Phoenix fall short in tourney semifinals vs. host Chattooga
— The Sonoraville boys did everything they could to get back in the game on Thursday night, but in the end a tough second quarter was just too much to overcome.
The Phoenix battled host Chattooga in the semfinals of the Chattooga Christmas Tournament and stayed within striking distance with some gritty second-half play, but a 13-4 advantage by the Indians in the second quarter proved to be the difference in Sonoraville’s 63-53 loss.
Sonoraville (10-2) battled back from a slow start in the first quarter to tie things at 20-20 going to the second. That’s when Chattooga (10-1) changed the momentum of the game, limiting the Phoenix to two field goals in the period to take a 33-24 halftime lead.
Sonoraville didn’t go away, however, and pulled within three at 35-32 early in the third quarter, but a quick 7-0 surge by Chattooga pushed the lead to 10 once again and Sonoraville never got the deficit to less than seven from that point on.
“We got into some foul trouble in the second quarter and had a tough time getting anything going offensively,” said Sonoraville coach Brent Mashburn. “We started to settle for jump shots, and (Chattooga) did a good job extending their zone. Their length caused us some problems. We’ve got to do a better job of attacking off the dribble in those situations, and we just struggled to do that tonight.
“You don’t like losing ever, but we needed some of these kinds of challenges to hopefully grow from. This was good atmosphere, and they are a pretty good team that will be toward the top of their region. We need to be put in this kind of situation to learn how to make the plays necessary to win a tough game like that.”
Wil Walraven led the Phoenix with 22 points, 12 coming in the second half as he tried to keep his team in the game. He hit a 3-pointer from just past half court as the buzzer sounded in the third quarter to cut Chattooga’s lead to 45-38 heading into the final quarter and give his team some momentum.
Brad Wilson also made some big shots, scoring 15 points all coming on his five made 3’s. Bryce Waters added 15 of his own with eight coming in the first quarter, but he missed much of the second period after picking up his second foul early in the quarter.
Chattooga’s Isaiah Foster had 21 points as the top scorer for his team. He scored Chattooga’s first 11 points of the game as they built an 11-4 lead before Sonoraville’s rally to tie the game going to the second quarter.
Jay Shropshire and Devin Price scored 17 apiece for the Indians, and they combined for 18 in the fourth quarter alone to help their team close out the win.
Chattooga’s win moved them on to the championship game of the tournament against Cartersville. Sonoraville fell into the thirdplace game where they faced Coosa on Friday. Mashburn said it was good to get right back on the court the following day after Thursday’s loss.
“I always think it’s good to come right back and play the next day after a loss,” said Mashburn. “Games like this are good for us. To be in that situation against a good opponent will help us before we get back in to region play.”
In other recent prep basketball action:
Calhoun boys 65, Fulton Leadership 46
The Jackets bounced back to finish off the Volume Hyundai Classic with a win on Thursday thanks to some big offensive days from a couple seniors.
After dropping the first two games in the tournament, Calhoun’s Chapin Rierson and Rhett Abernathy made sure their team wouldn’t taste defeat for the third straight game thanks to 22-point and 17-point efforts, respectively. Rierson added nine rebounds, and Abernathy made five 3-pointers.
Also scoring in double figures for the Jackets (102) was Malik Lawrence with 10. Calhoun has a few days off before getting back into Region 6-AAA play on Friday at Adairsville at 8:30 p.m.
Central-Carroll boys 83, Gordon Central 39
The Warriors had a tough time from the start on Friday in a consolation bracket game at the Haralson County Christmas Tournament and fell to Central-Carroll.
Gordon Central (2-10) fell behind 17-7 after one quarter and the Lions put the game away by outscoring the Warriors 29-13 in the second quarter to take a 46-20 halftime lead.
Gabe Ross was the lone Warriors scorer in double figures with 11, and Bogar Aguilar and DaNarian Dixon each added six.
The Warriors will get back into Region 7-AA play on Tuesday when they visit Coosa at 7:30 p.m.