Oakwood boys advance to SCAA Final Four

The Oakwood Christian Academy Eagles entered this week’s Southern Christian Athletic Association Final Four in Rossville as the No. 2 seed from the South Region.

Oakwood, who was the No. 1 seed in the South Region tournament in Collegedale last week, won its first two games in the tournament before a narrow loss to second-seeded Cleveland Christian in the finals.

Due to newspaper deadlines, coverage of this week’s Final Four was not available as of press time. Coverage will be online at Prep Central and in next week’s edition of the Walker County Messenger. Oakwood boys 57, Calvary Christian 36

Last Monday night, the Eagles opened up a big 42-12 lead at halftime and coasted to an opening-round victory.

Matthew McDonough paced the Eagles with 18 points, while adding four rebounds and three blocked shots. Cory Taylor had a dozen points and grabbed four rebounds and Woody Hass added 10 points, four boards and three steals.

Trevor Hobbs and Garrison Baggett each had four points with Baggett adding three assists and three rebounds. Zack Cohen had three points, while John Jacob McSpadden dropped in three points and collected two assists.

Other contributors included J.J. Lanham (2 points, 2 steals, 2 blocks), Tyler Epperson (1 point, 3 rebounds, 1 assist), Andrew Phillips (3 assists, 2 steals, 2 rebounds) and Phillip Davis (4 assists, 4 rebounds, 3 steals).

Oakwood boys 72, CAYA 61

The Navy-and-Gold made it six straight wins overall last Tuesday night, beating host CAYA in the semifinals.

OCA led by just three points at halftime, 3734, but pulled away in the second half behind the play of their two seniors.

McDonough had an enormous night with 45 points, 13 rebounds, three assists and a pair of blocks. He also connected on 10-of-13 free throws in the game. Meanwhile, Cohen finished with 14 points and five rebounds.

McSpadden had four points, seven assists, five steals and three rebounds. Baggett had four points, seven rebounds, three steals and two assists. D.J. Terry added two points and Hass rounded out the scoring with one.

Cleveland Christian boys 48, Oakwood 45

The Eagles saw their lead slip away in the closing minutes and a pair of last-second

3-point attempts missed their marks as they came up three points short in the title game.

McDonough had 11 points, 12 rebounds and four steals in defeat, while Baggett had 11 points, seven rebounds, three steals and three assists. Cohen added eight points and three boards, while

McSpadden finished with seven points, four rebounds and three assists.

Phillips (5), Hass (2) and Terry (1) rounded out the scoring for Oakwood (16-12).