RINGGOLD, Ga. — After his team’s 74-58 victory over rival Heritage on Tuesday, Ringgold basketball coach Greg Elkins could do nothing more than breathe deeply and smile.
The scoreboard turned off at halftime, causing a 20-minute delay, and the gym lights went off, resulting in another 15-minute stoppage. Elkins’ Tigers led 40-28 at the time of the last break, then went on a 9-2 run to end the third quarter when play resumed.
When asked how his guys stayed prepared during the breaks, Elkins said, “I wanted them to stay loose and stay warm, but I knew they would stay warm because I turn the heat up before the game.
“I told them to keep their mind clear: Don’t socialize with the fans in the stands, and take a seat on the bench to keep their focus. I was impressed by the fact that we went through two interruptions and played as well as we did. It was surprising but good.”
Ringgold had four players score in double figures: Nick Scott with 20 points, Barrett Johnson and Martez Eastland with 16 apiece and Cory Skidmore with 14. Point guard Trey Holt had eight assists and forward Desmond Law cleaned the glass for nine rebounds.
The smaller Tigers were able to attack the basket for layups but really stretched the game out on the defensive end, after a late game-plan change by Elkins.
“Heritage started a big lineup, which confused me,” he said. “Usually they start three guards, but tonight they went with three posts, so we started off in a 2-3 zone. It worked pretty well against their long kids.”
Guard Treas Jackson had 16 points to lead Heritage, with Matt Chattin adding 14, but the Generals hurt themselves with 13-for-28 shooting at the foul line. Ringgold was 12-for-19.
Heritage worked its inside game to perfection early, as starting posts Cody Sherlin, Jake Raines and Justin Adekoya, as well as backup Steven Ware, combined for six of the Generals’ 13 first-quarter points, giving them a 13-10 lead after a period.
Adekoya put back his own missed free throw in the second quarter to give Heritage a 17-14 lead, but Ringgold went on a 10-3 run and led 28-23 at the half.
They led 49-30 at the end of three quarters but had to hold on as the Generals trimmed the deficit to 62-50 with 3:15 remaining. The lead never got below 12 the rest of the way.
“I thought we played good defense for the better part of three quarters,” Elkins said. “The kids play hard and that’s all we ask them to do. We don’t score as frequently as we’d like, so we try to instill defensive values. Heritage is a good team and they played hard, but any time you beat your rival — especially in a subregion game, it’s huge.”