Cherokee Bluff finds "new energy" in gutsy win over Chestatee

GAINESVILLE, GEORGIA - For the third time this season, Cherokee Bluff head coach Josh Travis found himself watching his team in a battle with Chestatee in the final minutes.

And for the third time this season, the Bears managed to come out on top when the final horn sounded, pulling away late for 75-61 victory on the road. But for Travis, this time felt different.

“Early on in the year, we would play games like this and not put it away,” he said. “So tonight in the fourth quarter there was a moment where in our previous two match-ups with Chestatee, they would make a great play and then we would wet the bed so to speak. Tonight we kept making plays. They did too, but we kept making plays so we could put it out of reach.”

After starting the fourth quarter with an eight point lead, Chestatee battled back, thanks almost solely to the heroics of senior Jarvis Weaver who had 11 of his 22 points on the night in the final frame. A four-point swing drew the War Eagles within three points at 60-57 with just over five minutes to go. That’s when the Bears were forced to respond, which they did with one clutch basket after another, starting with a huge three from freshman Andy Quirarté.

“One of the things that has made us better is Bryce Horton and Andy Quirarté, two shooters that come off the bench,” Travis said. “They’ve stepped up and made big plays….They’ve turned into guys who play unbelievably hard on defense and will get a hand on a loose ball when we need them to. They just make plays. So those guys impressed me.”

The Bears continued to pull away by making the crucial shots when it counted. Senior Carlos Marlow contributed in the fourth with some pivotal free throws, bringing his total to team-high 19 points and helping secure the win which was sealed with a clutch three from Tanaka Mukono followed by a decisive block by Kaden Thomspon that gave the Bears possession with a nine-point lead in the final minute.

Travis credited his team with important growth over the course of the season, once again held to the measuring stick by sub-region foe Chestatee.

“Playing an opponent for a third time is tough,” he said. “We made a few adjustments. They made a few adjustments. That’s always how that goes….I think it means we’re maturing. I start two sophomores, I have another sophomore that comes off the bench really early, two freshmen that come off the bench and play major minutes….We have some things we could be better at, but at the end of the day, we play hard and our guys play as a team.”

The Bears trailed 31-27 coming out of halftime before nearly doubling their score in the third quarter to take back the lead. If not for a hot shooting start from Logan Holmes, the game might’ve gone completely different.

“Logan had a really good night shooting the ball,” Travis said. “…I don’t know if he impressed me, because impressed implies that I didn’t know he could do it. He was our man tonight and in the first half, he kept us in the game. Then in the second half everybody else was able to get it going and come together.”

The eight-point second quarter from Holmes accounted for half of the team’s points in the period and effectively kept the game within reach heading into halftime.

When the third quarter started, the Bears came alive, outscoring Chestatee by 12 with a 25-point period, led by Holmes and Marlow who each had six.
In the fourth quarter, it was the third head of Cherokee Bluff’s monstrous offense, Boston Kersh, who led the way, scoring nine of his 16 points.

“We almost always have a big night offensively from either Carlos, Boston or Logan,” Travis said. “It’s hard to take all three of them away.”

With the win, Cherokee Bluff’s region tournament seeding is sealed as the Bears clinched their claim as sub-region champs. Travis attested to the challenges of Region 8-AAAA.

“We have a tough situation because we have 11 teams in our region,” he said. “There are other regions in GHSA that have five teams or six teams, so it’s almost like we have two regions.…We won the sub-region tonight, which for some people would be the same as winning the region, but we have to go to another level.”

Despite the tough road ahead, Travis feels more than confident in his team, claiming they “found a new energy.”

“My biggest fear has been that we peaked a couple weeks ago and how to keep it going and I think my team was really tired and everyone was worn out,” he said. “Then we started talking about how the season is young and we want to keep playing. Everybody found a new energy. It means something with this group. I just want them to stay what they are.”

The Bears seem to have avoided their coach's primary fear as Friday's win accounts for the team's fifth straight win, matching the earlier stretch Travis was hoping wasn't the peak. Cherokee Bluff will finish its regular season Tuesday at Madison County, one of the top ranked teams in the state, before then setting its sights on the region tournament and a possible state tournament berth.

“We’re going to do what we always do. We’re going to try to get better every day and when we get to the postseason, that’s what basketball is all about,” Travis said. “That’s what makes basketball a little bit different from every other sport. It’s almost like the season starts over and everybody has a shot. It’s fun.”