Last Tuesday night, the boys and girl varsity basketball teams faced the Class 5A Walton Raiders in McIntosh’s annual Mac Madness. The Lady Chiefs were victorious against the Lady Raiders with a score of 58-38.

The game began and ended with tough defense and high energy.  The competition stayed close in the first quarter with the Lady Chiefs ahead 14-8, but the game quickly got away from the Lady Raiders midway through the second. In the beginning of the second half, when it seemed like the Lady Chiefs were losing steam, point guard Gabby Seiler took charge and made a lightning speed crossover, passed her defender, and scored causing the fans to go wild. This play brought a new energy to the crowd and the team. By this point, everyone in the gym could sense that this game would end in a win for the Lady Chiefs.

Everyone on the team contributed to the win, and almost everyone scored. Leading scorer Seiler finished with 22 points, followed by Kristin Campbell with 7, and then Amanda Lindsey and Cassidy Williams with 6.  Abby Birrell led the team with 9 rebounds followed by Persephone Thompson with 7.

                The Boys’ Basketball team had a much harder time against the Walton Raiders. The Chiefs could not get into an offensive rhythm in the first half. But in the second half, the Chiefs brought much more energy into their game with a valiant effort from Michael Williams to put the team on his back, two drives from EJ Ahmed, assisted by Brandon Cerezola, and a 3-pointer from Eric Thomason. They scored 19 more points in the second half than they did in the first and picked up multiple steals and rebounds. Unfortunately, the Chiefs did not come back. The game ended in a 62-37 loss.

Cerezola was the leading scorer with 11 points followed by Eric Thomason with 6.

On Saturday, November 16, in a five game series, the Freshman and Junior Varsity teams had their openers against the New Manchester Jaguars. The freshman boys came out hard in the first quarter. The Jaguars pressed them up and down the court, but they were able to work as a team to get the ball up the court and score. This high energized game had the parents and fans pumped up.  Unfortunately, they came up short in their fourth quarter push to come from behind. The final score was 36-52.

The next to play was the Junior Varsity Lady Chiefs, who quickly fell behind in the first half after a couple of missed shots and turnovers. The first half ended in a 13-31 deficit. However, the second half was a different ball game. The Lady Chiefs came out with a whole new attitude. They were working together as one unit and getting things done not only offensively but also defensively. The Lady Chiefs held the Lady Jaguars to five points in the second half while they scored 21 points. The Lady Chiefs proved that they do not give up when things don’t go their way and although they came up short, they showed they had what it took to win a ball game. The final score was 34-36. Leading scorers were Bridget Odom with 11 points, followed by Natalie Carter, who scored 9 points.

Just when the fans thought the next game couldn’t possibly get as intense as the Lady Chiefs, the Junior Varsity boys came up from behind and took their game into a double over-time. At the end of regulation, the game had a score of 33-33.  The Chiefs won the tip-off but unfortunately scored in the wrong basket. This lapse did not stop them from scoring on their next possession. Additional scoring opportunities were hard to come by, and both teams had a hard time getting the ball into the basket. By the time the clock ran out, both teams were yet again tied. In the second overtime, with a couple of bad calls and missed calls by the refs, the Chiefs just couldn’t get into their offense and pull out the win. The Chiefs lost 40-42. Leading scorers were Conner Nash with 19 points, followed by Taylor Huntley and Jeremy Humbard with 6.

In the fourth quarter of the Varsity Boy’s game, they took control of a contest that seemed to be far from reach. Although the game went into a double overtime, they came up 5 points shy of the win with a score of 61-65. The Varsity Lady Chiefs pulled out a 56-24 victory, the only one of the day for the Chiefs, against the Lady Jaguars.

The JV girls and Varsity girls will be playing tonight at Pope at 6:00 and 7:30.