Andrews – As the final seconds rolled off the clock of the Andrews boys basketball team’s 59-47 win over Cherokee, head coach Matt Maennle went down the bench giving his traditional victory high-fives to his players. It was one that seemed to mean more than usual.
It had been 45 days since the Wildcats last Big Smoky Mountain Conference win, a 61-50 triumph over Swain County on Dec. 13. In between then and Friday night, Andrews had won six other games, but had come up on the wrong side of the “any given night” nature of the conference.
So when Donovan Bateman blocked the Braves’ Tso Smith to end the game, there was a sense of excitement and relief. After a three-game losing streak, which included conference losses to Hayesville and Swain, as well as a loss at Franklin, the Wildcats were back in the win column.
“It was an emotional win,” Maennle said. “We’ve been struggling, just not playing well and we were extremely unselfish tonight. We took care of the basketball and played together, and it was fun to watch our guys do that, especially at home.”
Maennle thinks Andrews (13-8 overall, 2-5 conference) defense was there for the most part this season, and it was there again against Cherokee (11-10, 4-3). The Wildcats switched in a 3-2 zone along with their normal man-to-man because the Braves rely mostly on their outside shooting, and was able to get quite a few steals that led to fast-break opportunities.
Graham Burch had multiple steal and scores on his way to 10 points, joining Bateman (14) and Isaac Weaver (11) in double figures. After Cherokee hit four 3-pointers in the first quarter, it hit just three the rest of the night.
“Being able to switch up the defenses, that was really beneficial,” Maennle said. ”And our guys played hard and did their job tonight.”
The offense got going too after a sluggish start. A 3-pointer by Michael Driver put the Braves in front 14-9 near the end of the first quarter, and Andrews answered with a 12-0 run and never trailed again. Besides the zone starting to bother Cherokee, Andrews was able to run some good offense, which opened up some easy looks.
The Braves’ lack size down low, and the Wildcats continued to attack. Cam Rattler and Tyler West both had mismatches when they were able to get the ball inside, and Andrews’ guards looked to attack when given the opportunity.
“That’s one thing we talked about it whether it be at Swain on Tuesday or Franklin on Wednesday,” Maennle said. “All we were doing was settling for 3-pointers, taking the easy shots, we weren’t attacking like we needed to and not getting the ball inside. And finally tonight our guards were finding a way to get to the basket, and being good basketball players, instead of being good shooters.”
Layups by Burch ended the second quarter and started the third quarter, putting the Wildcats up double digits for the first time all night. The lead would grow to 15 in the third quarter on a layup by Weaver, and Cherokee would only get as close as nine the rest of the way.
After a game last night at Robbinsville, Andrews has two remaining conference games with home tilts against Murphy on Friday and Hayesville on Tuesday. The Wildcats are out of the conference title picture, but can still get a home game in the first round of the state playoffs with a strong finish.
There’s also the motivation of having the conference tournament at Andrews this year, which could give the Wildcats the boost they need.
“Building confidence and gaining momentum and to be able to host this conference tournament and make a run here with that, that should give everybody joy and pride to be able to work hard and get better, and keep winning and get momentum rolling,” Maennle said.