By Will Knight
Special to the Dispatch
STEENS — Immanuel Christian defeated Hatley High School Wednesday afternoon 46-33 in the Immanuel Christmas Classic.
The Lady Rams also came away with a victory beating Winona Christian 23-16.
Immanuel came out strong against Hatley in the first quarter. The Rams outscored the Tigers 22-10.
With a strong lead, Immanuel head coach Billy Thomas decided to replace all five starters for the majority of the second quarter.
“It’s the Christmas Tournament and I wanted our bench to get better,” Thomas said. “I feel that it will pay dividends in our future games. We have to give them some playing time in order for them to get better.”
The second quarter was a scoreless drought until the 2:38 mark of the quarter with a two-point basket by Hatley. The Rams’ bench was held to zero points and Thomas put all five starters back into the game. Immanuel posted only four points compared to Hatley’s seven points.
The Rams were put out by the Tigers during the second quarter, but still led at halftime with the score 26-17.
Immanuel came out of the locker room with a purpose. The Rams began the third quarter with a 7-0 run led by sophomore Jason Davis, who led Immanuel in scoring with 11 points.
“Even though we did good in the first quarter, it is still not how my team usually performs,” Thomas said. “I told them that if they didn’t turn up the intensity and get focused that they would run until they puked.”
Thomas’ challenge took hold. Immanuel stood it’s ground during the second half and did not allow Hatley to gain any momentum. Every chance the Tigers had at a comeback was shutdown by the Rams.
Immanuel sealed it’s victory by outscoring Hatley 8-6 in the fourth quarter, but without a great first quarter this one would have been much closer.
“We have to play with full intensity and focus, because when you play the top tier teams, such as Lincoln Canton who is at the top of our division, you will get beat,” Thomas said.
The Lady Rams got off to a slow start during their match-up with the Lady Stars, but came alive during the fourth quarter.
Winona Christian dominated most of the game, but Immanuel came through when it counted most. Head coach for the Lady Rams Jenny Hutcherson was extremely proud of her team’s teamwork and defense.
“I told the girls to get out there and play hard and to play like they wanted to win it,” Hutcherson said.
Immanuel had already played a hard game earlier in the day and was drained.
“I told them to find something from within you and pull it out and let’s go after them,” Hutcherson said. “I’m glad they had some heart left; they are extremely exhausted.”
Sophomore guard Taylor Baudoin led the way for Immanuel with 12 points, three rebounds, four steals, and one assist. Baudoin scored six of her 12 total points in the fourth quarter.
Immanuel boys improve their record to 11-4 and will face Cahaba Christian at 10 a.m. today and finish up with North River at 7 p.m. to complete their tournament activity.
The Lady Rams will face Viatas at 1 p.m. today to finish up their games of the tournament.
n Boys: Winona Christian 48, ICCE 43: Immanuel led Winona Christian 13-12 at the half, but could not hold off the Stars in the second half. The Rams were outscored 36-30 in the second half.
For the Rams, Brendan Bailey led the way with nine points, while Ross Moore had seven points with three rebounds.
CJ Hodges led the Stars with 14 points and eight rebounds, while teammate Brady Chamblee had 10 points and seven rebounds.
n Girls: East Webster 59, Caledonia 41: East Webster led Caledonia the entire game. The Lady Feds stayed close until the fourth quarter when East Webster shut them out 10-0.
Quantesha Patterson led the Lady Wolverines with a double-double comprised of 20 points and 10 rebounds, while Jada Washington aided with 18 points and three rebounds.
n Girls: ICCE 56, Hatley 47: The Lady Rams dominated the first half posting 27 points against the Lady Tigers’ 19 points. The Lady Tigers made a late run during the second half, but it was not enough to knock of the Lady Rams.
ICCE received 21 points, three rebounds and four steals from junior guard Kaitlyn Shreiner, while Megan Cooper added 11 points. Taylor Baudoin also had eight points, 13 rebounds and two steals.
n Boys: North River 61, Vardaman 38: This game was the tale of two halves. North River led Vardaman 26-23 and shut them down for the second half. North River allowed Vardaman only 15 points during the second half while North River posted 35 points.
Dontae Walker led Vardaman with 12 points and three rebounds, while Eric Jones posted 10 points, five rebounds and three steals.
North River leaders were Dorsey with 20 points, 11 rebounds and six steals, while Grey had 14 points, three rebounds and two steals. Davison also had 13 points for North River.
n Boys: Cahaba Christian 48, Hebron Christian 33: T.J. Cutts led the way for Cahaba with 13 points and seven rebounds, while Matthew Allen posted 11 points and five rebounds.
n Girls: Hebron Christian 36, Vardaman 21: Tori Nichols led Hebron with a double-double consisting of 21 points and 13 rebounds, while Alaina Hill added eight points and five rebounds.
Keuntray Tubbs had 13 points and seven rebounds for Vardaman.
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
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