The Sequatchie County Indians got whipped in their last game at Cumberland County and coach Willie Young was just hoping that his guys could play a little bit better and erase some of that bad memory in Monday night’s game at Notre Dame.
The Indians lost the game by a scant two points, but they played their hearts out and came within a whisker of pulling out a big win in Jim Phifer Gymnasium.
The final score was 48-46. The Indians drop to 5-6 with the loss, but Young felt like his mission was accomplished going into the Christmas break.
“I feel pretty good about it,” Young said after a brief talk with his team following the game.
“I thought we showed a lot of initiative and our effort was there. We got whipped pretty good in our last game and I really didn’t want to go into the holiday break with our heads hung low. We had 29 turnovers in our last game and only nine tonight, so tonight’s game gives us a lot of motivation.
“I just wanted our guys to give 100 percent. They did that and more, but this just shows we can play with anybody if we get our heads right,” Young added.
The Indians had a 5-2 lead midway through the opening stanza before the Fighting Irish finished the quarter on a 12-5 run for a 14-10 lead at the first break.
Bryson Smith canned a 3 and Wesley Jones followed with a layup to give Notre Dame its biggest lead at 23-12 with 3:30 left in the half before the Indians scored seven of the last nine points to get within 26-19 at intermission.
Smith scored on a layup with 4:38 left in the third stanza for a 32-23 Notre Dame lead before the Indians scored a dozen unanswered points for a 35-32 lead with eight minutes remaining.
Austin Mitchell had eight of those 12 points while Tyler Boston sank the second of two free throws with 7:40 to play to extend Sequatchie’s lead to 36-32.
It was a tough night from the field for the home-standing Irish as they only sank one of eight free throws and just eight of 29 from long range, but Cal Price and Jones hit back-to-back 3s and Jakyse Locklin added a free throw as Notre Dame regained the lead at 39-36 with 5:39 to play and the Irish never trailed again.
Tyler Lunn scored four straight points to get the Indians within 41-40 with 4:43 left, but a 3 by Haden Spurgeon and a putback by Ty Wilkerson gave the hosts a little breathing room at 46-40 with 2:43 left.
Smith scored on a drive along the baseline with 1:25 showing to put the Irish up 48-42 before Michael Cooper and Boston both hit two free throws in the final minute, the last two by Boston cutting the gap to 48-46 with 4.1 seconds left.
Jones missed the front end of a bonus situation with 2.7 seconds left and the Indians got the last shot, but Boston’s heave from half-court fell short.
Notre Dame coach Jonathan Adams was just happy that his team came out with a win.
“That was some ugly, ugly basketball on our part, but give Sequatchie County a lot of credit because they played a lot harder than we did,” Adams said matter of factly outside the Notre Dame dressing room.
“They made some big shots along the way and really made it tough on us. I feel like the difference was our advantage on the boards. We didn’t shoot the ball very well, but made some big ones down the stretch. I’m a little disappointed in our effort and energy, but we found a way to win and I guess that’s all that counts,” he concluded.
A total of 11 players saw action for the Irish and all scored at least one point. Price and Smith were tops with nine points apiece.
Mitchell had 15 for the Indians while Boston followed with 13 and Cooper with nine.
Notre Dame had an unofficial 24-20 advantage on the boards. Smith, Wilkerson and Tim Vaughn all had four for the Irish while Nick Smith claimed eight for the Indians and Mitchell four.
NOTRE DAME GIRLS 64, SEQUATCHIE CO. 28: It was a great game to start as the score was tied at 18 following the first quarter, but the Lady Indians only scored 10 points the rest of the way as Notre Dame slowly pulled away.
It was still somewhat respectable at the break with Notre Dame leading 36-23, but it became a blowout in the second half as the visitors from Dunlap got outscored 28-5.
Kate Ford scored 22 points and Averie Sheppard 17 to lead the Lady Irish, now 7-3 overall. Kenzie Campbell was next with nine.
Addy Edgmon was tops for Sequatchie County with seven points while Allie Condra had six.
GIRLS SUMMARY
SEQUATCHIE CO. 18 5 1 4 -- 28
NOTRE DAME 18 18 15 13 -- 64
SEQUATCHIE CO. (28) – Barger 5, A. Edgmon 7, D. Belk 3, E. Edgmon 2, R. Belk 1, Condra 6, Beavers 2, Smith, Mitchell 2.
NOTRE DAME (64) – Sheppard 17, Soutuyo 3, Campbell 9, Ford 22, Wolf 2, Fillauer 1, McGann 6, Skaggs 4, Bird.
3-POINT GOALS: Sequatchie Co. 3 (Barger, D. Belk, Condra); Notre Dame 7 (Sheppard 4, Soutuyo, Ford 2).
BOYS SUMMARY
SEQUATCHIE CO. 10 9 16 11 -- 46
NOTRE DAME 14 12 6 16 -- 48
SEQUATCHIE CO. (46) – Lunn 4, J. Smith, Bradford 1, N. Smith 4, Cooper 9, Boston 13, Terry, Mitchell 15.
NOTRE DAME (48) – Jones 5, Vaughn 4, Robinson 3, Spurgeon 5, Smith 9, Price 9, Summitt 2, Wilkerson 6, Locklin 1, Fillauer 2, Turley 2.
3-POINT GOALS: Sequatchie Co. 5 (Cooper, Boston, Mitchell 3); Notre Dame 7 (Jones, Robinson, Spurgeon, Smith, Price 3).
(Email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@gmail.com)