Oak Ridge defense throttles Chaffee

OAK RIDGE -- The Oak Ridge boys basketball team has some offensive weapons, but the Blue Jays take particular pride in their defense.

"It all starts with defense for us," Oak Ridge coach Adam Stoneking said.

Things started and ended with defense for the Blue Jays on Friday night as they celebrated homecoming with a beat down of Chaffee.

Chaffee scored no more than nine points in any quarter, which allowed the Blue Jays to romp 47-25 in a packed Oak Ridge gym.

"Coach said that was probably about the best defensive performance we've had," Oak Ridge senior guard Caleb Elam said.

Oak Ridge's Brett Thomas shoots over Chaffee's Alex Davie during the first quarter Friday, Feb. 11, 2011 at Oak Ridge. (Fred Lynch)

Stoneking said defense has keyed a strong second half of the season for the Blue Jays (17-4), who had lost just once since Christmas before Saturday's home game against a tough Leopold squad.

"We've been playing so well defensively," said Stoneking, the state's 10th-ranked Class 1 team. "You can't ask more as a coach defensively.

"We came out flat offensively, but defensively we set the tone. We made sure we made them work for every shot."

Chaffee (11-10) had much more offensive success the first time the teams played, a 55-47 win by the Red Devils in the consolation final of the Southeast Missourian Christmas tournament.

"We played awful in the Christmas tournament. We didn't play any defense," Elam said.

Added senior wing Brett Thomas: "We all were upset about that game. We knew we didn't play to our potential. As a unit we played outstanding defense tonight. And we had a great crowd."

Chaffee coach Josh Govreau found no fault in the Red Devils' effort and felt they played some pretty solid defense. But offense was another story.

"I thought we played with quite a bit of intensity. I wasn't upset with our effort at all," Govreau said. "When you hold a team to 47 points ... our goal is to hold teams to under 50 points.

"We just couldn't throw the darn thing in the ocean tonight. And the way we shot free throws didn't help [Chaffee was just 3 of 13 from the line]. But I do give credit to Oak Ridge. Their defense has gotten a lot better."

Thomas led the Blue Jays with 15 points. Elam added 10 points and freshman forward Ryan Below contributed nine.

The Blue Jays also didn't do much offensively in a first half that ended with Oak Ridge ahead 17-12. Thomas had 10 points by the intermission.

Oak Ridge, which never trailed and was tied just once early in the second quarter, led only 7-3 after one period.

"The offense was real slow," Elam said about the opening half. "We calmed it down some and got into the flow of things."

The Blue Jays steadily pulled away in the third quarter, opening their first double-digit lead a little more than three minutes in on Below's layup that made it 24-14.

A 15-5 third-quarter advantage sent Oak Ridge into the final period ahead 32-17. Chaffee got no closer than 15 points, and the Blue Jays' biggest lead was 23 points.

"The second half we took our time offensively," Stoneking said. "In the first half, we rushed too much."

Chaffee won't have to wait long for another shot at Oak Ridge. The squads will play Wednesday at Greenville in the championship game of the Mississippi Valley Conference tournament that was postponed by inclement weather last week.

"I think they'll come back strong," Elam said.

Chaffee 3 9 5 8 -- 25

Oak Ridge 7 10 15 15 -- 47

CHAFFEE (25) -- Alex Crowe 4, Blake Senciboy 8, Michael Rutherford 4, Jordan Yahn 4, Alex Davie 3, Andrew Terhune 2. FG 10, FT 3-13, F 11. (3-pointers: Senciboy 2. Fouled out: none)

OAK RIDGE (47) -- Stephen Bolen 6, Caleb Elam 10, Lucas Rohde 3, Jacob Light 2, Ryan Below 9, Kyle Rohde 2, Brett Thomas 15. FG 19, FT 7-12, F 14. (3-pointers: Elam 1, L. Rohde 1. Fouled out: none)

JV -- Oak Ridge won 47-37