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By Adam Carrington
acarrington@cherokeetribune.com
Etowah is glad to have Courtney Hatchett back on the court after she missed most of last season with a knee injury.
Unfortunately for the Lady Eagles, Cherokee still has Sharon Swanson.
Swanson had just 13 points, but came up big when the Lady Warriors needed her. With Cherokee trailing Etowah late in the fourth, Swanson hit an outside jumper with 45 seconds to pull Cherokee within one. After Mia Johnson scored to put the Lady Warriors ahead for good, a defensive rebound and a free throw by Swanson sealed a 44-42 victory Saturday night over the Lady Eagles in Region 5AAAAA play.
Hatchett led Etowah with 16 points and nailed two second-half 3-pointers to keep the Lady Eagles in front, but late turnovers by Etowah and missed free throws down the stretch proved costly.
An Etowah turnover with less than a minute to play led to a Swanson basket that cut Cherokee's deficit to 42-41 with 45 second to play. The Lady Eagles had a chance to pull away after Cherokee was forced to foul, but they missed the front end of a one-on-one and Johnson made them pay with a second-chance shot under the basket.
Etowah had one last shot to regain the lead but Swanson rebounded a desperation shot by Hatchett with two seconds left. Swanson hit one of two foul shots to ice it.
Cherokee's defensive play also attributed to its come-from-behind victory, holding a talented scoring Etowah team to 15 points and four field goals in the second half. Johnson led the Lady Warriors with six rebounds, while Swanson, Brooke Satterfield and Katie Buckner pulled down five boards. Cherokee also forced 17 turnovers.
"Defensively, I don't know if we've ever played much better than we did (Saturday)," Cherokee coach Matt Cates said. "To hold an Etowah team in the 40s, that's hard to do. They can score and this is a good testament for our kids. It's good to get a win to start the year."
The Lady Eagles demonstrated their scoring abilities in the second quarter, ending the first half on a 13-4 run. The run began with a 3-pointer by Brook Salet, who finished with 11 points, to tie it the score, 17-17. After a trey by Callie Satterfield put Cherokee up, 20-17, Salet tied it again with a three-point play.
A 3-pointer by Jessica Wilt put Etowah in front, 23-21, for the first time in the game before jumpers by Salet and Hatchett gave Etowah a 27-21 advantage at the half.
BOYS BASKETBALL
n Cherokee 61, Etowah 39: Shawn Kemp Jr. was 6-for-6 from inside the post in the second half and finished with 18 points as the Warriors rolled over their county rival in their season opener.
Kevin Thompson also finished in double figures for Cherokee with 15 points, while Michael Kvam came through with 10.
Kemp also led defensively with 10 rebounds.
Cherokee took over in the second quarter after a lackluster first quarter that saw the teams combine for 15 points. The Warriors opened the second period by scoring 12 of the next 15 points to take a commanding 25-8 lead. A three-point play by Kvam, followed by an end-to-end layup gave the Warriors a 30-12 cushion at halftime.
"Our defense was getting stops - that's how we go on runs - but we really didn't shoot well," Cherokee coach Roger Kvam said. "I don't think we did well getting to the ball, but we'll get better at it. It's still early. We never seemed to get in the flow offensively, and our defense was OK. We just can't have the lapses like we did (Saturday)."
Chris Brasher was just about the only offense for Etowah, hitting three 3-pointers in scoring a team-high 15 points. But the Warriors kept cruising in the third quarter and never allowed Etowah to get within 19 points, with much of the dominance a direct result of Kemp's play from inside the paint.
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