Walker Valley's Kolten Gibson looks for an open teammate Saturday as he leads a fast break against the Sonoraville Phoenix in the Chatt-Town Classic tournament at Chattanooga State.Jordan Munck isn't one to make excuses, so when the Walker Valley High School point guard had a below-par game in the Mustangs' Chatt-Town Classic opener at Chattanooga State on Friday, he owned up to it and vowed to make up for it.
And that he did, much to Sonoraville's chagrin. Munck got the Mustangs rolling with three early 3-pointers, and they rolled to a 67-43 win Saturday. They hit the holiday break 12-1 and feeling good about themselves.
"We're in good shape as far as where we want to be," Walker Valley coach Will Campbell said. "In the preseason we talked about our goals, and this is where we want to be. We want to give ourselves in the second half of the season a chance to compete, and I think we've done that.
"Tonight, we just hit some shots in the first half. Jordan, my point guard, didn't play his best game yesterday. He got off to a slow start, and he's his own worst critic, and he apologized after the game and told me he would play much better today. He hit those three 3s right off the bat to get us going.
"That's just the kind of kid he is - a competitor and a winner who will hold himself accountable - and that's what you want in a leader."
Those treys came on consecutive possessions as the Mustangs went from leading 4-2 to ending the first quarter up 20. Sam Belaci and Jake Smith also made 3s in the sizzling opening period, when the Phoenix (6-7) also hurt themselves with six turnovers.
A Brandon Davis drive early in the second quarter put Walker Valley up 28-4 before Sonoraville rallied behind 6-foot-8 center Chris Rush, who left the game early with an ankle injury. He scored 10 points in the period to cut the halftime lead to 36-21, giving Williams something to talk about at halftime.
"I was kind of frustrated at the end of the first half," he said. "We let our energy down in the second quarter and I gave them some words of advice at halftime, and they responded with a good run to start the third (quarter)."
A Noah Duprey layup started a 10-2 run to start the second half, and when Alex Duke converted a layup off a nice feed from Luke Wallace, the margin had grown back to a comfortable 23.
The Mustangs placed all 11 players in the scoring column. Munck led them with 11 points, with Duprey adding 10. Rush topped Sonoraville with 10.
In another Chatt-Town Classic boys' game Saturday, Brantley Baker poured in 42 points as Meigs County topped Soddy-Daisy 63-49.
In girls' action, Tyner defeated Soddy-Daisy 35-31, Arts & Sciences downed South Pittsburg 63-25, Walker Valley edged Heritage 60-55 and Meigs County topped Red Bank 64-44.
Contact Lindsey Young at lyoung@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6296. Follow him on Twitter @youngsports22.
