In a defensive battle on Monday night at Hal Henard Gym the Greeneville boys basketball team got the best of Science Hill for a 64-54 win.
“I really felt like our defensive intensity set the table tonight,” Greeneville coach Brad Woolsey said. “Zaydyn Anderson was a difference maker on the defensive end, he forced three or four five counts. And if he is forcing a five count that also means there are people in other places doing a great job of not letting their man get open. Both teams came to fight on the defensive side and that made this a great game.”
With the win over the Hilltoppers the Greene Devils have taken down two of the top Class 4A teams in the region in their last two outings, beating Dobyns-Bennett 71-59 on Friday, and that has Woolsey feeling good heading in District 2-3A play on Tuesday against Claiborne.
“It’s great to build a little momentum heading into district play. It’s just great to be able to compete, we enjoy these games and we just hope to continue to get better little by little,” Woolsey said.
Monday’s contest went back and forth into the fourth quarter and with 5:43 left to play L.J. Ruiz flew through the lane for a put back that brought the Hilltoppers within two points at 46-44.
The Greene Devils answered with a 12-1 run propelled by a strong perimeter defense from Zaydyn Anderson and tough rebounding from Trey Thompson.
“Offensively we had some turnovers and bad shots, and those things kill your defense,” Woolsey said. “We called a timeout to reset and focused on staying in front of them on defense and taking good shots on offense. Overall I felt like we did that in that run.”
On the offensive end Anderson started the run by taking in a pass from Isaac McGill and knocking down a corner three. Thompson followed with a hook shot on an inbound play, and then a layup set up on a steal by McGill that pushed the lead to 53-44 in less than a minute.
Oliver Patterson broke the streak with a free throw, but Thompson gave the Devils their biggest lead at 58-45 on an alley-oop dunk with 1:50 left to play.
That proved to be enough breathing room to hold off the Hilltoppers for a 64-54 win.
Thompson led all scorers on Monday with 30 points while Anderson added 12 points for the Greene Devils.
“Trey did a great job of coming back in the fourth quarter and making some big plays. But we probably need to do a better job of being comfortable when he is not in the game. We hope that is not very often. But he had 30 points and double digit rebounds, he was a difference maker tonight,” Woolsey said.
Monday’s action started with Science Hill jumping in front 10-4 with Eli Patton and Logan Roberts each getting inside for a pair of layups.
Thompson closed the gap to two points twice and then sank a triple to make 14-13. Anderson gave Greeneville the lead briefly at 15-14 when he went under the rim for a reverse.
The first quarter closed with Science Hill leading 16-15.
A putback bucket by Yordan Mills evened the score at 18-18. Then Greeneville’s defense was able to put a few stops together while Anderson and Dom Tweed sank a pair of runners and Thompson connected from deep for a 25-20 lead.
Jhervius Moore finished the first half with a breakaway layup that put the Greene Devils in front 29-22 at the break.
The third quarter was mostly spent trading shots. Greeneville’s biggest lead came at 36-27 with 5:41 left when Anderson drove the baseline and dished to Moore for a triple from the top of the key.
Thompson went to the bench for a breather with 1:30 left in the quarter and the Hilltoppers took advantage, scoring six unanswered points to close the gap to 40-38 heading to the final frame.
Ruiz led Science Hill on Monday with 12 points, Roberts had 11 points and Eli Patton scored 10.
