Prep roundup: Rally falls short, Christian Heritage boys' season ends in state semis

Staff photo by Matt Hamilton / Christian Heritage's Evan Lester drives to the basket as Mount Pisgah Christian's Chase Tucker defends during a GHSA Class A private state semifinal Saturday night in Dalton, Ga. Lester scored 12 points for the host Lions, who lost 66-57.
Staff photo by Matt Hamilton / Christian Heritage's Evan Lester drives to the basket as Mount Pisgah Christian's Chase Tucker defends during a GHSA Class A private state semifinal Saturday night in Dalton, Ga. Lester scored 12 points for the host Lions, who lost 66-57.

If Christian Heritage boys' basketball coach Tyler Watkins decides to watch the video of Saturday night's 66-57 home loss to Mount Pisgah Christian in the GHSA Class A private school state semifinals, he'll likely clench his jaws and fists at what could have been.

The Lions trailed throughout the game in Dalton - their deficit grew as large as 12 in the third quarter - but there were several moments, even as late as inside three minutes left, where a different bounce here or a grabbed rebound there might have told a different tale.

The most glaring moment came midway through the final quarter when the Lions (23-4), playing in front of a packed, vocal gym, made their move after struggling to stay with the tournament favorites. Down nine points, the hosts got within four on a Jax Abernathy drive with 4:32 remaining.

The Patriots (25-6) then missed a shot, scrambled for a loose ball and fed it to wing Garrett Sutherland, who threw up a 3-point shot as he was getting fouled. Sutherland made two of the three free throws, and moments later, after JoJo Peterson made two more free throws, the lead had grown back to eight with 1:24 left and hopes of extending the Lions' magical run ended.

"We didn't shoot well enough," said Watkins, who has taken his alma mater to two final fours in three years. "Made four 3-pointers, with three coming in the fourth. We could have been a little better with the ball, especially early. I love my guys. They play so hard.

"Going into this we didn't even know we would have a season, but to go 23-4 and 10-0 in the region and to get to host a semifinal game is a once-in-a-lifetime experience."

Abernathy, a freshman, led Christian Heritage with 22 points, followed by senior Evan Lester with 12. Peterson led five Mount Pisgah players in double figures with 12, with Cas Brady, Nick Speros and Chase Tucker adding 11 and Sutherland 10.

The Patriots will play Holy Innocents' in Wednesday's championship game in Macon.

TSSAA girls' sectionals

Bradley Central 36, Oakland 31: Bradley Central junior Ashlan Crittenden delivered for the Bearettes in key moments to help them earn their fourth straight Class AAA state tournament berth.

Crittenden's layup that started with her stealing the ball at the other end of the court tied the score at 11, and she swatted the ball out of a Lady Patriot's hands and out of bounds before banking in a tough shot for a 16-11 halftime advantage at home. She also helped close out the win by coming around a screen set by Anna Muhonen before driving for a left-handed score for a 26-17 lead with three minutes left and drew a key charge late.

"We don't win without Ashlan's spark off the bench," Bradley Central coach Jason Reuter said. "We held their best scorer to four points and 1-of-10 shooting. That was a combination of Ashlan and Jamia Williams. We won this game because of our defense."

Oakland sophomore Nikiah Chesterfield scored 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting, but the rest of the team was 6-of-28.

Karsee Weber led Bradley Central (27-1) with eight points and made a pair of 3-pointers in the second quarter. Crittenden finished with seven points and did not turn the ball over in 23 minutes.

"Coach Reuter preaches defense wins championships to us all the time," Crittenden said. "I would put our defense up against anybody because we spend half of our practices just on that and work really hard."

The Bearettes will play Lebanon (28-4) in the state quarterfinals for the third year in a row. The two match up Thursday at 3:30 p.m. Eastern at Middle Tennessee State University's Murphy Center.

Meigs County 47, York Institute 39: Class AA's Lady Tigers are headed back to state for the first time since 2014 after extending their streak of wins to 16.

Senior guard Jacelyn Stone scored 18 points on her home floor to help Meigs County (21-4) advance with the sectional victory. Jaci Powell added 12 points, and Ella Crowder made all four free throws to help the Lady Tigers outscore their opponent 18-11 over the final quarter.

Meigs County will take on Westview (26-1) in a state quarterfinal Wednesday at 8 p.m. Eastern at the Murphy Center.

Macon County 62, McMinn Central 50: The visiting Chargerettes trimmed their deficit to 46-41 as they closed the third quarter on an 8-0 run in which Kellan Baker and Makinlee Buckner each hit a 3-pointer, but Macon County's defense took over down the stretch and the hosts led 54-43 with 1:22 remaining in the Class AA sectional. McMinn Central's season ends at 23-10, but coach Johnny Morgan's team loses just one senior and is set to return its leading scorers.

BASEBALL

Northwest Whitfield 10-7, Cass 1-4: The Bruins (7-2) swept the nonregion doubleheader at home as Keaton McQuaig rapped out two hits in each game, one a homer, and drove in eight total runs. Matt Redmond had three hits and scored three times in game one, with Aiden Hosford adding three hits and an RBI and Cade Fisher two RBIs. Hosford was the winning pitcher in game two, allowing one run in seven innings while also joining Will Roper and Griff Morgan with two RBIs each.

Gordon Lee 10, Heritage-Catoosa 0: The Trojans got two RBIs each from Brody Cobb, Brodie Genter and Blake Rodgers, and four innings of two-hit, five-strikeout pitching from Bo Rhudy to improve to 5-1 in the five-inning win over the Generals (6-2) in the Catoosa County Children's Fund Classic at AT&T Field.

Ringgold 4, Heritage-Rockdale 0: Chase Ghormley pitched a three-hit, 11-strikeout shutout to lift the Tigers past the reigning GHSA Class AAAAAA state champions in another Classic game at AT&T Field. Mason Parker started the scoring in the sixth with a two-run double, with Colin Mountjoy and Austin McMahan adding RBI singles in the same inning.

Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe 10, Southeast Whitfield 0: The Warriors won their first game in nine starts and handed the Raiders their first loss in eight games as Matthew Shields tossed a five-inning shutout with nine strikeouts in a Classic game at AT&T Field. Nyko Simpson was 3-for-4, Will Carroll 2-for-2 with two RBIs and Devan Hinton 2-for-3 with three RBIs for LFO.

Heritage-Catoosa 3, Coahulla Creek 1: The Generals prevailed Friday night at Coahulla Creek as Landon Skeen pitched 5 2/3 innings of scoreless relief, Cade Kiniry had two hits and Caden Snyder drove in a run with a double.

Roundup compiled by Lindsey Young and Patrick MacCoon. Contact Young at lyoung@timesfreepress.com and follow him on Twitter @youngsports22. Contact MacCoon at pmaccoon@timesfreepress.com and follow him on Twitter @PMacCoon.

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