Out of all the joys life has presented Chris Jones, two of his greatest experiences have been seeing both of his children reach their dreams.
This past Saturday, he and his wife, Jennifer, drove up to Cleveland State Community College, where they watched their oldest son, Cooper, take a no-hitter into the fifth inning while pitching for Pellissippi State. Afterward, they drove back to Chattanooga to watch their youngest son, Hudson, help the third-ranked Boyd Buchanan boys’ basketball team reach the TSSAA Division II-A state semifinals with a 77-65 home win over Lausanne.
“It’s a little emotional for me as a father to have seen both of my sons achieve the goals they set out to do here at Boyd Buchanan,” Jones said. “Cooper went to the final four for baseball, and now Hudson is in the final four in basketball. As a dad, one of the most enjoyable things is to just see the smile on their faces, knowing they have achieved their goals and are excited about it. That is what is fun to me as a dad.”
The DII-A boys’ semifinals are Friday in Clarksville at Austin Peay State University’s F&M Bank Arena, and Boyd Buchanan (24-11) will take on Battle Ground Academy (30-7) at 2:30 p.m. Eastern. The second semifinal, between Providence Christian (27-6) and St. George’s (25-6), is set for 6 p.m., with Friday’s winners then meeting with the title on the line at 7:30 p.m. Saturday.
Chattanooga will also be represented in the DII-A girls’ bracket Friday in Clarksville, where the first state semifinal appearance for Notre Dame has the Lady Fighting Irish (27-6) facing University School of Jackson (24-5) at 1 p.m. Notre Dame sophomore MiMi Lee and USJ junior Haylen Ayers each averages 23 points per game, best in the tournament, and are trying to get their respective teams to Saturday’s 5 p.m. title game against the winner of Friday’s other semifinal matching Providence Christian (25-5) and King’s Academy (27-8) at 4:30 p.m.