Mavs beat Claiborne
The Anderson County Mavericks opened play in the Union County Thanksgiving Tournament last Monday with a 52-44 win over Claiborne.
The Mavericks took a 9-4 lead over the Bulldogs in the first quarter as both offenses struggled to score. Points came easier for both teams in the second quarter but Claiborne failed to gain any ground as Anderson County carried a 24-19 lead into halftime.
The third quarter saw the Mavericks extend their lead to 38-31 and they held off a late charge by the Bulldogs and won 52-44.
“It was just a grind. Claiborne is a team with a new coach and they’re trying to figure out some things. We only hit one 3-pointer. We’ve been averaging nine 3-pointers a game. We don’t know where to generate points right now,” said Derek Wallace, head coach of the Mavericks.
Spencer Chandler and Braden Irwin each scored 15 points to lead Anderson County while Grant Hayes added 12.
AC 9 15 14 14 52
CHS 4 15 12 11 44
AC — Spencer Chandler (15), Braden Irwin (15), Grant Hayes (12), Jordan Hembree (4), Zsombor Kovacs (4), Landon Miller (2)
Claiborne — Hatfield (15), Rosenbalm (12) Thomas (7), Beason (4), Ickes (2), Beeler (2), Williams (2)
The Mavericks fell to host Union County 63-60 in the second game of the tournament on Tuesday night.
Anderson County jumped out to a 26-9 lead in the first quarter as Irwin and Harrison Ogburn each nailed 3-pointers and Jordan Hembree dropped three 3-pointers. It looked as though the Mavericks were on the verge of delivering a knockout blow to the Patriots but the guys from Maynardville had other ideas.
Union County closed the second quarter on a 14-2 run with six of those points coming from the free throw one.
At halftime, Anderson County led 32-28.
From the 5:02 mark of the third quarter, the Patriots went on a 15-3 run to pull into a 47-41 lead.
After a 3-pointer by Ogburn and baskets by Chandler and Matthew Ray, the Mavericks regained the lead at 50-48 with 4:10 left in the game.
Union County took a 54-52 lead with 2:22 left in the game. Chandler kept up the scoring for the Mavericks as he scored 11 points in the final quarter. Ogburn tied the game at 57-57 with a 3-pointer with 59.1 seconds left in the game. The Patriots took the lead with a pair of free throws and following a miss and a quick foul by Anderson County, made two more free throws to go up 61-57.
A 3-pointer by Chandler pulled the Mavericks to within one with 3.2 seconds left in the game but that was as close as they would get.
Chandler led Anderson County with 19 points. Hembree had 15 points, with a trio of treys while Ogburn had 12 points — all from beyond the arc.
“We got in foul trouble early and we’re still trying to figure out rotations with Landon Miller and Marquise Gallahar coming back from football. I threw them in there and they don’t know what we’re doing on offense and it’s my fault. I think we’re still in a little bit of a shock with Stanton’s [Martin] injury and how that’s going to unfold,” said Wallace.
“We got a little passive. Spencer [Chandler] went six or seven possessions in the third quarter without touching the ball. We’re still trying to figure out what our roles are but that’s what this time of year is for,” he said.
The Mavericks return to action on Friday when they host Knox Central. On Tuesday, they visit Clinton.
Tip-off for each game is 7:30 p.m.
AC 26 6 9 19 60
UC 9 19 19 18 63
AC — Spencer Chandler (19), Jordan Hembree (15), Harrison Ogburn (12), Braden Irwin (8), Matthew Ray (6)
UC — Nease (20), Cooper (14), Oaks (13), Epperson (7), Headrick (7)