Ringgold teams pick up pace after initial losses
The Ringgold Lady Tigers trailed 28-20 at halftime on Saturday (Nov. 17) and fell to Class AAAA Northwest Whitfield, 53-36, in the season opener in Tunnel Hill.
Riley Nayadley had 10 points for Ringgold, followed by Maggie Reed with nine and Rachel Akers with eight. Baileigh Pitts had five points. Sydney Pittman finished with three and Shelby Cole added one to round out the scoring.
Two nights later, back at Ridgeland for the annual Thanksgiving Classic, the Lady Tigers got 19 points from Akers - eight coming in the first quarter - as they took care of Notre Dame, 53-44.
Nayadley had 13 points. Cole dropped in 11 points, while Pittman and Reed had five points each.
Ringgold got its offense cranked up last Wednesday night with a 76-33 win over Ridgeland on the final night of the 2018 Ridgeland Thanksgiving Classic.
Akers had 15 points for Ringgold (2-1) in a balanced scoring effort. Cole added 12 points, while Nayadley finished with 11. Reed had nine points, followed by Pittman with eight, Pitts and Wendy Hamby with seven, Rachel Lopez with four, Addi Broome with two and Faith Bryson with one.
The Ringgold boys also opened the season with an identical 2-1 record.
Against the Bruins, Northwest claimed a 59-40 victory after holding a narrow 26-20 lead at the break.
Logan Hullender had 12 points for Ringgold. Cade Nayadley had eight points, followed by Jackson House with six, Chandler Johnson with four and Logan Murphy with two.
The Tigers opened play in the Ridgeland Thanksgiving Classic last Monday and led wire-to-wire in a 72-52 victory over Chattanooga Notre Dame.
Ringgold erupted for 24 first-quarter points and built a 41-20 lead at intermission. The Irish would get no closer than 15 points in the second half as the Tigers coasted to the victory.
Hullender and Blake Goldsmith had 19 points apiece in the victory, while Nayadley added 15 points. House had five points, followed by Dalton Green with four. Murphy and Daniel Fow had three points apiece, with Colin Mountjoy adding the last two.
On Wednesday night, Ringgold saw a sixpoint halftime lead shrink to one with less than a minute to play in the third quarter. However, the Tigers would reel off a 9-0 run and the Panthers would manage just two points in the fourth as the visitors from Catoosa County went on to the 45-33 victory.
Hullender had 15 points and Goldsmith had 14 for the Tigers. Nayadley added a dozen points, while Johnson and House scored two points apiece.
Ringgold was scheduled to open Region 6-AAA play this Tuesday when they travel to Adairsville and the Tigers and Lady Tigers will go back on the road Friday night for region games at Sonoraville.