Sonoraville girls earn first region win
Defensive battle goes as the Lady Phoenix fly
MBaron@CalhounTimes.com
Whenever Calhoun and Sonoraville get together, it’s always a passionate, intense atmosphere and Thursday night at The Furnace lived up to the hype.
The Lady Phoenix and Lady Jackets met for the second time in eight days. In front of a packed house, the Sonoraville Lady Phoenix defeated the Calhoun Lady Jackets 53-43. Sonoraville extends its win streak over the Lady Jackets to six games.
“It’s always good to get that first region win,” Caudell said. “It was a great environment. Tough, hard-fought physical game, so I’m pleased for sure.”
The Lady Phoenix’s home opener was a defensive battle
GIRLS,
ball,” Calhoun senior Gage Maffetone said. “We were going to run a little ... pitch back to me. (Sonoraville) doubled teamed that, so had to look for my teammates and luckily we had Peyton Law step up, hit a deep three.”
Moments later, on the inbound pass, Calhoun got a steal and Maffetone nearly hit the buzzer beater. The game was tied 62-62 at the end of regulation.
“We were just saying we could not foul, it was double bonus,” Maffetone said. “We had to limit them to one shot, one shot only. Once they miss one, we’ve got to get it and go and get something rolling on offense.”
Overtime featured the two teams trade baskets, not wanting to be the one to make a
critical mistake. However, Sonoraville got into foul trouble. Calhoun senior Tonocito Martha and Maffetone hit two and three free throws, respectively, to seal the result.
“Well, honestly (I) missed the game-winner, so I had to come in clutch somehow,” Maffetone said. “I wasn’t going to let my team down twice in a row.”
Maffetone led Calhoun with 20 points. Fellow senior Caleb Boone was second with 13.
“He understands that you’re going to have good shooting nights; you’re going to have bad shooting nights, but when you’re on the bad side of things, how are you going to contribute, how are you going to be that offensive leader,” Layson said on Maffetone. “He was able to handle the basketball, handle the pressure, get to the free throw line, and not only get there, he made them.”
Maffetone said the team
had been up since 5:30 a.m. and got in some practice that morning in the gymnasium back at Calhoun High School.
“We’ve just been working hard and hopefully this is a good start to us,” Maffetone said. “We were a little rusty playing as a full team because our football players, they get here late because of football, but it all ended up working out in the end.”
Both sidelines were passionate throughout, rivaling one another for vocal supremacy with chants of “Phoenix Nation” and “Jacket Nation” echoing throughout the compact venue.
“I told them beforehand, that’s why you .. coach, that’s why you play for nights like tonight when you get your cross-town rival in a packed house,” Mashburn said. “You get a pretty entertaining game ... to watch, at least a competitive one for sure. That part of it is what makes it enjoyable
and makes it fun.”
“The players all know each other,” Layson said. “They’re friends outside of the basketball court lines and I think they take that personal. They want to go in there and they want to be the king of the county. It means something to win this rivalry.”
“This is the best place to play,” Maffetone said. “Honestly, it just comes with experience. If you ain’t game ready and not scared to hear a little trash talk from the crowd, then this ain’t the game for you. You’ve got to deal with a bunch of adversity and a bunch of trash talk to get through this.”
The Yellow Jackets remain undefeated at 3-0 (at the time of this writing), while the Phoenix fall to 2-3. Both teams have a quick turnaround as Calhoun’s home opener is Friday versus Murray County while Sonoraville travels to Ringgold.