Senior Ryan Rhodes, shown driving to the basket, features an all-around game and is a pivotal player for Chattanooga Christian, which takes on Upperman in an opening-round game Saturday in the Region 4-AA tournament.Chattanooga Christian School perhaps could be questioned for sleepwalking last Friday when Notre Dame came calling in the District 7-AA boys' high school basketball tournament at Sequatchie County. The Chargers hope that call was of the wake-up variety.
CCS proved to be the best team in its district regular season, sweeping the competition on the way to earning the tournament's No. 1 seed. With that came a bye into the semifinals.
Notre Dame was out to prove it was better than the 6-18 record, 3-11 against a rugged nondistrict schedule, it brought into the tournament. And the Fighting Irish proved something, beating the Chargers 65-52 on the way to winning the championship.
"They attacked us on both ends of the court," said senior small forward Ryan Rhodes, who averages 13.1 points, 6.4 rebounds and 3.1 steals per game. "We didn't show up."
CCS coach Eddie Salter said there was disappointment in not adding the tournament title to the regular-season crown.
"Sure, we had the district championship in mind," Salter said. "That was one of our goals. That one is out, but another one is in reach."
The one in reach is the Region 4 title. The Chargers' quest for that begins Saturday when they travel to Upperman for a 7 p.m. EST tip. Boys' semifinals and championship games across the state are Tuesday and Thursday.
Girls' first-round games are Friday, with semifinals Monday and championships Wednesday.
Had CCS (25-3) reached its goal of winning the district tournament, it would be playing at home Saturday against a less accomplished opponent. Instead, the Chargers get an opening-round opponent that's 24-6.
The Bees are led by 6-foot-8 post player Josh Endicott, a University of Cincinnati signee and the District 8 league MVP and defensive player of the year. And that's not all.
"They've got a 6-8 center, but also they've got about three really good shooters," Rhodes said. "Our big concerns are defense and rebounding. If we can keep them off the boards and limit their open shots, it should be a good game."
The burden of dealing with Endicott will fall primarily on post players Mondo Ellison, a sophomore, and Ben Moore, a senior who averages 9.8 points and leads the Chargers at 7.1 rebounds per game. Moore, who along with Rhodes will play at Covenant College next season, said he went up against players of similar height and skill as Endicott against Georgia schools Stratford Academy and Union Grove in a Christmas tournament.
"I've watched film of those games to see what I did well and what I didn't do well and need to work on," the 6-4 Moore said. "Hopefully I can bring that to the game."
CCS starts sophomores Amos Davenport (10.8 points per game) and Ryan's brother, John Rhodes, the scoring leader at 15.1 per game, at the guard spots. The younger Rhodes runs the point for the Chargers now, though his athletic future is in baseball at the University of Kentucky.
Juniors Jack Stimart and Jesse Spencer provide some frontcourt help off the bench. Another junior, Stephen Rowell, was the top backcourt reserve until injuring an ankle that could cause him to miss the rest of the season.
"We definitely wanted that district plaque to show for all our hard work," Moore said. "But in the long run, that's not the plaque we want to have most. There are another couple also in mind. We've got to make sure we keep our eyes on that. The loss to Notre Dame just got us refocused."
Bledsoe County was the first to feel the Chargers' wrath. That's the team they played next and defeated by 30 points in the district consolation game.
There are no more consolations now. The season ends next week for all teams not advancing to a region final.
"I really think if we just go play hard and take care of the ball, we'll let the chips fall where they may," Salter said of Saturday's game. "It's two good teams playing. It's going to be what team wants it the most.
"To get where we want to go, we've got to play these teams anyway. We just have to play them a whole lot earlier. Our goal is to make it to state. It just makes our road a little bit harder."
Contact Kelley Smiddie at ksmiddie@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6653. Follow him on Twitter @KelleySmiddie.