Grace Academy Dominates Tennessee Temple For 5-A Basketball Victory
Saturday, January 23rd, 2010Article by: by Jaime Lackey / Chattanoogan.com
On a night when Brandon Herman was honored for reaching the 2,000-point mark in his high school basketball career, the Grace Academy senior added 32 more to his ever-increasing total.
And 24 of those points came before halftime as the Golden Eagles cruised to a 90-51 win over District 5-A rival Tennessee Temple on Saturday at Grace.
"I challenged Brandon to go out there and lead by example tonight," Grace coach Jon Mattheiss said. "He came out and was feeling it offensively from the get-go, and that really sparked us."
Herman, a four-year starter who scored his 2,000th point last month, was presented with a plaque honoring his achievements before the game, and his six consecutive points midway through the first quarter helped the Golden Eagles begin to pull away from a young Temple team.
The Crusaders have just one player returning from the team that finished as Class A state runner-up last spring, and another run of 12 straight points from Herman midway through the second period put the Golden Eagles out of their reach.
Grace, which improved to 15-3 overall and 5-1 in 5-A, led 47-29 at halftime and held a 65-34 advantage when its starters left the game for good with 2:39 left in the third.
"The biggest thing is that we haven't played with the kind of passion we should have the last several games," Mattheiss said. "That was my biggest point of emphasis for tonight. We're still trying to put four quarters together, but the past two games we've come out for the second half and really gone after it. I'm happy about that, but we're still not where we need to be."
Terrell Church contributed 14 points for the Golden Eagles, and Taylor Wilson's double-double included 11 points and 12 rebounds. His six assists and three steals were also key factors for Grace on Saturday.
"Taylor is a really great rebounder for us," Mattheiss said. "He did so many things well tonight. He gave us a lot of energy, and every time the ball went up it seemed like he was going up to the boards."
Quan Scott led Temple with 23 points, while Dexter Petersen followed with 12 and Justin Ragsdale added 10.
Grace travels to McCallie on Tuesday and will play at Boyd-Buchanan on Friday.
(E-mail Jaime Lackey at jaimenlackey@yahoo.com)
GRACE ACADEMY 90, TENNESSEE TEMPLE 51
Temple...11 18 9 13 -- 51
Grace.....27 20 30 13 -- 90
Temple (51) -- Dexter Petersen 12, Quan Scott 23, Chandler, Robinson 3, Justin Ragsdale 10, Sansing, Kennard.
Grace (90) -- Rector 4, Terrell Church 14, Taylor Wilson 11, Nelson 6, Schley, Brandon Herman 32, McCaleb, Ruebusch 7, Carter, Record 2, McMasters 6, A. Carter 6, Beirne 2.
3-point goals: Temple 4 (Ragsdale 2, Scott, Robinson); Grace 6 (Church 2, Herman 2, Wilson 2, Carter).
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