Ooltewah Holds Off East Hamilton In 5-AAA Skirmish, 54-53

Lady Hurricanes Need Two Overtimes To Beat Lady Owls, 52-51

  • Friday, January 23, 2015
  • John Hunt
Ooltewah's Jarek Boyd (3) slams home a dunk for two of his game high 19-points to lead the Owls to a nip-and-tuck 54-53 win over East Hamilton.
Ooltewah's Jarek Boyd (3) slams home a dunk for two of his game high 19-points to lead the Owls to a nip-and-tuck 54-53 win over East Hamilton.
photo by Dennis Norwood

Ooltewah and East Hamilton have had a strong rivalry for several years and it really doesn't matter what the overall records are because they always seem to bring out the best in each other regardless of what sport they're playing.

Such was the case on Friday night at East Hamilton where both basketball games went right down to the wire and both were one-point contests.

The Ooltewah boys were victorious by a 54-53 margin while the East Hamilton girls needed two overtimes to beat the Lady Owls, 52-51.

Most of these teams don't have a winning record, but you would have never known it from the effort that they displayed

EAST HAMILTON GIRLS 52, OOLTEWAH 51: The Lady Hurricanes had the upper hand throughout the first half and had a 22-15 lead at the break.

The Lady Owls got a little closer in the third and trailed by only four points (29-25) when the final quarter began.

India Corley's two free throws with 19.3 seconds left in regulation knotted the score for the Lady Owls while a short baseline jumper from East Hamilton's Maleich Moon with 2.2 seconds made it 42-42 and forced a second overtime period.

East Hamilton built a 50-44 lead with 89 seconds left in the second overtime before Corley scored seven straight points for a 51-50 Ooltewah lead with 22 seconds left.

Unity Wood made a pair of free throws with 13.4 seconds left to once again give the Lady Hurricanes the lead and 52-51 was the final after Tamiyah Baker's shot was blocked by East Hamilton's Destyne Black as the buzzer sounded.

Black led the Lady Hurricanes with 17 points while Kyndall Caudle followed with 15 and Maggie Woods with 12.

Corley had a fine game for Ooltewah as she finished with 29 points before fouling out late.  Baker was next with 10.

OOLTEWAH BOYS 54, EAST HAMILTON 53: The Hurricanes had prevailed at Ooltewah a few weeks ago, so it was only right that the Owls did the same in the East Hamilton gym.

East Hamilton scored six of the final eight points to build a 17-11 when the first quarter ended before the Owls scored 12 of the final 14 points in the second period to turn a 23-16 deficit into a 28-25 lead at the break.

A tip by Tracy Thompson and a short baseline jumper from DeShawn Beach in the final minute allowed the Hurricanes to knot the score at 40-40 with one quarter remaining.

Thompson scored twice on inside moves to start the final eight minutes as the Hurricanes forged ahead by 44-40, but back-to-back 3s from Thomas Williams and Edward Hayes shifted the momentum back to Ooltewah's side with 5:30 remaining.

East Hamilton had the lead two more times, the first at 51-50 on a layup by Justin Dozier with 2:45 left and the second on a tip from Thompson with one minute to go, but Ooltewah got a reverse layup from Jarek Boyd with 18 seconds left that ended up being the winning shot.

The Hurricanes had several shots in the waning seconds, but none of them went in, including Thompson's heave from the corner that bounced off the top of the backboard as the final horn sounded.

Ooltewah coach Tank Montgomery was feeling pretty good after his Owls had evened their record at 13-13 overall and 5-5 in 5-AAA.

"These guys are growing up and they just wanted it tonight," he said outside the Ooltewah dressing room.

"I kept telling them they just had to get one stop at the end.  They did exactly what I asked, but it's that time of year and they made some big plays tonight.  What more could I ask for as a coach?  We just kept fighting and fighting as the effort was there," he added.

East Hamilton coach Rodney English felt the same way.

"Our defense was solid, but in a game like this when there aren't many free throws, you have to make the layups.  We missed 13 in the first half alone, but we rebounded well and we got the looks we wanted at the end.  The shots just didn't fall," he shook his head.

"It was quite an emotional game for both teams and I tried to settle my guys down at the half, but we're competing better than ever and we're doing all of the right things well, but I just wish that we had been rewarded for our effort with a win.

"But it all goes back to those missed free throws," English concluded.

Boyd scored 19 points to lead Ooltewah while Williams was also in double figures with 11.  Kobe Jones was next with eight points.

 Beach scored a dozen points to lead East Hamilton, now 13-12 overall and 3-5 in district play.

Tank Sparks and Thompson both finished with 11 while Jordan Rawls added nine.

East Hamilton won the rebound battle by an unofficial 25-23 margin with Davae Hughley snagging eight for the Hurricanes and Beach grabbing six.  Boyd had eight boards for the Owls while Williams and Jones both claimed five.

Both of these teams will be heading to Cleveland for their next games with Ooltewah facing Bradley and East Hamilton challenging Cleveland on Tuesday night.

GIRLS SUMMARY

OOLTEWAH  8  7  10  13  4  9  --  51

EAST HAMILTON  12  10  7  9  4  10  --  52

OOLTEWAH (51) -- Cline 2, Hall 4, Swafford 6, Reed, Baker 10, Kennedy, Lemon, Corley 29, R. Jones, K. Jones.

EAST HAMILTON  (52) -- Moon 4, Caudle 15, Woods 12, Wood 2, Gray, Black 17, C. Zeh 2, M. Zeh, Maston.

3-POINT GOALS: Ooltewah 2 (Corley 2); East Hamilton 2 (Woods 2).

BOYS SUMMARY

OOLTEWAH  11  17  12  14  --  54

EAST HAMILTON  17  8  15  13  --  53

OOLTEWAH (54) -- Hayes 3, Boyd 19, Williams 11, Jones 8, Norwood 6, McCauley 5, McReynolds 2.

EAST HAMILTON (53) -- Thompson 11, Sparks 11, Dozier 4, Rawls 9, Beach 12, Hughley 6, Rogers, Heard.

3-POINT GOALS: Ooltewah 2 (Williams, Hayes); East Hamilton 5 (Sparks 2, Rawls 3.)

(email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@comcast.net)

 

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 Tank Sparks of East Hamilton leaps high over Ooltewah's Jarek Boyd (3) and Thomas Williams (5) to get a shot off. Sparks scored 11 points.
Tank Sparks of East Hamilton leaps high over Ooltewah's Jarek Boyd (3) and Thomas Williams (5) to get a shot off. Sparks scored 11 points.
photo by Dennis Norwood
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