BLOUNTVILLE – The Chuckey-Doak boys basketball team hung tough with the No. 1 seeded Unicoi County Blue Devils in the semifinals of the District 1-2A Tournament, but they let a halftime lead slip away and played from behind in the second half before losing 59-41 on Saturday.
Chuckey-Doak had not fared well in both of their previous match ups with Unicoi with losses of 35 and 29 points. Saturday’s 19-point margin makes it look uncompetitive, but the Black Knights gave Unicoi a battle for three quarters. The trailed 42-35 entering the fourth, but a crushing 13-2 run ended their chances of pulling off the upset in the semifinals.
Mr. Basketball finalist Jackson Simmons scored a game-high 26 points and was tough to handle. AJ Thomas was limited to only four in scoring, but Cade Peterson’s big night with 14 points helped create a strong dynamic duo with Simmons.
Ryland Grindstaff led Chuckey-Doak with 16 points and Dom Atchison and Knox McCamis joined him in double figures with 11 and 10 points.
Unicoi County advanced to Tuesday night’s District 1-2A Championship in the win and Chuckey-Doak dropped to the third-place game. Unicoi will play South Greene at 7:30 and Chuckey-Doak will play West Greene for third place at 6:00 at West Ridge High School.
Chuckey-Doak is now 17-14 on the season after the loss.
The first quarter was controlled by Chuckey-Doak until the end of the period. Gavin Crum began the game with a tough mid-range bucket to lead 2-0. Carter Simmons banked a three for Unicoi’s first bucket. Knox McCamis responded with a three next and Chuckey-Doak led 5-3. Jackson Simmons became “the answer” for a couple possessions and answered every Chuckey-Doak bucket. The Blue Devils went on a 7-0 run next and took control with a 14-9 lead. Grindstaff ended the quarter with a layup. Chuckey-Doak trailed 14-11 after one.
Chuckey-Doak regained control and started the second quarter on a 9-0 run. McCamis began with an and-one followed by four-straight from Grindstaff and a layup from Atchison. The Black Knights led 20-16.
It didn’t last long and Unicoi finished the quarter on a 10-5 run and regained the lead going into the break. Unicoi County led 26-25 at halftime.
Chuckey-Doak held Unicoi to one of their lowest halftime totals of the season and Black Knights Head Coach Sam Broyles was proud of the defensive effort in the first half. “I was happy with the defense pretty much the whole game, but we did great in the first half.”
Cade Peterson came alive and was a huge difference maker in the third quarter with eight points. Peterson began with five-straight to open up the half and instantly put Unicoi back in front. The Blue Devils never lost the lead for the rest of the game.
“When Peterson hit those threes, it forced us out of the defense we were playing. It made a big difference in the second half,” Broyles said.
Chuckey-Doak hung tough and kept the margin at three, 37-34, before Unicoi went on a 5-1 run to end the quarter ahead 42-35.
The Black Knights weren’t out of it yet. But Jackson Simmons quickly changed that. The Mr. Basketball finalist scored five-straight and helped Unicoi build their largest lead at a dozen. The lead continued to grow as Unicoi went on a 13-2 run and led 55-37.
Chuckey-Doak ran out of gas in the end and suffered a 59-41 defeat to Unicoi County in Saturday’s District 1-2A semifinals.
“Got to move past this, fix what didn’t work in the second half, and move on,” Coach Broyles stated.
Chuckey-Doak will play West Greene in Tuesday’s third-place consolation game at 6:00. Unicoi County will play South Greene for the championship on Tuesday at 7:30.
