By SCOTT MCKIE B.P.
ONE FEATHER STAFF
The Cherokee varsity basketball teams dominated the Blue Ridge Bobcats at Charles George Arena on Tuesday, Dec. 10. The Lady Braves improved to 5-1 on the season with a 77-16 win, and the Braves went to 3-3 on the season with a 79-51 win.
Lady Braves 77 Blue Ridge 16
Cherokee’s Avery Mintz (#22) avoids a block attempt by Blue Ridge’s Ashlee O’Dwyer (#34) during Tuesday’s home game against Blue Ridge. In the game, she had 13pts, 10 rebounds, and 7 steals. (SCOTT MCKIE B.P./One Feather photos)
One of the basic tenets of the game of basketball is that you have to have the ball to score. The Lady Braves made sure the Lady Bobcats didn’t have the ball much in Tuesday’s game as Cherokee had 35 steals to Blue Ridge’s 0. Avery Mintz had 7 of those steals followed by LeLe Lossiah and Kayla Pheasant with 5 each.
Kendall Toineeta led Cherokee with 16pts followed by Mintz with 13 and Taran Swimmer with 10. Cherokee jumped out early in this game and led 21-4 after the first period. Blue Ridge didn’t score their first point until just before the period ended.
The Lady Braves led 41-7 at the half and then outscored the Lady Bobcats 36-9 in the second half to take the big win.
Cherokee’s Blake Wachacha (#15) goes up through several Blue Ridge defenders for a shot.
Cherokee also dominated the boards getting 36 offensive rebounds to Blue Ridge’s 4. Mintz led with 10 rebounds including 8 offensive boards.
Other Lady Braves scorers included: Alyssa Land 2, Lossiah 4, Bree Stamper 1, Miranda Smith 8, Blake Wachacha 5, Ashlyn Spicer 6, Peri Wildcatt 8, and Kristen Driver 4.
Lady Bobcat scorers included: Brianna Quinn 4, Anna Steward 6, Taylor Bumgarner 1, Brenda Morales 1, and Ashlee O’Dwyer 4.
Braves 79 Blue Ridge 51
Cherokee’s Eli Littlejohn (#35) drives hard for the basket. He ended with 9 points on the night.
This game seemed like it would be close in the beginning and Blue Ridge actually led 18-13 after the first period. But, Cherokee dominated in the second period outscoring the Bobcats 25-7 to take a 38-25 lead into the locker room. The Braves never looked back and outscored the Bobcats 41-26 in the second half.
Much like the girl’s game, this game was one of possession. Cherokee had 28 steals to Blue Ridge’s 3. Raven Frankiewicz and Jesse Toineeta led the way with 6 steals each.
Cherokee’s Brandt Sutton (#3) plays tough defense against Blue Ridge.
Frankiewicz also led the Braves with 16pts and 13 rebounds. He shot 7 of 10 from the floor for a game-high 70 percent field goal percentage. Overall, Cherokee shot 41 percent from the field to Blue Ridge’s 34 percent.
Other Braves scorers included: Jason McMillan 13, Darius Thompson 6, Simon Montelongo 1, Jesse Toineeta 12, Dustin Johnson 15, Silas Reed-Littlejohn 7, and Eli Littlejohn 9.
Bobcat scorers included: Michael Jennings 1, Craig Ezechel 6, Derek Gilbert 3, Daniel Hickman 6, Hunter Stewart 12, Ben Riddle 15, Christopher Shipley 2, and Gage Sistave 6.
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