Turnover prove costly as Chatty falls in state semifinals

YUKON—Basketball can be a cruel game as often teams do certain phases of the game well and still find a way to garner a victory, however, at other times the mistakes prove too overpowering to to gain a victory.

Friday afternoon Chattanooga girls did one of the important things very well, dominating the boards, but in the end 25 turnovers proved to be more than the Lady Warriors could overcome in a 46-43 overtime loss to Arnett in the semifinals of the Class B Girls semifinals at Yukon High School.

“We knew going in that we had to hit the boards hard and we had to avoid turnovers,” Chatty coach Billy Karr said. “We did the rebounding part we did pretty well but you can’t turn the ball over as much as we did and find a way to win. Today those turnovers just kept us from being able to overcome those and find a way to win.”

The Warriors had chances to win the game in regulation, including a missed free throw with 16.9 seconds left in regulation. Arnett scored first in the 4-minute overtime and owned a four-point lead at 39-35 before Chatty countered. Timber Givens hit two free throws with 2:18 remaining for a 40-39 lead but Arnett regained the lead on two free throws of its own with 2:09 to go. 

And then came another critical turnover by the Warriors and Arnett made that mistake pay off with a layup and a 43-40 lead. Givens, who was the hero in the first-round win Wednesday, got a steal and then converted one free throw after being fouled to cut the Arnett lead to 43-41.

Chatty kept its hopes alive when Jaci Cassell sank two free throws to leave Arnett up by a pair at 45-43. Another foul gave Arnett another chance at the line and after it sank one of those the Warriors were still within a possession to force another overtime.

Karr called time and tried to come up with the right play to get a 3-point goal but the Warriors were unable to get the shot to drop and Arnett advanced to face Hammon Saturday’s title game at the Big House.

In the end the turnovers were critical but Arnett’s defense was an important factor in the win.

“They did a good job of shutting down our shooters,” Karr said. “They really worked hard to keep Maecy (Fischer) from getting many open looks. They also were able to limit some of our other good shooters open looks and we just weren’t able to get shots to fall.”