After Sparking Regular Season CCS Dreams of Taking ‘Exit 81’

Chattanooga-(WDEF) Chattanooga Christian had a few question marks coming into this season, but you wouldn’t know it by the way they played.
The Chargers piled up over twenty wins in the regular season, and they were a perfect 11-0 in district play.
Before the season, the expectations weren’t exactly high for Chattanooga Christian.
Said guard John Rhodes:”We lost five seniors, so we knew there were some gaps to fill. I knew it was going to be interesting to see who filled those gaps and what happened.”
Besides losing five seniors, the Chargers also had a new head coach in Eddie Salter.
But the coach and players gelled as CCS went 24-2 in the regular season.
Said guard Ryan Rhodes:”I can honestly say we didn’t expect to have a season like this. For it to be my senior year and all these other guys. Just having a great time each and every game. It has blown expectations out of the water.”
The Chargers admit there’s nothing fancy about this group of players.
Said John Rhodes:”It’s not something you look at and go wow, like that’s a great team right there. We just go out there and play our game and try to dictate how we want it to be played.”
Salter is big on defense, plus he has several 3-point shooters.
Said Salter:”That’s what helps us. If you shut Ryan down, John shoots. If you shut John down, it goes to Amos. Then we’ve got Jesse coming in. We have an arsenal. We just have to make sure we are loaded all the time.”
Now the Chargers are hoping to make a run for the state tournament.
Said Salter:”Well our goal was Exit 81. That’s the Murfreesboro one. We’ve been talking about that, but that’s a long road. It’s going to take hard work, and it’s going to take a lot of discipline.”
Reporter:”Is there like a sign in your gym or locker room that has like an Exit 81 on it?”
Said Ryan Rhodes:”No. But we do have the sign of district and state champions on there. There hasn’t been a district champion since ’05 and a state champion since ’01. So that’s definitely motivation every day.”