The scariest part for the rest of the field in the annual Best of Preps holiday basketball tournament is that both Hamilton Heights coach Zach Ferrell and Notre Dame coach J.P. Nerbun agreed that Ferrell's Hawks didn't play very well Friday.
That observation came after Hamilton Heights rolled to a 78-36 first-round victory at Chattanooga State.
"The first game after Christmas is always a bad night for any team," Nerbun said. "We didn't play well, but I thought they looked a little tired, too.
"The biggest obstacle when you play them is overcoming the mentality. The kids see their size and it's tough to overcome."
Hamilton Heights, which has a roster including players from seven countries, improved to 12-1 with its only loss coming to Charlotte (N.C.) power Providence Day. The Hawks will play Central in today's semifinals at 5:30.
With a rotation that includes seven players at least 6-foot-5, the Hawks never trailed. They scored their first basket four seconds into the game and continued to pull away. That was slowly at first, but they used a 30-10 second-quarter run to put the game away.
"Our goal is to approach every game the same," Ferrell said. "We want to have the same intensity for every game, and that's something we're still learning. We have talent, but we still have some kids who have only played for one or two years.
"Our guys have a great attitude and an appreciation for the opportunity to play and get better every game."
The Hawks' balanced scoring was led by 14 points each from Ezekiel Balogun and Strahinja Micakovic and 12 from 6-10 Abdulhakim Ado, who has scholarship offers from Louisville, Memphis, Tennessee, Auburn, Georgia and Vanderbilt, among others.
Contact Stephen Hargis at shargis@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6273.