No team ever wants to start off a district schedule with a loss. Even worse, with a bad loss.

For Greenback, though, the Rams of Grace Christian Academy were not taking things lightly as they rolled both the boys and girls Tuesday night.

The Lady Cherokees played first, losing 60-49.

Starting seniors Courtneay Sheedy and Katelyn Sparks found themselves in foul trouble early in the game, combining for just six points in the game and limiting the seven-player roster of Greenback.

Grace Christian's Sydney Duggins, meanwhile, caused a number of problems for the girls, scoring 10 points in the first quarter on the way to 25 points for the game to lead all scorers.

Greenback's leading scorer in the game was Sarah Rhyne, who finished with 16, all coming in the second half.

The Lady Cherokees did make a push late in the game, scoring 21 points in the fourth quarter. However, trailing 46-28, Grace needed to do very little to hold onto their lead.

Autumn Tipton was the team's only other double-digit scorer for the game, finishing with 10 points and hitting once from beyond the arc.

Greenback was able to visit the free throw line more times, 18, than Grace, 12, making 14 of those shots. Coach Courtney McDaniel has said making more free throws than the opponent shoots is a goal for her team.

With the loss, Greenback falls to 3-2 on the season. They host Midway Friday before playing a pair of road games at Berean Christian and Heritage next week.

They will play one more home game in the month, Dec. 17 against Oakdale, before finishing 2012 on the road for the Daniel Boone Christmas Classic in Gray.

Greenback's boys fared much worse than the girls as the game was all but over at the half, despite 16 minutes of game clock left to run off.

Grace jumped out to a commanding lead early in the game, up 28-11 after one.

The Rams continued to pour it on, pulling ahead 43-18 at the half.

In the  third quarter, Grace out scored the Cherokees 17-8, and a scoreless fourth quarter, as the clock continuously ran on the TSSAA mercy rule, led to Greenback's second consecutive loss.

No players finished in double-digits scoring for the Cherokees for the first time this season. The high scorer for the team was Braxton Fox, who finished with eight.

Josh Pace, who led the team entering the game finished with just four points, and senior Austin Bryant missed the game with an ankle injury.

Bryant injured his ankle in the second quarter of the team's most recent game, a loss to the Knoxville Ambassadors. The Cherokees are hopeful Bryant will be able to return for the team's home game Friday against Midway.

Through five games, the Cherokees hold a 1-4 record. The team is playing under a new head coach, Tyler Gaskin, and the majority of their players missed preseason practices while playing football, an excuse Gaskin said the team could no longer lean on following the loss to the Ambassadors.

The team will have its work cut out for it as they look for their first winning season since the 2007-2008 campaign or first at .500 or better since 2008-2009.