Trojans claim second place
Garrett Byers/Daily Courier Chase High's Shad Blanton (14) shoots for the basket in this Courier basketball file photo.
CHERRYVILLE — After claiming a 92-85 win over Cherryville in the semifinals of the Bud Black/Dennis Tate Holiday Classic, Chase lost to Besemer City 64-43 in the championship game Saturday night in Cherryville.
“We played tough. I’m really proud of them for making it as far as we did,” said Chase head coach Joe Jessen. “I think we had a pretty good tournament. We came home with a second-place trophy and that isn’t too bad. I thought he played a very smart tournament. “
Bessemer City led 25-20 at the break and started pulling away in the third quarter, taking a 45-32 lead into the final period.
“The game was a lot closer than the score shows,” said Jessen. “We kind of lost our composure towards the end. We were down seven towards the end of the third quarter but we had some calls go against us and kind of lost our composure. From that point on it was
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over.”
Steven Holland scored 14 points and Shad Blanton added 10 points for Chase (8-4).
Chase placed three players on the All-tournament team with Blanton, Holland and Ryan Simpson.
“[Simpson] didn’t score a lot of points but he just made a lot of good decisions on the court,” said Jessen, “He was the one that helped us stay in control when things got a little haywire.”
Jessen hopes his Trojans carry this momentum into conference play.
“We’ve got a tough schedule ahead of us now,” said Jessen. “We have got to get better at practice, that’s the key now to playing better. Of course we’re going to lose a few games but my goal is for them to get better every day and maybe surprise some teams.”
Chase returns to action Friday, Jan. 4 when they travel to Burns.
All-tournament teams
Boys
Co-MVPs— Brad James and Michael Meeks, Bessemer City
Bessemer City— Tyrece Meeks, Jha’Qui Adams, Trevon Oglesby, Ronnie Webber
Chase — Ryan Simpson, Steven Holland, Shad Blanton
Cherryville — Rhyer Davis, Nick Corbett, Kenny Poston
Castlewood — Reid Edmonds, Dylan Trent
AustraliaA — Mitch Medwin, Brett McAuley
Thomas Jefferson — Justus Freeland, Nick Mintz
South Point — Deonte Gaston, John Chavis
AustraliaB— Riley Henderson, Brad Potter
Girls
MVP— Ashley Mull, South Point
South Point — Ashley Mull, Haley Stewart, Graylin Heustess, Blair Griffin, Asia Jackson
BessemerCity— Tierra Dameron, Madison Carter, Anjala Brewton
Hickory Grove— Hannah Griffin, Jayla Joyner, Hannah Adamczyk
Cherryville— Jacquilla Burris, Latiya McDowell
Castlewood— Sydney Elam, Caitlyn Fleming
Chase— Takirah McKinney, Kaitlyn Smart
Hunter Huss— Jalaah Crosby, Jessica Hannah
Thomas Jefferson — Victoria Bennett, Gracie Hollifield