The Chattanooga Prep Sentinels are within striking distance of reaching their ultimate goal for the current high school basketball season.
The Sentinels won their first state title a year ago without a senior on the team and they made a promise to themselves that they would do all in their power to make it back-to-back titles this season.
The Sentinels breezed to victory in District 5-A with very little challenges and they’ve been breezing ever since, winning the district and region tournaments without a problem and then the sectional championship on Monday night at home when they eliminated the Clay County Bulldogs by an impressive 71-45 final.
The TSSAA has already issued the brackets for the boys tournament and Chattanooga Prep is scheduled to play its first game on Wednesday, March 19 at noon Chattanooga time against Santa Fe. a really good team entering with a 28-3 record.
The Sentinels struggled at the start of the season as they faced some really tough teams and lost more than they won, but it’s been all wins for the last few weeks as their winning streak is now 13 straight games with their last setback against Hamilton Heights.
But now that all of the preliminary stuff is out of the way, the Sentinels can concentrate on that next big step, which will begin in Murfreesboro at MTSU’s Murphy Center on Wednesday, March 19.
Chattanooga Prep coach Christian Collins wasn’t real happy with the way his team played last Thursday when they whipped Van Buren County for the region title as he felt like his kids didn’t do a very thorough job of following the scouting report.
That was a different story on Monday as the Sentinels bolted to an early lead, trailed for less than a minute midway through the first quarter and basically had their way with the Bulldogs, who were simply no match for the more athletic Chattanooga Prep team.
“I’m really proud of these guys as they did a good job of following the scouting report and played much more disciplined basketball,” Collins said while members of his team were taking turns cutting down the net on one end of the court.
“We weren’t picture-perfect by any stretch, but we used our depth and that was a big difference. We want to keep fresh legs on the court at all times so we can maintain an upbeat tempo, but I just wanted my guys to keep their foot on the gas pedal tonight.
“I think we finally wore them down in the second half. But we’re going back to the Glass House where we need to win three more games,” the personable coach nodded with a smile.
Clay County coach Rob Edwards was somewhat concerned about the defensive pressure that his team would be facing, knowing that rebounds and turnovers would play a big role in which team prevailed.
“I’ve been better,” Edwards said shortly after exiting the Clay County dressing room following the game.
“We had too many early turnovers and that allowed them to pull away. Those guys are really good and they played well in transition.
“But when you don’t rebound, things can get out of control in a hurry,” he added.
A putback by Joel Bulis and a layup following a steal by Austin Jones allowed the Sentinels to grab the early 4-0 lead in the first minute of the game.
Nolan Adams sank a 3 with 5:54 left in the first quarter for the Bulldogs before Lance Burchett tied it by hitting the first of two free throws 30 seconds later.
Two more charity tosses by Nate Adams gave Clay County a 6-4 lead, but that didn’t last long as Jones swished a 3 with 4:46 to play and the Sentinels added seven more unanswered points for a 14-6 lead with 2:53 left in the opening stanza.
Two free throws by Adams in the final minute trimmed the difference to 19-13 when the first quarter ended.
Hayden Adams scored on a putback to start the second as the Bulldogs got within four with 6:37 to play, but Prep then scored six straight points and kept adding to the lead before taking a 38-25 lead into the dressing room at intermission following a pair of buckets by Cadence Collins in the last 27 seconds.
Six straight points by the Sentinels at the start of the third stanza made it 44-25 with 6:06 showing and it never got any closer.
It was 54-37 when the fourth quarter started and that’s when Collins starting letting the subs play.
Adams sank two free throws with 6:03 remaining to get the Bulldogs within 18 at 59-41, but the Sentinels finished the game on a 12-4 run to win without a problem.
Bulis had an outstanding game for the winners as he finished with 16 points and nine rebounds as his team had an unofficial 31-19 advantage on the glass.
Collins followed with a dozen while Derrick Roberson and Romel Koon were also in double figures with 11 and 10 points, respectively.
Adams was the only Clay County player in double figures as he finished with 25. He also had five rebounds.
Chattanooga Prep improves to 26-8 overall while the Bulldogs finish another fine season at 29-9.
SECTIONAL SUMMARY
CLAY COUNTY 13 12 12 8 -- 45
CHATTANOOGA PREP 19 19 16 17 -- 71
CLAY CO. (45) – Burchett 5, Nate Adams 25, H. Adams 2, Eads 7, Nolan Adams 3, Melton 3, Villa, Copeland, Hayes, Strong, Copeland, Burnette.
CHATTANOOGA PREP (71) – Sutton, Cadence Collins 12, Watkins 2, Williams 4, A.Jones 8, Craig 2, Bowman 5, Parker, Romel Koon 10, M. Jones 1, Joel Bulis 16, Derrick Roberson 11.
3-POINT GOALS: Clay Co. 7 (N. Adams 3, Burchett, Eads, Nolan Adams, Melton); Chattanooga Prep 3 (A. Jones 2, Collins).
(Email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@gmail.com)