Soddy-Daisy Seniors Put on Show in Home Finale

Morgan Paces Sale Creek Girls To Get Split

  • Friday, February 14, 2020
  • James Beach

It wasn’t a thing of beauty, but it was a ton of fun for the Soddy-Daisy Trojans celebrating Senior Night Friday.

Of course, beauty is always in the eye of the beholder and for the six senior men of Troy celebrating their final tips inside the Soddy-Daisy Gymnasium last night; Picasso couldn’t have painted a better picture if the artist had a paint-by-number scheme to work with.

“That was fun for sure.

To be able to walk off the court after all we’ve been through together these last few years and do so with that kind of a win; it was perfect,” said Seth Coffelt following the 74-35 win in the community gathering with cross-town rival Sale Creek.

Of course, having to navigate the tough 5-AAA waters which house the top ship in the state of Tennessee’s top class in Cleveland along with a host of other big predators, being the big fish in the small pond was just what the doctor ordered as a going away gift for the seniors.

“We just came out have a good time tonight, and to play the way we knew were capable,” added big man Jamie Jackson.

Added Braxton Reid: “Been through a lot with these guys, and we finally got one we could enjoy and did so.”

The Trojans, who went 0-12 in league play, came out strong and put the pedal to the metal in the late going to secure their largest margin of victory of the regular season and give them some momentum heading into next Wednesday’s tourney opener against Ooltewah.

Soddy-Daisy (8-18) jumped to an 8-0 lead at the start, led 15-3 after the break and canned 11 3-pointers on the night with eight different players hitting one including four of the seniors.

“I thought we took really good shots, especially early on. A lot of good movement got us a lot of clean looks, and on the flip side, I thought we got our hands in their faces on most of their looks. It was a good night for this senior crew,” said Trojan coach Bill Eller.

The Panthers (5-18) suffered their worst loss of the season and did so largely because of their inability to solve the Trojan zone defense which held them to just eight field goals, including just two in the final half.

“Coach Eller had us ready. That man can coach, and I’m glad he is on our side. Our zone defense was big tonight,” said Tyan Massengale, another of the senior crew.

Soddy-Daisy pushed it all the way out to 30-7 on the strength of two Will Ackerman treys and a 3 ball and layup from Zack Ryans, both seniors. Sale Creek’s Jackson Greer scored seven points to help fuel a 9-0 Panther run before Jackson nailed a 3 at the halftime buzzer to end it 33-16 at the intermission.

The Panthers didn’t score a field goal in the third period, though, and went a full 12 minutes of playing time from the end of the second quarter until 5:17 of the final period between field goals. Only a slew of free throws attempts – 39 in all – provided the Panthers with any semblance of an offense.

The game took a church league game look most of the second half as Soddy-Daisy wound being whistled for 25 fouls and Sale Creek 18. During the third period alone, neither team was able to run more than 55 seconds off the playing clock before it was interrupted with a free throw attempt.

For the game, Sale Creek made 18 of 39 charity tosses and the Trojans hit on seven of 18. A 15-4 spurt in the final period in which Soddy-Daisy racked up 29 points made it a route. Sale Creek also wound up committing 21 turnovers for the night.

“We got some good looks and knocked them down when we had them,” said Aiden Gooden of the 11 of 20 shooting behind the arc for the Trojans attested.

“On defense, we really clogged up the middle and tried to force them to shoot it from the outside,” added Braxton Reid.

To which the final senior Addison Cabe summed it up perfectly by adding: “We got it done on both ends of the court.”

Will Ackerman led the winners with 12 but got help from Will Ricketts with 10 and Massengale with another 10 as 12 Trojans found the scoring column. Sale Creek was led by Greer’s 10.

Sale Creek girls 35, Soddy-Daisy 33: The young Lady Panthers have been one of the surprise stories of the basketball season, having already clinched a No. 2 seed in the upcoming 5-AA tourney and have won 10 of their last 12 to improve to 14-10 on the season, but last night wasn’t one to write home about.

Sale Creek did what young teams sometimes do, and a combination of 27 turnovers for the game almost cost them in the end, but thankfully they had sophomore Keilyn Morgan to do the heavy lifting. Morgan, who was held to just two free throws in the first half, took over in crunch time, scoring nine of the Lady Panther’s 11 fourth-quarter points and finished with a game-high 15 to go along with a 17-rebound haul.

“I didn’t play very well in that first half,” Morgan shook her head. “But thankfully they play two halves. We have to be better than what we were tonight, but we know that. A lot of things to work on, but we are excited about the tournament.”

Soddy-Daisy led 28-25 midway through the final period and with its pressure bothering Sale Creek, it looked pretty good for the home team, but Morgan’s assist for an easy backdoor cut to Kayla Phillips cut it 28-27 and Morgan knotted it with a made free throw with 3:24 left. From there, Morgan and Soddy-Daisy’s Bailey Branham swapped goals and then Morgan put them up for good with a shot in the lane at the 1:55 mark.

The big sophomore then made it 34-30 after a pair of missed free throws by the Lady Trojans. Soddy-Daisy got a huge 3-pointer from Kensey Brown with 19 seconds left to pull within 34-33, but didn’t get a foul called until five seconds remained, and Morgan sank one of two freebies to give Sale Creek its second two-point win over its rival this year.

Branham led Soddy-Daisy with nine points.

GIRLS SUMMARY
 
SALE CREEK        7    13     4    11  –    35
SODDY-DAISY     11     5   10     7   –    33
 
SALE CREEK (35) –
Phillips 7, L. Morgan, Welch 5, Keilyn Morgan 15, Preston, Jones 8, Defore.
SODDY-DAISY (33) – Crawley 7, Brown 3, May, Harding, Lemacks 1, Branham 9, Trimiar 4, Hamby, Sneed 4, Collins, Morgan 2, Yother 1.
3-POINT GOALS: Sale Creek 4 (Jones 2, Welch, Phillips); Soddy-Daisy 2 (Crawley, Brown).
 
BOYS SUMMARY
 
SALE CREEK         3     13     5    14  –   35
SODDY-DAISY     15     18   14    29  –   74
 
SALE CREEK (35) –
Wilson 3, Roberts 5, Nutt 3, Jackson Greer 10, Smith 2, Adakins 3, Penny 3, Howard, Loomis 2, Brown 4.
SODDY-DAISY (74) – Will Ackerman 12, Smith, Ryans 5, Tyan Massengale 10, Gooden 4, Bry. Reid 3, Cabe 5, Coffelt 8, Patterson 3, Logan Ricketts 10, Conley, Brax. Reid 5, Sims 4, Swearengin, Jackson 5.
3-POINT GOALS: Sale Creek 1 (Greer); Soddy-Daisy 11 (Ackerman 3, Massengale 2, Ryans, Gooden, Bry.Reid, Patterson, Brax.Reid, Jackson)

Contact James Beach via email at 1134james@gmail.com or Twitter @beachnut1134)

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