Ooltewah has all right answers for Southeast

Published 11:20 pm Friday, November 24, 2006

On Wednesday, Ooltewah’s Owls turned the ball over 29 times in a loss to Walton in the Windstream Thanksgiving Hoopfest at Southeast High.

So, why wouldn’t Southeast attack the Owls defensively on Friday afternoon?

Southeast did just that, but the Owls responded by breaking the Raiders’ pressure all over the court and steamrolled to a 73-44 victory in a loser’s bracket game.

The Southeast Lady Raiders also came up short against Ooltewah, losing 55-35 in an earlier game Friday.

Blessed Trinity’s boys defeated Alexander, 65-57, and will play Ooltewah at 2:30 p.m. today for fifth place. Southeast will face Alexander at 11:30 a.m. for seventh place.

Elsewhere today, Dalton’s girls and boys shoot for championships in the Ridgeland Thanksgiving Tournament, taking on host Ridgeland in both games at 7 p.m. and 8:30 p.m., respectively.

“Today we didn’t have near the turnovers we had the other night,” Ooltewah coach Ron Baker said, “and that’s unusual for us. On the other hand, we got 21 steals and 44 rebounds, 27 on the defensive end.”

On Southeast’s offensive end of the court, the Raiders routinely got one shot and were trying to hustle back to stop the Owls’ scoring threats, and they weren’t very successful.

The Owls shot 59 percent from the floor and pounded the Raiders from start to finish behind 15 points from Pat Jones and 11 each from B.J. Sanders, David Dance and Daniel Waters.

“That’s a good team,” Southeast coach Tim Rogers said of Ooltewah. “That team could win our region. They’re very strong, mature and athletic.”

Ooltewah (3-2) never trailed and built an 18-4 lead on Terrell Moffett’s free throw as the first period neared its end.

The Raiders had 10 turnovers in the first eight minutes and made two field goals, the first by Jeremy Macon at the 6:48 mark and the second by Mart Stidman with 4.8 seconds left in the period.

It was that kind of day for the Raiders.

“With 12 of 13 days less of practice this year, and I’m not trying to make excuses,” Rogers said, “we’re OK on fundamentals but we’re having to teach kids who haven’t been in this system the strategic things on the fly.”

That’s the way Ooltewah was playing— flying around, applying their half-court pressure defense and sailing around the basket for rebounds.

Jones scored seven of his 15 points in the game’s final 3:05, getting six in a row during one stretch.

“I had a pretty good game,” Jones said. “I’ve done pretty good in practice but haven’t been able to transition that into a game until today. I decided to step up and help my team.”

Baker echoed Jones’ remarks about having been a “practice player” early this season.

“He’s been the worst player we have on game day, but today has to be a confidence booster for him,” Baker said.

Baker also said he’s trying to keep the Owls playing on a steady basis until five players join the team from the school’s unbeaten football team, which is currently in the state playoffs.

“I’ve got two starters and a couple of key reserves among that group,” Baker said.

Leading 49-31 after three periods, the Owls stretched their margin to 58-34 and then extended the lead to 29 points on Jones’ six straight points late in the period.

Macon led Southeast (0-2) with 17 points and eight rebounds. Mart Stidman and Damon O’Neal had eight points apiece.

“Jeremy is a late bloomer basketball-wise,” Rogers said. “He’s really matured the last six months. He’s undersized at 6-2 in the post but he makes up for that with athleticism.”

Macon said he’s the Raiders’ “dirty work” guy in the lane.

“I work a lot around the basket, doing whatever I can to help the team,” said Macon, who suffered head and back injuries when he slammed to the floor midway through the fourth period after battling for a loose ball.

“I’m sore,” he said. “We can hang with teams like Ooltewah if we play better. But we didn’t do that today.”

n Ooltewah girls 55, Southeast 35: Sarah Newton led the Lady Owls with 18 points while Hillary Swopes added 13.

Heather Payne and Haley Lock scored nine points apiece for the Lady Raiders while Jade King finished with seven.

The Lady Raiders (0-2) play Walton today at 10 a.m. for seventh place.