Finding its stride
Chattooga holds up its No. 1 seeding by beating Coosa in the Region 7-AA semifinals.
Chattooga holds up its No. 1 seeding by beating Coosa in the Region 7-AA semifinals.
Entering the Region 7AA tournament, Chattooga basketball coach Jared Groce told his players to just forget about the last two games of the regular season and focus on the team’s 22- 1 start to the season.
His players are good listeners.
The Indians caught fire in the second half, turning a close game into a blowout within minutes as they rolled to a 68- 42 win Friday night against Coosa at Model. The win sends Chattooga to the region title game and guarantees they’ll get a home state playoff game.
“Everybody was saying we peaked at the wrong time,” Groce said. “But I think tonight was our most complete game overall.”
The Indians ( 23- 3) will play Model in the Region 7-AA title game tonight at 8: 30 p. m., while Coosa will play Darlington in the consolation game at 3:30 p.m.
Chattooga senior forward Dee McCutchins controlled the paint with 24 points, including 21 in the second half. Juniors Isaiah Foster and Jay Shropshire poured in 12 points each, and senior Travell Bankston scored 11.
The Coosa Eagles, coming off a dramatic win against Gordon Lee the night before, fought with the Indians for two quarters before losing control. Seniors Xavier Bailey and Justin Ware were the only players in double figures with 10 points each.
Both teams vied for a fast pace throughout the game and Coosa ( 12- 14) only trailed 28-27 at halftime. But the Indians seemed to break their opponents down by the third quarter as they rolled to 27 points in the quarter and did not look back.
“We like to run up and down the floor, we have a ton of guys who can do that,” Groce said. “We have a lot of ball handlers who can run, so it’s fun to go up and down the court.”
The Indians jumped out to an 11- 2 lead to begin the game, but Coosa slowly began to chip away. The Eagles cut the lead to five by the end of the first quarter and held Chattooga to only nine points in the second.
Coosa even tied the game briefly late in the first half before Chattooga got a late score and went to halftime up by one. But the Indians controlled the game from that point on, having little problem dealing with Coosa’s press defense.
Chattooga opened the second half with a 10- 2 run, including three baskets from McCutchins.
Coosa took a timeout to stop the run and briefly kept the deficit around 10 points for a few minutes in the third quarter.
But with a 44- 36 lead, the Indians finished on an 11-0 run, including six more points from McCutchins, who seemed to find the paint at will.
“At halftime the coaches mentioned maybe Dee was not getting enough touches in the first half,” Groce said. “We needed our seniors to step up and we got that. They weren’t scared of the big moments or big shots.”
Equipped with a 19point lead entering the fourth, Chattooga cruised in the fourth with the lead never going below double-digits.