Chiefs Clinch Top Seed in Region Tournament

On a night when the Chief nation came out to the War Lodge to honor their seniors, the second ranked team from Hickory Flat was not about to disappoint any of them. started five seniors for the first time all season and took the lead on a quick basket by Cullen Roberts. The student section, numbering well over 300 strong erupted, and the energy in the building was intense. However, the Longhorns were not intimidated having drawn confidence in a four points loss at Chattahoochee on Tuesday and beating Forsyth Central by double digits last night. They scored quickly and jumped out to a quick 8–2 lead before Coach Adams called a timeout and demanded that the seniors step up and put a stop this before it gets out of hand.

And just as the coach ordered, they responded, increasing the defensive pressure and ending the quarter on a 13-3 run to lead 15-11 after on period of play. The second quarter saw the Chiefs pound the ball inside scoring two baskets in the paint and going to the free throw line nine times, making eight of those attempts and taking a 29-21 lead into the locker room at the break. There was a buzz of concern from the home stands as Sequoyah was getting beaten on the glass, giving Lambert several second and third shots, allowing them to hang around in a game that by all accounts would have been over before it started had the game been played on paper.

The third quarter saw both teams come out flat and it appeared the chiefs were taking a break from their intensity, making some careless turnovers and scoring only nine points going into the fourth quarter with the score 38-31.

Then, Coach Jeremy Adams unleashed the hounds and it was as if a light switch had been turned on. All of a sudden, the Chiefs’ players were everywhere defensively. Every pass was anticipated. Every shot that wasn’t blocked was contested. Lambert could only manage one made basket in the fourth quarter, while Sequoyah scored 15 points while blocking an incredible eight shots in the fourth quarter alone.

The win gives Sequoyah the regular season Region 7AAAA title, the top seed going into the tournament held at Creekview, and kept the perfect season intact at 24-0 with one game left to play on Wednesday at Sequoyah against Rome High School at 7:30 p.m.

Sequoyah was led in scoring by Sean Tate with 22 points and six assists. Solomon Ajose added 14 points and four steals, Cullen Roberts had eight points, eight rebounds and four blocked shots, while Brandon Alexander continued to struggle with the broken hand, but still managed to come away with six rebounds, six blocked shots and five steals to go with this three points. Seniors Ben Rogers and Zack Chandler were all over the floor and deflected a very high number of passes leading to Lambert turnovers and their defensive effort made a seven-point lead turn into a 20 point blowout. 

Sequoyah will enter the region tournament with a first round by and will see their first action in post-season play on Feb. 16 in the quarterfinals at Creekview High School.