Oak Ridge ends two-game slide

OAK RIDGE -- With the Chaffee boys basketball team concentrating on stopping Oak Ridge's Austin Hahs, the Bluejays used a balanced scoring attack Friday night with four scorers in double figures to survive a rough-and-tumble game.

The Red Devils swarmed around Hahs every time he touched the ball, so Oak Ridge's guards stepped to the fore, and the Bluejays used a huge fourth quarter to run past Chaffee 75-45.

Oak Ridge (9-12) ended a two-game losing streak and picked up its eighth win in 14 games.

"They were so concerned with taking Austin Hahs away that it let our guards really get out and run and get some wide-open looks from the 3," Bluejays coach Robert Stein said. "Austin Hahs is capable of busting 30 on anybody any night, he's that kind of player. He's a tremendous ballplayer and people know that, and I've been telling our guards all year when teams overcompensate like that it gives them open looks like that and they've got to hit them. They finally started hitting."

Leading 47-33 entering the fourth quarter, Oak Ridge started hitting in the final period, making 11 of 20 shots to blow the game open. Senior guard Austin Morrison led the late onslaught, draining three 3-pointers on his way to 11 points in the quarter.

Morrison finished with a game-high 18. Brian Ruesler and Hahs each added 13, and Johnnie Price scored 12.

The Red Devils (3-14) hung tight for most of the first half, but the physical play took its toll as Chaffee racked up 13 fouls in the half with Tyler Graham, Jeremy Penrose and Korey Chapman each accumulating three. The loss of Graham, who finished with 11 rebounds, to foul trouble stalled Chaffee's offense. The Red Devils shot just 32.7 percent for the game, but Graham's offensive rebounding helped Chaffee stay close in the opening half.

Early in the second quarter, Graham twice rebounded his own miss before being fouled by Jon McMillan. After missing both free throws, Graham once again ended up with the rebound and when Brad Urhahn missed a jumper, Graham snared his fourth rebound of the possession. He eventually scored with 5:22 left in the quarter to pull Chaffee within 24-19 on a putback off of a Penrose miss.

The Red Devils rebounded 11 of their 24 first half misses with Graham grabbing six. In the second half, Chaffee had only three offensive rebounds.

"He did a great job going for the boards hard," Chaffee coach Tyson Moyers said. "We just didn't put the ball in the basket, plain and simple, we had open looks.

"They played through some adversity and we didn't."

OAK RIDGE 75, CHAFFEE 45

Chaffee 15 12 6 12 -- 45

Oak Ridge 16 19 12 28 -- 75

CHAFFEE (45) - Jeff Daugherty 6, Brad Urhahn 3, Kendall Koch 4, Jeremy Penrose 4, Tyler Graham 5, Andrew Hendrix 2, Rick Baylis 10, Korey Chapman 7, Kent Courtney 2, Gabe Welter 2. FG 18, FT 8-17, F 24 (3-pointers: Chapman 1. Fouled out: Penrose, Graham.)

OAK RIDGE (75) - Austin Morrison 18, Brian Ruesler 13, Johnnie Price 12, Jon McMillan 3, Lance Felter 7, Zach Buchheit 9, Austin Hahs 13. FG 27, FT 13-22, F 14 (3-pointers: Morrison 4, Buchheit 2, Hahs 1, Ruesler 1. Fouled out: none.) JV: Chaffee 57, Oak Ridge 29