The Chilhowee Bobcats split a pair of games last week defeating Etowah City Monday 38-14 and losing to Bagley 42-22 Thursday. The Bobcat record now stands 3 wins and 2 losses.

The Bobcats jumped to an early lead against Etowah as post Patrick Shultz scored 6 points to push the score to 10-3 after the 1st quarter. The 2nd quarter was sloppy as Chilhowee pressed full court and forced several turnovers but couldn’t convert the turnovers into points. “The 1st half was terrible for both teams with turnovers and terrible shooting. We got a decent lead and then it got sloppy. Etowah played zone and we got shots but didn’t hit many. We’ve got to take advantage of our opportunities. Because our schedule gets much tougher Coach Frank Lowery said. The Bobcat shut the Warriors out the 2nd quarter and led 16-3 at the half.

The Bobcats changed offenses against the Etowah zone the 3rd quarter and had better success. Evan Ball hit 2 3-pointers early to push the lead to 18 points an Etowah changed to a man defense. The Bobcats took advantage of the quickness of post Patrick Shultz and Brandon Cummings to put the game away. “After Evan hit the 3’s and they went man we got the ball to our post and they used their quickness to get to the basket. We’ve got to get better against the zones because we’ll face them all year,” Coach Frank Lowery said. Leading 27-9 going into the 4th quarter the Bobcat reserve playersplayed most of the last quarter. Patrick Shultz led the scoring with 16 points. Chandler Hutcheson and Evan Ball both had 6, Brandon Cummings 4, Gabe Bodley 3, Jake Burrows 2, Duncan Coffey 1.

The Bobcats traveled to Chatsworth, GA Thursday to take on the very talented Bagley Braves. The 1st quarter was low scoring as both teams had trouble shooting. The Bobcat perimeter players having to shoot over taller players couldn’t find the mark. Bagley led 6-4 after the 1st quarter. The Braves turned up the pressure in the 2nd quarter by getting inside where they had a superior height advantage. “Bagley may be the most talented team we play. They have 3 tall post who can shoot a drive and are good jumpers. Their guards are quick but don’t shoot much because the post players are so good. They played a zone and spread it out and we had trouble scoring,” Coach Lowery said. Bagley outscored Chilhowee 14-3 in the 2nd quarter to lead 20-7.

The Bobcats continue to battle hard I the 3rd quarter but the more physical Braves led 28-14 at the end of the 3rd quarter. Bagley’s press n the 4th quarter forced turnovers against the tiring Bobcats. Bagley outscored the visitors 14-8 in the last quarter to win going away 42-22. “We stayed with them for a quarter and a half but when you can’t score your defense lets down. We’re not a physical team and they wore us down. The bright spot was Chandler Hutcheson is shooting the ball better. Our kids battled but Bagley has a very good team,” Coach Lowery ended. Hutcheson had 7 points, Brandon Cummings 4, Jake Burrows 3, Evan Ball 3, Patrick Shultz 3, Gabe Bodley 2.