Craw helps Bucs to district repeat
Having stood out as a knockdown 3-point shooter often this season, John Craw’s enthusiasm and effort were contagious Saturday night as he helped Boyd Buchanan to a second straight Division II-A East District 2 championship.
The 5-foot-8 guard had four offensive rebounds, blocked a shot at the end of the third quarter and made a putback basket before halftime as the Buccaneers built a lead they sustained in a 45-33 win at top-seeded Notre Dame.
“John was in there scrapping all night for us and was all over the place. I am so proud of him and Luke (Stum), who have waited patiently for their time to shine,” Boyd Buchanan coach Josh Templeton said. “Luke just made his season debut three games ago, and I didn’t think he would get to play this season because he broke his ankle in our first week of practice. But the toughness he provided us tonight in our starting lineup is what we all knew he could bring. They were both great.”
Caden Johnson had game-high 13 points, five assists and three steals for the Bucs (15-8), Ryan Lopez had eight points and four assists, and freshman Ace Bailey grabbed 10 rebounds.
“When things got hard, I wanted to be somebody that my teammates could look up to but at the same time let them be great, too,” Craw said. “We don’t have just one individual leader. Our whole team plays well together.”
› Red Bank 80, Hixson 49: Senior Cam Bell scored 22 points and hauled in 21 rebounds, and Kalen Sewell added 11 points and six assists for the Lions on Friday night.
› Marion County 73, Whitwell 58: Marion’s Jamykah Battle scored 10 of his 20 points in the first quarter, and Alex Condra added 12 second-half points in Friday’s victory. Whitwell’s Ethan Hawk scored 22 points, Evan Nunley 17 and Cy Young 14.
GIRLS’ BASKETBALL
› Bradley Central 64, Knoxville Catholic 31: Ashlan Crittenden had 16 points and eight rebounds and made a trio of 3-pointers along with teammate Karsee Weber as the Bearettes hit 10 long-range shots. Hannah Jones added 14 points and 12 rebounds for first-ranked Bradley Central (21-1).
› Trion 48, Bowdon 38: The Lady Bulldogs (18-3) earned a berth in Tuesday’s GHSA Region 6-A public championship game versus Armuchee as Chloe Murdock scored nine of her game-high 19 points in opening quarter. I’ziah McCutchins added nine points for Trion, which was undefeated in region play to win the regular-season title.
› Whitwell 75, Marion County 50: The Lady Tigers scored 44 second-half points and Addie Calvard had a game-high 27 on nine 3-pointers in Friday’s win. Abbi Cartwright added 18 points for Whitwell (15-7), and Marion was led by Lorence Bradford’s 23.
WRESTLING
Dalton’s Hunter Noland defended his Class AAAAAA individual title and Southeast Whitfield’s Jose Leon and Riso Webb completed Class AAAA title runs late Friday night at the GHSA state traditional tournaments in Macon.
Noland needed only 54 seconds to pin Kell’s Patrick Parlato in the 145-pound match, his fourth consecutive pin of the tournament.
Webb, a 126-pound senior, received a bye in the first round and pinned his next three opponents before winning the title with a 10-6 decision over Flowery Branch’s Jarrett Greene. Leon edged Region 7 rival Zach Brown from Heritage 3-1 in the title match after winning 6-5 in the semifinals.
Northwest Whitfield was the area’s highest-finishing Class AAAA team, tying Region 7 foe Central-Carroll in fifth place with 108 points. Leading the Bruins was 195-pound runner-up Daimon Banta, who lost 13-8 to Perry’s Shoshoni Williams. Victor Pineda (113) was third and Drake Kitchens (132) fourth.
Ridgeland’s Aidan Raymer (152) was third in AAAA, which was dominated by Jefferson, which scored 265 points to win the team title. Southeast Whitfield finished ninth and Heritage 14th.
Dalton’s David Garcia (145) was fourth in AAAAAA, which was won by Buford. The Catamounts finished 14th.
Class AAAAA competition wrapped up early Saturday afternoon, with Calhoun 18th with three medalists: third-place Isaac Green (145) and fourth-place finishers Armando Monroy (113) and Jason Vicente (195). Woodland-Bartow won the team title over Cass, 243 points to 202.
› With the TSSAA traditional postseason in the region round, Cleveland won the 4-AAA tournament title with 245 team points, followed by Bradley Central (221) and thirdplace Walker Valley (114).
Clevelan’s Bentley Ellison (113), Arlo Laxton (120), Blake Randall (126), Jackson Bradford (132), Trae McDaniel (138), Cody Chittum (145), Cael Laxton (152) and Ashton Davis (220) won individual titles.
Bradley Central’s Bryson Terrell won the 106-pound final, 11-2 over Cleveland’s Logan Fowler, and Chase Stansberry (160) won his bracket with a first-round pin.
Walker Valley standouts Heath Tanksley (182) and Jadon Langford (285) continued their undefeated seasons by winning region titles. Tanksley beat Cleveland’s Tetoe Boyd 3-2, and Langford won 3-1 against Bradley Central’s Austin McClure.
McMinn County’s Austin Cooley won the 170pound bracket, and East Hamilton senior Jason Brumlow beat Walker Valley’s Kallum Lowe 3-0 in the 195-pound final.
In Region 3-AA, Signal Mountain won by gathering 227 team points in a 15-team tournament at Eagleville.
The Eagles won five of the first six weight classes as Ethan Uhorchuk (106), Caleb Uhorchuk (113), Noah Shriner (120), Daniel Uhorchuk and Kale Albritton (138) impressed. The Uhorchuck brothers combined for seven first-round pins in as many matches, Shriner fought for an 8-7 title win and Albritton won 14-12 in the finals.
Also for Signal Mountain, region champ Preston Worley (195) pinned his way to victory in the first round of all three of his matches.
Whitwell’s Brice Barton won the 132-pound title with three pins and one technical fall, and the Tigers (124) were fourth.
In Division II East, Baylor won with 281 points and McCallie (161) was second.
The Red Raiders had six region champions: Kade Hartline (106), Nick Corday (113), Jackson Bond (126), Garrison Dendy (145), Gunnar Garriques (182) and David Harper (195).
McCallie’s Emory Taylor (152), Gavin Cagle (160) and Alex Whitworth (170) won their brackets, and Boyd Buchanan’s Conor Payne was a champion at 132.