Ohatchee, AL – After a night of obsessing about the ‘checklist,’ Hutchison victorious in his debut as Ohatchee’s boys’ basketball coach. Ohatchee girls also down Munford.
By Joe Medley
As if Quintarius Hutchison’s first game as a varsity head coach didn’t go well enough, 4-year-old daughter Khloe put a hug on it.
She met her dad at the scorer’s table after Ohatchee beat visiting Munford 57-45 in the Indians’ season opener Thursday, jumped in his arms and got a big lift a hug.
“Oh man, I love Ohatchee,” Hutchison said while sizing up the night. “The atmosphere was great. I love the band. I love the fans, everything.
“I love it. I love it.”
Hutchison, an assistant under Ralpheal Graves during Sacred Heart’s run of four consecutive state titles, is finally a varsity head coach. His opportunity came at Ohatchee, after Kyle Wilson headed off to Sardis following one season with the Tribe.
Hutchison is officially 1-0 after the first of many victories, he hopes, and he’s relieved.
“I was good until last night,” he said. “Last night, I was antsy. I didn’t get much sleep.
“I was praying that everything went right, not the game. Just everything went right. No player got hurt. Everything was ready. Everything in the gym was ready. I was doing the checklist, and I didn’t get much sleep.”
Hutchison greeted Munford’s starters one-by-one during pregame introductions then sat on the bench and bowed his head as Ohatchee’s starters were introduced. Everything he prayed came true … no injuries on either side, and the Indians got the victory.
Brayden Collins scored 18 points, Jayden Heard and Alston Carroll added 11 apiece, and Colby Hester added nine to offset 11 points from Munford’s B.J. Anderson and 10 from Devin Elder.
Collins’ dribble move and leaner at the third-quarter buzzer put Ohatchee up 35-33 and launched an 11-4 Indians spurt. Collins’ 3-pointer in the fourth quarter proved to be a dagger, making it 50-42.
Ohatchee scored 22 points in the fourth quarter.
“Bray is our spark plug,” Hutchison said. “He don’t know it yet, but he’s our spark plug. If Bray is rolling, we are rolling.”
While Hutchinson is busy making first impressions as Ohatchee’s boys’ head basketball coach, the community knows him well. He has served two seasons as part of the school’s football staff.
Hester, who also plays football, knew what he was getting in Hutchinson. Older sister Abby Hester was a cheerleader at Ohatchee when Ohatchee played in the same area as Sacred Heart, and Colby attended those games.
Hester said he likes the energy Hutchison brings.
“When I heard he was coming here, I was like, ‘We’re going to do something crazy,’” Hester said. “He’s been good since he started coaching.”
Girls’ game
OHATCHEE 43, MUNFORD 37: Tabi Davidson scored a team-high 11 points, and technical foul helped Ohatchee separate from Munford in the fourth quarter.
With the game tied 37-37 and 1:07 to play, Munford drew a technical foul amid a loose-ball struggle. Lindsey Zurchin hit both free throws, and free throws from Zurchin and Davidson accounted for the game’s final six points.
Ohatchee also got nine points from Emily Riddle, eight from Greenlee Orman and seven from Payten Walker.
Having Zurchin and Davidson, Ohatchee’s two best shooters, at the free-throw line down the stretch “worked out in our favor, for sure,” Ohatchee coach Aaron Jackson said. “We’ve definitely got some stuff that we can work on. We showed some first-game jitters, but on the flip side, we were really competitive the whole game.”
Amari Carlisle led Munford with 12 points.
