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Rocky Fork, Eagleville split in middle school action




Eagleville’s Isabella Sawyer forces her way past Rocky Fork’s Dannika Brown as she dribbles down the court. ETHAN SCOTT

Eagleville’s Isabella Sawyer forces her way past Rocky Fork’s Dannika Brown as she dribbles down the court. ETHAN SCOTT

SMYRNA — Eagleville and Rocky Fork Middle Schools competed in a non-conference matchup Tuesday night ending in a split between squads.

Eagleville won big over Rocky Fork 44-17 and the Storm boys team won a 50-49 come-from-behind thriller.

Eagleville’s boys led 46-32 with just over two minutes left to play before Christian Brown sank four consecutive free throws to kick-start a 12-0 run that pulled the Storm with two with 48 seconds left to play. Kaden Snitzer connected on a free throw to cushion Eagles lead out to three with 21 seconds.

“We told our kids to keep their poise and apply enough pressure to the ball and jump into some passing lanes and get easy shots,” first year Rocky Fork coach Eric Moore said on his team, which collected five steals and shot four of four in the final two minutes.

Moore called up a corner 3 for Brown and the eighth-grader tied the game at 49-49 with 12 seconds remaining. Brown stole the ensuing inbounds before being fouled and put at the line to sink one of two free throws to secure the Storms comeback and 50-49 win.

“I was just trying to go hard a grind from my team,” said Brown on the final shot. “(Coach Moore) told us to get our defensive intensity up and continue to track on inbounds and create turnovers.”

Rocky Fork outscored Eagleville 31-20 in the final period while forcing 29 turnovers 27 field goal attempts for the game.

“We wanted to limit their shots because they hit some big shots when we left them open,” said Moore. “Ideally we wanted them to put the ball on the floor and create the opportunity to get a turnover.”

Brown finished with 17 points, 11 coming from the free throw line along with four rebounds, four assist and four steals. Jayden Marable came just short of a double-double with an eight point, nine rebound night.

Snitzer scored 23 points on 4 of 5 shooting from 3 leadto lead Eagleville to a 9 of 10 shooting clip from beyond the arc.

In the girls edition, Eagleville’s defense played big in a 44-17 win, holding Rocky Fork to a 16 percent shooting night with 10 team blocks.

Eagleville outscored Rocky Fork 23-12 in a slow first half but found its stride in the third period outscoring the Lady Storm 13-3 behind six points from Bre’Aria Cannen.

“We tend to start slow,” said Lady Eagles head coach Richard Bolden. “We were able to force some turnovers (in the third) and get us into transition for some easy shots.”

Cannen contributed 12 points with four rebounds and two assists in the win. Cadence Chapman pieced a game-high five blocks, seven rebound night for Eagleville.

“We were active, aggressive and rotated well on defense,” Bolden said. “(Cannen) is long and quick and does a great job of creating shot while Cadence is a tough girl to shoot over with her wingspan.”

Ottiana Norman stuffed the stat sheet for the Lady Storm with six points, four rebounds, three steals and two assist.

GIRLS BOX SCORE

Eagleville (44): Bre’Aria Cannen 12, Shelbi Mooneyham 8, Isabella Sawyer 6, Cadence Chapman 6, Meah Thompson 3, Ashley Crick 2, Audrey Tribble 2, Leigha Fann 2, Emma Shanks 2, Alex Klarer 1

Rocky Fork (17): Ottiana Norman 6, CC Fields 3, Amauri Blackmon 2, Jacque Hardrick 2, LaKerris Southall 2, Kayana Holt 2

BOYS BOX SCORE

Eagleville (49): Kaden Snitzer 23, Kolten Daniel 10, Jordan Reed 8, Rhett Deaton 8

Rocky Fork (50): Christian Brown 17, TJ Sims 8, Brandon Lowe 8, Jayden Marable 8, Kevon Ward 7, Antonio Curry 2

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