Chattooga Indian Basketball Team wins Murray County Thanksgiving Tournament

Not only did the Indians win the Murray County Thanksgiving Tournament, they had a couple players to receive awards for their performance during the tournament. Junior Isaiah Foster was named the tournament MVP and junior Jay Shropshire made the all-tournament team. The team definitely started the season off right with a championship.

Coach Jared Groce debated over whether to enter the Indians into the Murray County Thanksgiving Tournament, the 3 tournament games would put the Indians at 25 scheduled games for the season,  the maximum allowed for a season, Groce explains “I decided that I wanted us to play as many games as we were allowed to this season because I wanted this family to play as many games together as possible.”

The Indians faced bigger schools in the tournament and found themselves down in the 4th quarter every game this past week, we “rose to the challenge every time to ultimately earn the Murray County Thanksgiving Tournament Championship, it took some clutch shots, free throws and defense to earn each victory.” While Foster and Shropshire were recognized for their performance, Coach Groce  pointed out “each and every member of the team contributed to this accomplishment.”

Region action starts for the Indians today as they travel to Model. The tournament win gives the team a boost of excitement for the tip off of the season. Coach Groce feels the heightened expectations for a special year “I truly feel that the wins that this family was able to pull out this past week were defining wins as we defeated some great teams from AAA, AAAA and AAAAA. These teams we beat averaged 19 wins each last year. We really grew as a team this week, and although we’ve still got a lot of work to do, we’ve got some good momentum heading into region play. I couldn’t be any prouder of this family right now. As long as we stay humble, play as a team, and stay hungry for success, we should have an exciting season.”

 

Jay Shropshire was awarded for his outstanding play in the tournament by being selected to the all tournament team. He commented “we really played as a team, we just need to continue to do what we do. I was shocked to win the all tournament team award, but I couldn’t have done it without my team.”

Isaiah Foster racked up 25 points in the 57-49 victory over (AAAAA) Dalton and earned himself the title tournament MVP.  Foster knows that winning the tournament “is a great start and momentum going into region play.” As for as winning the award, obviously, he “loves getting awards like that, I just play how I feel my team needs me to play!” And as always he gives “God all the glory.”

The Indians will play at home Friday, Dec. 4th. JV games start at 4, Varsity games will begin at 7.