Cyclones’ defense overwhelmed in season opener
Posted on November 20, 2021
By Andrew Schnittker
aschnittker@wilsontimes.com | 252-265-7807 | Twitter: @aschnitt53
In its season opener Friday night, Community Christian’s boys basketball team had no answers defensively in an 87-47 loss to Ridgecroft at Peace Church.
Ayden Smith led the Cyclones with 13 points, followed by Seth Huston with 12. Sawyer Chamblee led the Rams (4-0) with a whopping 34 points. The Cyclones’ disorganization on defense doomed them in the loss.
“We’ve got to work on getting back,” said Community Christian head coach Kennety Atkinson. “That killed us. When they would get a rebound on our end, we were guarding them on our end instead of getting back. They were running the break, and that was killing us. They weren’t getting back like we were supposed to. And we weren’t playing the middle like we were supposed to. They were driving right through us. Our middle man wasn’t stopping the drive. We’ve got to work on these small things. I actually think the team looked good other than all the mistakes we made ourselves, all the turnovers, bad passes and everything. We beat ourselves.”
The Cyclones found themselves behind th eight-ball immediately, trailing 25-10 after the first quarter as they struggled to limit the Rams’ transition game and open looks from 3-point land.
Ridgecroft had a 32-point lead by half time.
“In the first half, they were really excited,” Atkins said. “I kept telling them to calm down. They seemed a little more calm in the third quarter, but then they fell back out of it and they weren’t getting back like they were supposed to.”
Community Christian did not completely fall apart, however, and there was plenty to like offensively with four players scoring at least eight points.
“I like the way we moved the ball,” Atkinson said. “We moved the ball well. Like I said, offensively, they didn’t really stop us a whole lot other than making bad passes. We moved the ball around well, which is what we’ve been working on a lot. We’re going to get a little better at it. We’ve got a really young team. I think we’re going to be a lot better once we can move the ball around without the careless passes and mistakes that we made moving the ball around.”
Despite a comeback in the second half being out of the realm of possibility, the Cyclones continued to fight, and outscored the Rams 12-9 in the final frame.
“I’m very proud of them,” Atkinson said. “I had told them at the end of the third quarter ‘Don’t give up. Just don’t lay down and give up.’ I said, ‘We’ve got to learn from this.’ This is not the end, this is just the beginning. This is the first game. We only have one player that came back from last year. They have to learn how to play together. They’re a really good team, but they have to learn how to play together.”
The Cyclones will return to action against Northeast Academy at Peace Church on Tuesday.
RIDGECROFT (87)
Chamblee 34, Edwards 15, Porter 14, Peterson 11, Revelle 5, Lewis 4, Brown 2, Miller 2.
COMMUNITY CHRISTIAN (47)
Smith 13, Huston 12, Pittman 8, Beamon 8, Gay 3, Loftin 3.
Ridgecroft 25 29 24 9 — 87
CCS 10 12 13 12 — 47
Posted on November 20, 2021
By Andrew Schnittker
aschnittker@wilsontimes.com | 252-265-7807 | Twitter: @aschnitt53
In its season opener Friday night, Community Christian’s boys basketball team had no answers defensively in an 87-47 loss to Ridgecroft at Peace Church.
Ayden Smith led the Cyclones with 13 points, followed by Seth Huston with 12. Sawyer Chamblee led the Rams (4-0) with a whopping 34 points. The Cyclones’ disorganization on defense doomed them in the loss.
“We’ve got to work on getting back,” said Community Christian head coach Kennety Atkinson. “That killed us. When they would get a rebound on our end, we were guarding them on our end instead of getting back. They were running the break, and that was killing us. They weren’t getting back like we were supposed to. And we weren’t playing the middle like we were supposed to. They were driving right through us. Our middle man wasn’t stopping the drive. We’ve got to work on these small things. I actually think the team looked good other than all the mistakes we made ourselves, all the turnovers, bad passes and everything. We beat ourselves.”
The Cyclones found themselves behind th eight-ball immediately, trailing 25-10 after the first quarter as they struggled to limit the Rams’ transition game and open looks from 3-point land.
Ridgecroft had a 32-point lead by half time.
“In the first half, they were really excited,” Atkins said. “I kept telling them to calm down. They seemed a little more calm in the third quarter, but then they fell back out of it and they weren’t getting back like they were supposed to.”
Community Christian did not completely fall apart, however, and there was plenty to like offensively with four players scoring at least eight points.
“I like the way we moved the ball,” Atkinson said. “We moved the ball well. Like I said, offensively, they didn’t really stop us a whole lot other than making bad passes. We moved the ball around well, which is what we’ve been working on a lot. We’re going to get a little better at it. We’ve got a really young team. I think we’re going to be a lot better once we can move the ball around without the careless passes and mistakes that we made moving the ball around.”
Despite a comeback in the second half being out of the realm of possibility, the Cyclones continued to fight, and outscored the Rams 12-9 in the final frame.
“I’m very proud of them,” Atkinson said. “I had told them at the end of the third quarter ‘Don’t give up. Just don’t lay down and give up.’ I said, ‘We’ve got to learn from this.’ This is not the end, this is just the beginning. This is the first game. We only have one player that came back from last year. They have to learn how to play together. They’re a really good team, but they have to learn how to play together.”
The Cyclones will return to action against Northeast Academy at Peace Church on Tuesday.
RIDGECROFT (87)
Chamblee 34, Edwards 15, Porter 14, Peterson 11, Revelle 5, Lewis 4, Brown 2, Miller 2.
COMMUNITY CHRISTIAN (47)
Smith 13, Huston 12, Pittman 8, Beamon 8, Gay 3, Loftin 3.
Ridgecroft 25 29 24 9 — 87
CCS 10 12 13 12 — 47
