ROGERSVILLE – Chuckey-Doak could not overcome a slow start and a lack of offense spelled trouble as it dropped one on the road to Cherokee 71-38 on Thursday night.
Head coach Sam Broyles was not pleased with the effort and performance showcased on the floor. The Black Knights went 9:46 before they would finally get a field goal to fall and struggled to rebound in the post. Chuckey-Doak fell behind very early and it seemed to take the life out of them right away. They cut their deficit to 15 in the third quarter, but a relentless offensive attack from Cherokee caused the score to balloon and move out of reach.
“No effort. I felt like we lacked effort tonight. We fixed the free throw part now we’ve got the rebounding. Our three post players had a combined five rebounds all night. We gave up thirteen offensive boards,” Coach Broyles stated. “I understand it’s our first road trip on a bus and I don’t know if that played into it. But it’s something we’ve got to fix.”
Cherokee’s Braxton Markham started the game with a three and within minutes they led 11-0. Isaiah Jones and Elijah Carmack scored four each in the early going.
Ben Palazzo sank a pair of free throws to get Chuckey-Doak on the scoreboard with 4:29 left in the quarter. Every shot seemed to fall for Cherokee and it was evident on the final shot of the period as Branson Mowell netted a fallaway at the buzzer. The Chiefs led 24-4 after one.
Jake Broyles scored Chuckey-Doak’s first field goal with a three-point bomb with 6:14 left in the second. Ryland Grindstaff followed with another three later and Knox McCamis finished an and-one play for another three points. The Black Knights won the second quarter 11-10 and went into the half trailing 34-15.
The Black Knights opened up the second half with a 4-0 run to cut their deficit to 15, but Cherokee sensed a bit of pressure and widened the margin back out to an even deeper deficit. Five different players accounted for Cherokee’s 17-6 run to finish the third quarter ahead 51-25.
The Chiefs never let up and continued to score at will in the fourth. Gavin Crum heated up in the fourth and scored all nine of his points in the final eight minutes. Crum led Chuckey-Doak with those nine points.
Cherokee defended its home court and sent Chuckey-Doak back to lower Afton with a 71-38 loss. Isaiah Jones and Braxton Markham led the way with 15 points and Elijah Carmack scored 14.
Chuckey-Doak plays at home next on Saturday and hosts Cloudland.
GIRLS
Cherokee 66, Chuckey-Doak 27
The Lady Black Knights were outmatched on Thursday night and received a 66-27 loss courtesy of Cherokee.
The Lady Chiefs shot the ball very well from the field and turned up the pressure on defense to force turnovers and create points in different ways. Chuckey-Doak never gained a rhythm on offense and went cold from the field as it struggled to score the ball.
“That’s a good team. They’re well coached. Cherokee has girls that have won the state tournament at the middle school level two years in a row. Overall, there’s no weaknesses. They ran the floor well and shot it well and defensively they were all over us. We just didn’t play well tonight and it showed,” Chuckey-Doak Head Coach Tanner Earley said.
Both teams started cold but when Rylee Sivert scored two minutes in, and things started rolling for Cherokee. Sivert scored Cherokee’s first six points and helped create an early 10-2 lead halfway through the opening quarter. The lead grew to 14-2 before Carlene Bishop scored a layup off the glass. Kenady Deal got involved at the tail end of the first with a layup followed by a three-point field goal. The Lady Chiefs led 27-5 after one.
They never let up and scored 12-straight to start the second before Carlene Bishop drained a triple with 4:45 on the clock. She scored with another three pointer later in the quarter and scored three of Chuckey-Doak’s four field goals in the first half. The Lady Knights trailed 52-13 at the half.
The running clock began as the ball was inbounded in the third quarter and forced a quicker finish to Thursday night’s contest.
Chuckey-Doak had no answer for Cherokee and lost 66-27.
“It’s good to play these kinds of teams and these kinds of games. You don’t get better unless you play these kinds of teams. You get better by playing great competition,” Coach Earley explained.
Carlene Bishop led the way with eight points. Rylee Sivert led all scorers with 25 for Cherokee.
Chuckey-Doak suits up again on Saturday night for another non-conference clash with Cloudland.
