Silverdale Girls Stun Notre Dame In Overtime

CCS Boys Roll To 72-37 Victory Over Notre Dame In D-II District 2-A Final

  • Saturday, February 9, 2019
  • John Hunt
Silverdale's Laney Bone and Notre Dame's Kelci Sparks fight for a  rebound Friday night in the girls championship game.
Silverdale's Laney Bone and Notre Dame's Kelci Sparks fight for a rebound Friday night in the girls championship game.
photo by Sara Davick

The results are in for the first high school district basketball tournament, which was the Division II, District 2-A action at Notre Dame’s Jim Phifer Gymnasium on Friday night.

One championship game was close while the other was a complete blowout.  All teams playing for championships will be at home on Monday (boys) and Tuesday (girls) while the teams in the consolation games will be on the road those two days.

The girls championship game between top-seeded Notre Dame and second-seeded Silverdale was simply.  So great, in fact, that they had to play an extra four-minute overtime period to decide the winner, but when the final horn had sounded, the Lady Seahawks were winners by a 51-45.

The boys championship game was anything but close as the top-ranked Chattanooga Christian Chargers simply had their way with Notre Dame.  With the mercy rule in effect during the final quarter, the Chargers rolled to a 72-37 victory.

In consolation games that started the day, the CCS girls defeated Grace by a 54-44 final while the Boyd-Buchanan boys had little trouble defeating Silverdale by a 68-44 final.

GIRLS CHAMPIONSHIP: Silverdale had leads of 2-0 and 4-3 in the first two minutes, but the Lady Irish scored six straight points for a 9-4 lead and a 13-8 advantage at the first break.

Silverdale finally regained the lead with 4:36 left in the fourth when Becca Lamb’s layup gave the Lady Seahawks the upper hand at 31-30.  Lamb scored again a minute later for a 33-31 edge before Notre Dame’s Kate Ford scored five straight for a 36-33 lead with 2:24 to play.

Lamb’s 3 from the wing gave Silverdale a 38-37 lead with 1:24 to go and the Lady Seahawks had a chance to put the game out of reach, but they sank only one of four free throws in the next minute to keep Notre Dame within striking distance.  Two of those misses were on the front ends of bonus situations.

Mackenzie Johnson, who had a phenomenal game with 20 points and 19 rebounds, knotted the score at 39 with 12 seconds to play.

A Silverdale turnover gave Notre Dame possession with 6.4 seconds and a chance to win, but Lamb blocked a shot by Ford at the buzzer to send the game into overtime.

Johnson scored again to start the extra period, but Tessa Gibson canned a 3 with 3:26 to play and Silverdale never trailed again as they made enough free throws to keep Notre Dame at bay.

“What a game,” exclaimed Silverdale coach Victor Underwood after his girls had beaten the Lady Irish for the first time in three tries.

“I thought we were resilient all night long as we just had to grind it out, but we didn’t let our cold shooting dictate our defense.  We didn’t have an answer for the Johnson girl, but shots finally started falling at the end.  We still learning and growing as we go, but I just think we may have wanted it more tonight,” he said after his team had improved to 20-7 with the win.

Notre Dame coach Jason Hill offered similar comments.

“That was a great game, but Silverdale made some big plays late.  We put them on the free throw line way too many times as we were fouling instead of contesting.

“That was a tough experience, but we just didn’t do our job defensively.  I’m still proud of our effort as we were there and had our chances to win, but we’re both moving on and that’s what counts,” he nodded.

Marlee Montgomery scored 15 points and was one of three Silverdale players in double figures.  Lamb followed with 14 while Laney Bone had 10.

Johnson had 20 to lead everyone while Ford finished with 15.

Notre Dame had an unofficial 36-34 edge in rebounds as Johnson snagged 19 and Ford nine.  Bone and Lamb had 12 and 10 boards for the Lady Seahawks, respectively, while Montgomery snagged seven.

BOYS CHAMPIONSHIP: Notre Dame had played perhaps their best game of the year on Thursday in a stirring victory over Boyd-Buchanan, but the Fighting Irish couldn’t match that same success 24 hours later.

The top-ranked Chargers made sure this one was never close.

CCS scored the first 12 points of the game and 20 of the first 24.  The difference at the end of one stanza was 21-7 and it never got any closer.  It was 38-15 at intermission and 60-24 at the end of three, at which point the mercy rule was employed for a running clock in the final eight minutes.

CCS coach Eddie Salter must have challenged his team before the game started because they came out with fire in their eyes and they quickly eliminated any ideas of a second-straight upset by Notre Dame.

Other than the win over Baylor, Friday’s game may have been the best game of the season for CCS.  At least, in terms of importance.

“I thought we played very well in the first half as we got off to a great start and didn’t look back,” Salter said after his team improved to 22-3 on the season.

“The intensity on defense was there as the kids really stepped it up tonight.  I’m proud of the effort from beginning to end.  Our goal was to get out of the gate in a hurry and we did.  We were mentally and physically focused and ready to play,” Salter added.

Notre Dame coach Jonathan Adams knew the odds were against his team being able to match Thursday’s results, but he knew that’s what the Irish had to have to stand a chance.

It never materialized.

“We just totally got our tails whipped as they executed better and played harder.  We got outcoached and outplayed, so I’ll take part of that responsibility,” he said after his team dropped to 16-14 overall.

“We had a real dogfight with Boyd-Buchanan and I knew we’d have to have similar effort tonight, but our reward for last night was playing the best team in the tournament.

“I’m proud that we got to this point and I’m happy that we play at home in our next game, but I’m really disappointed in our effort.  We played hard, but just didn’t play smart.  I guess we just didn’t have anything left in our tank,” he concluded.

John Rhodes and Jackson Hilger both had 13 points to lead the Chargers while Michael Houge and Mondo Ellison were also in double figures with 12 and 10 points, respectively.

Derwin Lewis was tops for Notre Dame with 10 points.  Bryson Smith was next with eight.

CCS also had a 28-14 advantage on the boards.  Ellison snagged nine and Houge six for the winners while Tarik Nelson had three to lead the Irish.

GIRLS CHAMPIONSHIP SUMMARY

SILVERDALE  8  7  9  15  12  --  51

NOTRE DAME  13  7  8  11  6  --  45

SILVERDALE (51) – Canter 2, Lamb 14, Hoover, Bone 10, Renegar 3, Gibson 8, Montgomery 15.

NOTRE DAME (45) – Sheppard 3, Ford 15, Sparks 2, Johnson 20, Bird 2, Fillauer 3.

3-POINT GOALS: Silverdale 3 (Lamb, Renegar, Gibson); Notre Dame 4 (Sheppard, Ford 2, Fillauer).

BOYS CHAMPIONSHIP SUMMARY

NOTRE DAME  7  8  9  13  --  37

CHATTANOOGA CHRISTIAN  21 17  22  12  --  72

NOTRE DAME (37) – Jones 3, Nelson 4, Wittler, Beard 2, Lewis 10, Robinson 5, Osbourne 2, Smith 8, Summitt, Price, Vaughn, Wilkerson 3, Greer.

CCS (72) – Davenport 6, Rhodes 13, Van Meter 8, Ellison 10, Houge 12, Hilger 13, Tre. Scott 8, Hinton, Young, Sinor, Jones, Tra. Scott 2.

3-POINT GOALS: Notre Dame 5 (Jones, Lewis 2, Robinson, Smith); CCS 5 (Davenport 2, Rhodes, Ellison, Hilger).

GIRLS CONSOLATION SUMMARY

GRACE  6  16  8  14  --  44

CHATTANOOGA CHRISTIAN  12  14  12  16  --  54

GRACE (44) -- Long 4, Smith 6, Wiest 4, Gonzales 9, Rush, Morgan 14, Fulgham 7, Ateca, Wood.

CCS (54) – Mary Vandergriff 9, Madison Vandergriff 8, Blevins 3, Henry 8, Davick, Brady, Zidan, Ricketts 11, Walker 2, Youell, Dirkse 13, Lowe.

3-POINT GOALS: Grace 1 (Gonzales); CCS 4 (Mary Vandergriff, Blevins, Henry 2).

BOYS CONSOLATION SUMMARY

SILVERDALE  8  8  14  14  --  44

BOYD-BUCHANAN  18  12  14  24  --  68

SILVERDALE (44) – Sanders 20, S. Bambrey 1, Rogers, B. Bambrey 8, Kelley 2, Rogers 11, Delaschmitt, Neal 2.

BOYD-BUCHANAN (68) – Evans 13, Edmondson 4, Oliver 3, Gilley, Emrey 12, Covington 16, C. Johnson 4, Craw, I. Johnson 16, Baubach.

3-POINT GOALS: Silverdale 1 (Rogers); Boyd-Buchanan 11 (Evans 2, Oliver, Covington 4, I. Johnson 4).

(email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@gmail.com)

Sports
UTC Sofbtall Hosts ETSU In Friday Doubleheader
  • 3/28/2024

The Chattanooga softball team returns to Frost Stadium for a seven-game home stand that begins Friday afternoon against East Tennessee State in Southern Conference action. The Mocs are 21-8 ... more

Covenant Men's Tennis Loses 6-3
  • 3/28/2024

The Covenant Scots looked to boost their nonconference tennis resume with a win on the road at Oglethorpe. Covenant was unable to get the job done, as it fell 3-6. Final: Covenant 3, Oglethorpe ... more

7 Football Mocs Participate In Annual Pro Day
  • 3/28/2024

The Chattanooga Mocs had a 7-man contingent go through their paces in front of NFL scouts at the annual Pro Day. It started in the Wolford Family Strength & Conditioning Center before shifting ... more