By Katie McElvy
The Chambers Academy Rebels hosted a Christmas tournament last week and came away with second place in a close championship game. Along with the Rebels, the tournament featured Springwood, Evangel Christian, and Heritage Christian. In the first round of play, Evangel beat Springwood 48-40 while Chambers was paired with Heritage. At the end of the first period of play, the Rebels were leading 10-2 with the majority of points coming from free throws by various Rebels and a three pointer by Caden Hayley. Shooting woes continued for Heritage in the second quarter while the Rebels were able to capitalize off several defensive steals going to the locker room up 21-9 at the half.
The Rebels increased their lead 32-16 in the third with the help of a three pointer by Levi Waldrep. Chambers moved on to the championship game beating Heritage 47-36. In the consolation game Heritage beat Springwood 59-48 to take 3rd place in the tournament.
In a highly emotional championship game, Chambers faced off against Evangel. The Rebels jumped out to a five point lead midway through the first, but Evangel cut the gap by the end of the quarter though the Rebels were still up 8-6. The second quarter was highlighted by TY Trammell steal which he took to the basket for the lay up and drew the foul followed by a successful free throw, and the Rebels headed to the locker room up 22-14.
Chambers maintained an eight point lead throughout the third quarter leading 34-26 going into the final period. Evangel then mounted a comeback scoring seventeen points in the 4th and edging out the Rebels by one point with a final score of 42-43.
