RINGGOLD, Ga. – Greg Elkins admits this year’s Ringgold High School basketball team is built differently from most of the successful units he’s coached.
The Tigers this season are a physical, defense-first team that has worn down opponents. Tuesday night’s 58-28 Region 6-AAA win over Catoosa County rival Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe, however, was more of a beat-down than a wear-down.
Ringgold (12-3, 5-1), with five players 6-foot-4 or taller, hassled the smaller Warriors (5-11, 3-3) all over the court, forcing 20 turnovers and a number of air-balls and off-balance shots.
“We dug our heels in on defense, and we’ve done that all year,” Elkins said. “That’s our backbone. We got a quick start and knocked down some shots and got rolling. This game is kind of easy when you knock down shots.”
The Tigers’ size was evident early as 6-4 Ammon Murphy got a quick three-point play, 6-4 Cade Nayadly a short jumper in the lane and 6-3, 260-pound Corey Johnson back-to-back layups in building a 17-7 lead after one quarter.
The lead reached 20 by halftime after Chandler Chastain, who tied Nayadley for scoring honors with 12, hit a pair of 3-pointers and Ringgold’s ball-hawking defense created an unsightly nine second-quarter turnovers by the increasingly frustrated visitors.
“We’re a little bigger and more physical than we have been in the past,” Elkins said. “It’s also about being confident. Last season we had a lot of players who hadn’t played varsity before, so that was asking a lot of them. That was a valuable learning experience, and you can tell we are a much more mature basketball team.”
If Jerry Jones’ LFO team had any comeback hopes, they quickly were dashed in the third period as Ringgold opened with an 18-0 run that included six Nayadley points and three rebound putbacks. It was another strong outing for a team that is undefeated in 6-AAA’s north subregion and in control of getting a region tournament first-round bye.
“We play together all the time on the defensive end, and we share the ball well on offense,” said Elkins, whose Tigers put 11 players into the scoring column. “These guys aren’t stat sensitive, so they aren’t just out to get theirs, so to speak. That’s the way we want it, because it’s hard to game-plan.”
Elkins will learn a bit more about his team in the coming days, including a road game tonight at defending region champ Calhoun, a road game at Coahulla Creek and a Saturday nonregion game at crosstown rival Heritage.
Contact Lindsey Young at lyoung@timesfreepress.com or at 423-757-6296; follow on Twitter @youngsports22.