Scoring points may be sexy, but defense wins basketball games — and tournament titles.
Friday night’s Best of Preps champions, the Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe girls and the Baylor boys, did their best work on the defensive end to earn the prestigious tournament titles at Chattanooga State.
LFO’s Lady Warriors forced 19 turnovers and used two big offensive runs to defeat Baylor, 64-48, and repeat as champs.
In the boys’ title tilt, Baylor clamped down on high-scoring rival McCallie to win a defensive slugfest, 45-35.
Tournament MVP Christina Collins scored 26 points to lead LFO (13-0), which never trailed after taking a 10-3 lead in the first four minutes and a 17-8 edge after the opening period. The Lady Red Raiders (5-6) used some tight defense of their own to get within seven by halftime, but the Lady Warriors took control in a dominating third period that featured the team’s defensively suffocating trio of guards: Collins, sister Christen Collins and Angel Simmons.