Ooltewah coach Jesse Nayadley was not surprised that Jervon Johnson was able to have a big night shooting the ball against Cleveland. What Nayadley was surprised about was the fact that the senior kept getting opportunities to hit those shots.
Johnson finished with a season-high 37 points, with eight 3s, in the Owls' 74-53 victory over the Raiders, their first win in the series since 2006. He battled sickness to hit a trio of 3s and scored 17 points in a Friday victory over McMinn County, and the two-game performance earned him Times Free Press Player of the Week honors.
Nayadley said his team was "more focused than usual" in the days and moments leading up to the Cleveland game. The victory ended a 12-game losing streak to the Raiders.
"We hadn't beaten them in a long time, and I know the guys really wanted it," Nayadley said. "I couldn't tell before the game if their focus was a good or bad thing, or if the guys would play bad or uptight. We didn't play great in the first half, but Jervon was on the entire game.
"For him to come out and have the night that he had, it was special. He's been shooting well as of late, so itself didn't surprise me."
Instead, the Owl coach was surprised -- yet pleased -- by the team's desire to get the ball to the lanky guard/forward.
"We've had multiple guys average double figures over the past few seasons, which is a good thing, but with that we have a lot of guys that realize they can score," Nayadley said. "It's not a selfish thing, but they are thinking about scoring themselves because we have so much versatility in the offense.
"Recognition of the hot guy has been an issue, but the guys did a good job of getting him the ball. Jervon is a guy that we need the ball in the handsW of."
Johnson has over 300 3-pointers in his Ooltewah career, having shown the ability to stretch a defense from as far as 24 feet out.
"His recruiting has really picked up over the past couple of weeks," Nayadley said. "He's a proven shooter, and we've been in contact with a lot of NAIA and Division II schools mostly, but recently we've started hearing some from some mid-major Division I schools.
"Obviously he's going to go somewhere. If he gets into the right situation and the right fit, he'll do really well at the next level."