Christian Heritage boys' basketball program 'on the map' with No. 1 seed for state

Christian Koneman capped Christian Heritage's upset of top-ranked St. Francis in the Region 6-A tournament with this dunk.
Christian Koneman capped Christian Heritage's upset of top-ranked St. Francis in the Region 6-A tournament with this dunk.

GHSA basketball state playoffs

First roundGirls (all games today)Class AAAA› Central-Carroll (15-11) at Northwest Whitfield (24-3), 6 p.m.› Heritage (19-9) at LaGrange (18-9), 6 p.m.Class AAA› Cedar Grove at Sonoraville (18-8), 6 p.m.› Coahulla Creek (13-13) at Pace Academy (15-8), 6 p.m.› Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe (14-13) at Lovett (23-4), 6 p.m.Class AA› Gordon Central (10-14) at Elbert County (15-12), 5 p.m.Boys (all games Saturday unless noted)Class AAAA› Troup (14-11) at Northwest Whitfield (19-9), 7:30 tonight› LaGrange (18-10) at LaFayette (23-2), 6 p.m.› Heritage (15-13) at Cartersville (19-6), 7 p.m.Class AAA› Redan (13-13) at Calhoun (13-13), 6 p.m.› Sonoraville (23-4) at Pace Academy (16-11), 5:30 p.m.› Ringgold (19-7) at Cedar Grove (21-6), 6 p.m.Class AA› Monticello (19-9) at Chattooga (23-3), 6 p.m.Class A public› Marion County (14-11) at Trion (16-11), 4 p.m.

DALTON, Ga. - When Tyler Watkins took over as boys' basketball coach at Christian Heritage School four years ago, he had the usual goals.

He also had one of the not-so-usual variety for his alma mater.

photo Senior Christian Koneman leads surging Christian Heritage in scoring and rebounding. The Lions are the top-ranked team in the GHSA Class A private school state tournament.
photo Senior Sam Dindoffer, shooting, helped Christian Heritage earn the No. 1 seed in the GHSA Class A private school state tournament after upsetting top-ranked St. Francis in the Region 6 tournament.
photo Christian Koneman capped Christian Heritage's upset of top-ranked St. Francis in the Region 6-A tournament with this dunk.

"I wanted to bring excitement back to this school and to this area," Watkins said. "I can say it certainly has been an exciting past few days."

The Lions are 26-2 and the talk of northwest Georgia high school basketball after a shocking championship run in the recent Region 6-A tournament. That run included back-to-back wins over the state's top-ranked Class A team, St. Francis, as well as No. 2 North Cobb Christian.

The first GHSA region title in program history lifted Christian Heritage into the No. 1 seed in the Class A private school state tournament bracket, which is set based on the GHSA's power ratings. The Lions have a first-round bye, and next Thursday they will host the winner of this weekend's game between Mount Pisgah and Mount Vernon.

The Lions' whirlwind week of success might not have happened if not for a bit of adversity, though. A little more than two weeks earlier, they took both of their losses in a span of three days, following a frustrating defeat at North Cobb Christian with an even more painful one at Trion.

"We needed that game," Watkins said. "I don't think we would have accomplished what we have without that wake-up call. North Cobb Christian has been running our side of the region. We beat them at our place in four overtimes earlier, then played them at their place the Saturday before the Trion game and lost. Then we went out and thought we would just step out and win."

Christian Heritage seniors Sam Dindoffer and Christian Koneman made sure such overconfidence didn't happen again, calling a players-only meeting that reset expectations.

"We had to make sure we were ready to play and our minds are right," said the 6-foot-7 Koneman, whose per-game averages for points (18) and rebounds (9.5) lead the Lions. "We've had a mentality since that Trion game that we were going to give our all every day. If we lose, it's not going to be because we were not focused or prepared."

With Koneman, Dindoffer and energetic point guard Zach Gentry leading the way - Dindoffer has averaged 15 points per game, Gentry 11.5 - Christian Heritage has responded with nine straight wins, including the epic region tournament victories.

"We were excited to be on the floor with St. Francis, a team that has future NBA players on it," Watkins recalled of the 64-62 win. "Our guys were locked in prior to the game. They weren't scared of the moment, and they didn't back down one bit. We defended, rebounded and ran with them for 32 minutes."

The Lions followed that with a convincing 71-47 title win over North Cobb Christian, displaying the attacking up-tempo style that focuses on taking care of the ball and getting good shots. The latter aspect is a big reason Christian Heritage enters the state tournament shooting 57 percent from the field.

And it's not by accident.

Watkins implemented a system called "Hunting Sevens," in which every shot the team takes is rated. A wide-open layup is a 9, an uncontested, on-balance shot is a 7, a contested shot a 5 and on down. The goal is to not settle for anything less than a 7 if at all possible.

"We want to take care of the basketball and get great shots," Watkins said. "We've got five guys who can dribble, pass and shoot, which is hard for teams to defend. All of our guys are unselfish also, and they are very competitive."

It all adds up to a possible run to a state championship, an extreme rarity for a northwest Georgia program.

Mention the possibility to Watkins, though, and he shudders.

"I've had people calling me up wanting to talk about state championships and all that, and I'm not looking ahead one bit," he said. "Christian Heritage basketball is on the map now, but we've still got a lot of work to do."

Contact Lindsey Young at lyoung@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6296. Follow him on Twitter @youngsports22.

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