denied the Signal Mountain’s ability to get in to their half-court game.
“We’re really small, so we have to do that and use our quickness, because their big kid gave us problems,” coach Richards said. “Once we get some of our football kids, that will remedy that a little bit. Quickness has to be out game though, because that’s who we are.”
After Jackson’s lay-up to give Whitfield the lead for good, Payton Baker added one more lay-up before the Bruins iced the game at the free throw line. According to Bruin coach Richards, the game was the kind his team needed to win.
“We graduated all five starters last year, and so to see this group come and play well in a tight game like this, they needed that. They kept their composure and made the right plays. I was proud to see that.”
BOY’S STATISTICS
NW WHITFIELD 19 15 11 23 - 68
SIGNAL MOUNTAIN 15 16 18 14 - 63
NW WHITFIELD (68): Chandler Jackson 17, Jack Brock 3, Zander Trody 4, Gabriel Perez 3, Tytus Ramsey 3, Will Anderson 1, Damien Seritt 2, Will Buckner 13, Payton Baker 15, Collin Hall 7
SIGNAL MOUNTAIN (63): Andrew Matukewicz 12, Benjamin Burns 4, Braden Wolford 22, Zach Ottley 5, Ben Timblin 2, Malik Davis 1, Jermaine Stinson 9, Sam Witherspoon 8
Signal Mountain girls 39, NW Whitfield 19
Olivia Koontz and Cassidy Pawson were exceptional for Signal Mountain their 39-19 win over Northwest Whitfield. Koontz was immovable on defense and under the boards, often starting the fast break with an outlet pass after forcing a miss and gobbling up the rebound. Her presence on the floor was the main reason Signal Mountain held the Bruins to just three points in the first quarter.
With Koontz on the bench with fould trouble for most of the second quarter, Whitfield made a bit of a run behind guard Whitley Chumley. She scored one of her buckets on a post-up long two from the wing, and then put back another Whitfield miss to make the score more manageable. Her seven points led the team.
The second half was all Eagles, and the fourth quarter belonged to Pawson. She zipped from baseline to baseline in search of shots, and she was rewarded with more than a few layups and open shots. Her game-high 15 points came within the flow of the offense, and eight of those were tallied in the fourth quarter.
GIRL’S STATISTICS
NW WHITFIELD 03 08 02 06 - 19
SIGNAL MOUNTAIN 08 06 08 16 - 39
NW WHITFIELD (19): Mia Jewell 2, Emma Allea 2, Callie White 2, Courtney Jones 3, Whitley Chumley 7, Haley Fisher 3
SIGNAL MOUNTAIN (39): Janie Kennedy 3, Jaylah Hardy 2, Emily Redman 2, Cassidy Pawson 15,
Harmony McCarter 6, Olivia Koontz 11
(Email Joseph Dycus at joseph.a.dycus@gmail.com)