A hot start in the first quarter set the pace and carried Chuckey-Doak to a 54-30 win over Johnson County on Friday night.
“I thought it was a good game for us. We jumped on them early and switched in and out of some things that gave them problems and we got some layups. Anytime we do that and let our defense run into our offense it’s good for us,” Chuckey-Doak’s Head Coach Kyle Donahue stated.
The Lady Black Knights took care of Johnson County once this season and looked for the sweep heading into Friday night. They completed the season sweep and remained tied for the top spot in District 1-2A with Hampton, improving to 7-2 within league play.
The fast start was due in large part to a press defense that Chuckey-Doak began the game in. Twelve of their 16 first-quarter points occurred on transition layups that resulted from forced turnovers. They jumped ahead early and never trailed in the game.
“Anytime on defense our mindset is to attack. We want to make sure to attack. We don’t want to sit back, we want to force the issue and they did that in that quarter and were rewarded for it,” Donahue explained. “To do that tonight was a good jumpstart now we have to keep that rolling.”
Freshman Jayden Myers led the Lady Knights with a team-leading 11 points. Layla Fox joined her in double figures with 10. Ten different players scored in the duration of the contest.
“Jayden came in and got to the paint and got some good shots. She had our only three of the night so that helps. For a freshman that’s pretty good for her to play that well. Layla had 10 and Kennedy had 9. Those three kind of led us tonight in different points and unselfishly found each other,” Donahue mentioned.
One of those being Saniah Atchison who started the matchup with a steal and layup at the other end. Tralyn Southerland was next and downed a layup in the post. Kennedy Brown netted a basket next.
After Audrey Shaw scored Johnson County’s first four points to draw them within 6-4, the Lady Knights went on a 13-0 run to create a double-digit margin. Layla Fox scored on back-to-back transition layups before Myers finished the frame with five-straight on a three and transition layup.
They led 16-4 after one and kept the run going in the second. Atchison made 1-of-2 free throws and Brown made it to the cup for a layup off the glass. Shaw ended it with two foul shots and Chasity Osborne followed with a layup. Tavyn Southerland and Isabelle Karriker shared layups and both finished the quarter with four points each.
Chuckey-Doak held a commanding 29-9 lead at the break.
The third quarter was a slow one for Chuckey-Doak’s offense as the quarter ended in an 8-8 tie. Layla Fox ended the quarter strong with four-straight on a layup and a jumper. Four different Lady Longhorns scored in the frame. The scoreboard read 37-17 after the third.
They never felt threatened after their opening burst in the first, but made sure to put the game out of reach with a few more transition buckets in the fourth. Jayden Myers and Tralyn Southerland got it done off the glass as well as Layla Fox did after she stripped the ball away on defense and finished at the hole.
Chloe Kirkpatrick scored her first and only two points of the game off a crafty assist from Kennedy Brown. With the ball rolling out of bounds underneath the basket she tapped it back to Kirkpatrick on the baseline which gave her the wide-open opportunity. Brown scored Chuckey-Doak’s next two on a layup.
Jesse Dayton and Sarah Yates scored late in the fourth to add their names to the book. Johnson County scored 13 of the last 21 points, but the game was too far out of reach for it to matter.
Chuckey-Doak held claim to a 54-30 win over Johnson County to hold their spot at the top. They improved their record to 12-11.
“We commanded the game pretty well. There were low points where we didn’t score much, but it felt like we were in control of what was going on we just weren’t scoring,” Coach Donahue said.
With West Greene’s loss to South Greene, Chuckey-Doak and Hampton are now in a two-way tie for first place in the District 1-2A standings.
Jayden Myers led them with 11 as Layla Fox followed right behind her with 10. Audrey Shaw led Johnson County with 10.
Chuckey-Doak returns to action on Tuesday with a home game with West Greene.
BOYS
Johnson County 75, Chuckey-Doak 65
The Chuckey-Doak boys led at the end of each of the first three quarter, but could not finish the job in the fourth quarter and let the lead slip away in a 74-65 loss to Johnson County Friday night.
“I couldn’t be more proud of my guys. We held right there with them,” Black Knights Head Coach Sam Broyles said.
After starting league play 0-5 with an average margin of loss of 29 points, they’ve managed to win one over Happy Valley and only lost to Hampton and Johnson County by an average of 8.5 points. The improvements are definitely showing and showed on Friday night in their loss to the Longhorns.
“We played great for three quarters and even in the fourth when we had three freshmen on the floor at times. You never know what you’re going to get out of them but they came to play tonight. I was so proud of them,” Coach Broyles expressed.
Gavin Crum led the way with a game-leading 23 points and Ryland Grindstaff helped add 18 points. Johnson County’s trio of Carter Atwood, Darren Chappell, and Landin Lipford all reached double figures and combined for 53 of their 74 total points.
A hot start from Crum led the Black Knights to an early first-quarter lead. He started a perfect 3-for-3 from the three-point line and had 11 at the end of the first frame. The rest of their four starters all got a taste of the scoring in the first and helped contribute to their 21-16 lead after one.
Darren Chappell scored four-straight to keep Johnson County trending upwards, but Chuckey-Doak’s guard play erased that with Grindstaff hitting a pull-up mid-range and Atchison providing a bucket. Carter Atwood scored four-straight next with a layup and elbow jumper before Grindstaff and Ben Palazzo ended the quarter with a floater and layup.
Chuckey-Doak held a slim 31-27 lead at halftime.
The third quarter was full of offense with 44 combined points from both teams. Landin Lipford heated up and nailed a pair of three-point buckets for the Longhorns before Gavin Crum entered the conversation again with another three-point bomb. Crum was hampered with a slight injury after a hard fall in the second quarter and reappeared in the second half.
“He was shooting great until he took it to the hole and they took his legs out from under him. I had to take him out from where he landed on his hip,” Broyles mentioned. “I thought he battled back and played a really good second half.”
Dom Atchison scored four/straight on back-to-back layups to hand them their biggest lead of the night to this point at 42-33. The lead rose to ten at 46-36 with Grindstaff and Crum’s layups.
The Longhorns came storming back with a 9-0 run to pull within one. Atwood’s floater followed by four-straight from Chappell and a three from Eli Tester made it a one possession game. Chuckey-Doak freshman Hudson Cox scored four crucial points in the late stages of the third. Chappell tied it with two free throws before Palazzo’s layup broke the tie heading into the fourth.
The Black Knights held a 52-50 lead going into the final quarter of play.
Gavin Crum landed his fifth triple of the game to start the fourth. Grindstaff’s putback off his own miss lifted them ahead by seven again, but things went south after that. Leading 57-50, the Longhorns finished the game on a 24-8 run. To make things worse, Dom Atchison left the game injured early in the fourth after a hard fall on a layup attempt. “If Dom doesn’t get hurt then who knows what happens,” Broyles stated.
The late stages became a free-throw battle with 15-straight points coming from the free-throw line. 15 of the last 17 combined points were scored at the charity stripe.
Chuckey-Doak’s last lead came at 61-60 when Ryland Grindstaff regained the lead with a lay in, but Chappell’s three put Johnson County ahead and they never led again. Chappell and Carson Jennings scored four free throws each in the final quarter. The Knights went cold from the field and never made another field goal after Grindstaff’s lay in.
Chuckey-Doak suffered a 74-65 loss to Johnson County at home on Friday night.
Gavin Crum’s 23 points led all scorers. Ryland Grindstaff joined him with 18 points. Carter Atwood led Johnson County with 19 points.
The Black Knights host county rival West Greene on Tuesday for their next game.
