Jeffrey Grimes knew long before he got to Chattanooga that his Copper Basin Cougars were facing an uphill battle at Chattanooga Prep.
After all, the Sentinels have a veteran basketball team loaded with experienced players who just happen to be the defending state champions in Class A. Grimes has a young team with nowhere near the experience that Prep presented.
The game was played at Chattanooga Prep before an unusually small crowd. Copper Basin may have had more fans present than the home team, but none of that mattered.
The Sentinels cruised to their 19th win as they improved to 19-8 overall and atop District 5-A with a perfect 4-0 mark in the 72-19 victory that took just over an hour to complete and had a running clock in the fourth quarter after Prep’s lead had surpassed 35 points.
“We knew the odds were against us before we walked in here as they are an experienced team with very few weaknesses,” said Grimes after the Cougars dropped to 5-16 overall and 1-5 in district play.
“After all, they are the defending state champions and have a great shot to win it again. We just wanted to play hard the entire time and get some valuable experience for these young guys. We were able to do just that, so I’m happy about that,” he added.
Prep coach Christian Collins was happy with what he saw for the most part. There were times when some of his guys tried to get too fancy on the court in ways that didn’t work, but he knows that this is just a process and that continuing to get better remains their number-one goal.
“I’m pleased for the most part. All of my guys who played contributed and they all scored, but we still have to play the game the right way,” he nodded.
“It doesn’t matter if it’s your sister, your mother or your granddaddy, you still have to play hard and do what is required to be successful. Hats off to Copper Basin as they played their hearts out for the whole game. I greatly appreciate them coming all the way down here to play.
“Now we have to get ready for Austin East as they will be here Saturday night,” Collins smiled.
Joel Bulis, Cadence Collins and Austin Jones all scored on layups to start the game before A.J. Pera scored on a putback for the Cougars.
By the time Carder Lance swished a 40-footer at the end of the first quarter, the Prep lead was 22-5.
The Sentinels seemed to score almost at will and that 17-point lead just kept stretching as they were comfortably ahead 39-12 at intermission.
It was much of the same in the third stanza as Copper Basin got a layup from Lance midway through and then another long one when the quarter ended as the Prep lead was 57-17 with eight minutes remaining.
Cason Hawkins came off the bench to score on a short jumper to start the fourth quarter, but those were the final points for Copper Basin as the Sentinels finished the game on a 15-0 run.
Collins scored 17 points on the strength of four 3s to lead the winners while teammates Austin Jones and Marc Jones were also in double figures with 11 and 10 points, respectively.
Jayden Parker followed with nine points while Ta’Suade Williams and Bulis both finished with eight.
Lance was tops for the Cougars with 11.
The Sentinels also had an unofficial 36-14 edge in rebounds as Williams grabbed 11 and Bulis eight for the winners. Talon Smith and Pera both had four for Copper Basin.
While the Sentinels will be at home on Saturday to host Austin East, they return to district action on Monday and Tuesday when they travel to CSLA on Monday before hosting Sale Creek on Tuesday.
COPPER BASIN 5 7 5 2 – 19
CHATTANOOGA PREP 22 17 18 15 -- 72
COPPER BASIN (19) – Hawkins 2, Hamby, Pera 2, Crowder, Carder Lance 11, Smith 1, Parris, Cearley 3.
CHATTANOOGA PREP (72) – Sutton 4, Cadence Collins 17, Williams 8, Austin Jones 11, Craig 5, Parker 9, Marc Jones 10, Bulis 8.
3-POINT GOALS: Copper Basin 2 (Lance 2); Chattanooga Prep 7 (Collins 4, Williams, A. Jones, Craig).
(email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@gmail.com)