MORRISTOWN – The Greeneville boys basketball team improved on defense as the game went on, and they spread the ball around on offense to pull away from Morristown East for a 72-52 win on Monday night.
“Early we struggled to stay in front of them of defense, but in the second half those things cleaned up That is kudos to our kids for recognizing what is wrong and correcting it,” Greeneville coach Brad Woolsey said. “When we settled in on offense and started just being who we are things improved. When we just get the ball to the right spots and play the way that we can, this team is really good. We just have to believe in that and continue to do that.”
On the offensive end of the floor the Greene Devils had six players score eight or more points. Trey Thompson led the way with 20 points, while Zaydyn Anderson had 10, Isaac McGill, Dominic Tweed and Yordan Mills each had nine points and Jhervius Moore scored eight points.
“It’s great to see that many guys put the ball in the basket,” Woolsey said. “Zaydyn is continuing to grow as a point guard, and he has to get a lot of credit for dictating the offense. Then he’s making shots and becoming hard to guard. A lot of those points everybody else is scoring are because he is getting the ball moving. When we move the ball, we are going to find a good shot.”
Early in the night the Hurricanes pushed the pace and traded shots with Greeneville. Less than three minutes into the game Cory Carpenter was fouled going to the hoop and two free throws evened the score at 11-11.
For Greeneville McGill drove through traffic for a lay in, and then he spun around his defender on the block for another that put the Devils on top 17-13. Over the final 1:14 of the first period Thompson cleaned up a pair of misses to move the lead to 21-16.
Things did not slow down much in the early portion of the second quarter and East’s Jaxson Archer got things started with a triple.
A steal by Cole Smith on the far end of the floor led to a floater by Yordan Mills that gave Greeneville its biggest advantage at 25-19.
By the midway point in the period Greeneville’s defense began to settle in and they did not allow a field goal after the 5:46 mark. With 3:04 left to play in the first half Thopson drained a three-pointer from the top of the key for a 31-22 lead.
The half finished with Thompson sending a pass to Tweed from the block and the sharpshooter sank a trey from the right wing for a 35-25 halftime lead.
Through the first five minutes of the second half the teams traded shots and after Carpenter scored three points the hard way Greeneville was in front 46-36.
Over the final three minutes of the period Greeneville went on a 13-1 run and effectively put the game away. Woolsey gave Smith, who did not score on Monday, a lot of credit for sparking the run.
The stretch started with Smith grabbing an offensive rebound and delivering it to Thompson for a triple. Smith then tipped a rebound out of traffic to Mills who was alone under the rim for an easy layup. Before the Hurricanes could get things figured out on defense Thompson drove the lane and scored through contact.
With 40 second left in the third quarter a screen by Smith opened up Cole Franklin for a straight-away trey, and before the period ended Mills nailed a corner three on an inbound play to move the Devils’ lead to 59-37.
“We go on a run in the third quarter, and I think a lot of that was Cole Smith getting his hands on some stuff,” Woolsey said. “He made some plays that don’t show up in the box score, but he did great job. I honestly don’t remember who scored what, but I do remember him making things happen.”
Thompson watched most of the fourth quarter and the Devils reserves were heavily involved in the final frame, but they did not allow East to close the gap. Five different Devils scored in the quarter with Anderson, Mills, McGill, Franklin and Braylen Kidwell all getting inside for Buckets as Greeneville finished out the 72-52 win.
Carpenter led Morristown East with 16 points.
Greeneville will be back in District 2-3A play on Tuesday with a trip to Cherokee.
GIRLS
Morristown East 66, Greeneville 43
The Greeneville girls struggled to handle the length and quickness of Morristown East on Monday night and fell on the road, 66-43.
“Morristown East is good, but I felt like we were discombobulated all night long,” Greeneville coach Annette Watts said. “I never felt like we settled into the game on offense or defense. They were just quicker and meaner than us. They are a really tough team, and we didn’t handle that well.”
The night started as a back and forth contest with Kyla Jobe, Maria Lyde and Julia Woolsey all getting inside for buckets for Greeneville. When Abby Adkins sank a jumper from the top of the key the Lady Greene Devils led 10-9, but that was the last time Greeneville played from in front.
With 2:44 left in the first period Hudson Cloniger knocked down a three-pointer that put the Lady Hurricanes in front 12-10, and they finished the first half on a 9-2 run for an 18-12 lead.
Within the first minute of the second quarter East got a lay in from Hannah Hall and a triple from Ella Wampler as the lead quickly grew to 25-12.
Fouls began to mount for the Lady Devils as Adkins and Lyde each picked up their third and Jobe earned her second. With that Greeneville’s offense slowed and East’s lead continued to grow. The Lady Devils only managed to score six points in the period, all from Lyde.
Hall scored eight points in the period for the Lady Canes as the lead grew to 37-18 at halftime.
In the second half Greeneville’s offense picked up the pace, but it could not find the stops it needed on defense to narrow the margin. Lyde scored six more points, and Woolsey added four points in the period. For East Harmony Sullivan knocked down two three-pointers while Cloninger and Riley Forrester also hit from deep as the lead reached 57-32 heading into the fourth quarter.
In the fourth quarter Greeneville limited East to just nine points, but the offense still could not close the gap and fell 66-43.
Lyde led Greeneville on Monday with 20 points. Hall and Wampler each scored 17 points for Morristown East and Sullivan scored 16 points.
