The Greeneville boys used a dominant third quarter and a 34-point performance from Trey Thompson to fuel their 71-43 win over Grainger on Friday night to lift their District 2-3A record to 3-0 on Friday night.
Grainger held tough and kept it a respectable score throughout the first half, but a third-quarter surge by Greeneville created a lead too large to overcome as the Greene Devils outscored the Grizzlies 26-9 in the frame.
Thompson’s double-double stat line of 34 points and 10 rebounds led the way for Greeneville. Jhervius Moore was hard to stop near the rack and scored 12 points, 10 in the second half, to join him in double figures.
“Jhervius Moore was a huge difference maker tonight. He played with such poise. And the beautiful thing about Jhervius tonight is that he had a tough game Tuesday and to see him come back with a couple of practices and respond and play with so much poise was great,” Greeneville Coach Brad Woolsey said.
Woolsey continued, “Trey was just doing what Trey does. Knocking down threes, going to the glass, and distributing the ball.”
Greeneville improved to 11-10 (3-0) and have now won 8 out of their last 11 since Christmas and have started a three-game winning streak.
Isaac McGill began with a layup in the first quarter. Konner Kincaid then nailed an early three-pointer to give Grainger their only lead of the game.
Thompson came alive early and scored five-straight for the Devils with a three-point bucket and a putback dunk. McGill scored another layup before Thompson scored 5-straight again. Zaydyn Anderson scored his only field goal of the game with a baseline layup. Thompson and Carter Williams traded threes to end the quarter.
Thompson shot a 6-for-6 clip in the first quarter and had Greeneville ahead 21-10 after one.
Dominic Tweed and Thompson netted layups to put Greeneville up by 15 before Grainger went on a 7-0 run with layups from Coy Morgan and Brizen Solomon. Isaac McGill helped stretch their lead back out to double digits with a layup and assist to Thomson on a two-handed dunk in the paint.
The Devils were leading 33-21 at the break.
Grainger opened up the third with an attempted comeback before Greeneville ran away with the game. Solomon and Thompson traded layups to begin before Morgan’s layup started a 7-2 run for Grainger.
Moore and Thompson took over for the rest of the frame to securely put the game away. Moore scored 6-straight through a baseline fade and two drives to the hole. Thompson finished Greeneville’s 11-0 run with 5-straight again.
The Greene Devils bench helped close the quarter on an 9-0 run after Carter Williams briefly halted their previous run. Yordan Mills sank an elbow jumper, Cole Franklin rose up to lay one in, and Cole Smith drained a three-point basket.
Greeneville ended the quarter with a 20-2 run and took a 59-30 lead into the fourth.
The Greene Devils padded their lead enough to cruise to victory in the fourth quarter and went into the weekend happy with a 71-43 win.
“Grainger is always a big win. We’re happy to get this one and move on to get the next one,” Coach Woolsey stated.
Thompson scored a game-high 34 points to lead Greeneville. Moore had 12 to go along. They shot 50% (29-for-58) as a team total with a perfect 8-of-8 free-throw line clip.
Kade Williams and Konnor Kincaid scored 8 each to lead Grainger.
Greeneville hits the hardwood again on Tuesday for a road game against Volunteer.
GIRLS
Greeneville 59, Grainger 50
Greeneville welcomed in the visiting Grainger Lady Grizzlies on Friday night and sent them packing with a 59-50 loss to improve to 3-0 against District 2-3A competition.
A dominant first half showing from the Lady Devils powered them to a 36-17 halftime lead. That lead slowly started fading away in the third, but they did just enough to maintain a sizable advantage in the fourth quarter and leave with the win.
Tonight was Greeneville’s first litmus test in conference play. Grainger proved to be a worthy test and challenged them until the very end. Abby Adkins’ double-double performance led the way with 22 points and 10 rebounds. Maria Lyde contributed with 17 and Kyla Jobe stuffed the stat sheet with seven points, nine rebounds, six assists, and three blocks.
Lady Devils Head Coach Annette Watts’’ “Big 3”, as she refers to them as, showed how much experience makes a difference in big-time games. Their poise in the fourth quarter during a furious comeback attempt was the leading quality they seemed to possess. Jobe and Adkins combined for all 11 of Greeneville’s fourth-quarter points.
“What we call our ‘Big 3’ with Maria, KJ, and Abby all three of them have roles that they know they must do night-in and night-out. And most of the time they do, but if we ever get all three of them going at the same time instead of one in the first half and one in the second half, we’ll be dangerous,” she mentioned.
Julia Woolsey was another double-figure scorer and was a key contributor in their win. “Offensively, I thought she was great. I thought she took it to the hoop and did some great things for us,” Watts said.
It took almost a full two minutes before a basket was made, but Woolsey’s layup was the first to go through and put Greeneville ahead first. The early stages were a point-for-point exchange. Woolsey made her layup while McKinley Mills went 2-for-2 from the foul line. Maria Lyde made a layup next then it was Briley Caldwell with the next two. Kyla Jobe netted a long two before Adison Hayes netted two. Abby Adkins hit a layup from the block, but Addison Brickey responded with a three-pointer to take the lead away. 9-8 would be the only lead Grainger held all game.
The Lady Devils managed to get to the foul line and made the most of their opportunities. Adkins went 2-for-2 and Lyde went 3-for-4 in the final stages of the first. Adkins added a layup and Lyde added a baseline mid-range on the final sequence also.
After falling behind 9-8, Greeneville went on a 9-0 run to end the quarter and led 17-9 after one.
The run continued and ballooned all the way to a 15-0 run with Lyde’s layup, Woolsey’s bank shot, and Matea Gray’s baseline jumper. Ava Dellinger ended the run with a triple.
Greeneville ended the quarter with a 10-5 run to take a sizable lead into the break. Adkins hit a layup before Woolsey scored five-straight with a corner three and transition layup. Adkins finished her half with a layup and Lyde finished her half with two layups. Brickey ended the half with a three for Grainger.
The Lady Devils led 36-17 entering halftime.
A 21-12 third quarter victory for Grainger pulled them within only 10 points entering the fourth quarter. Greeneville opened the quarter with an elbow jumper from Maria Lyde and a mid-range from Jobe to create a 23-point advantage. Brooklyn Roach quickly took over and scored 7-straight points for Grainger. The teams kept an even pace with one another and traded points before the Lady Grizzlies scored 7-straight again to end the period. Brickey scored from beyond the arc and Brookly Roach netted two free throws and made a layup at the buzzer.
“Up by 24 points I knew at halftime that this team is not ready to be up by 24 points. They don’t know how to nail the coffin down and I’m not sure that’s something you teach. Players just have to have that killer instinct and we’re going to get it. We’re going to get there,” Coach Watts said.
Grainger managed to cut the score to 48-38 going into the fourth.
While the comeback seemed threatening, the margin never dipped below the final score of 9 points. Abby Adkins took over and scored 8-straight for the Lady Devils. Every time Grainger scored, Adkins seemed to be there with an answer every time.
The quarter began with a post turnaround from Adkins. Jaylee Hayes scored a layup next, but Adkins negated it with a layup. She took a trip to the charity stripe and went 2-for-2. Adison Hayes scored a three-point play the old-fashioned way, but Adkins was fouled again and made both foul shots. Roach made a layup, but they were running out of time and forced to foul Greeneville every trip down the court. Kyla Jobe went 3-for-4 from the free-throw line in the final stretch to help preserve the win.
Grainger’s final efforts weren’t enough as Greeneville did what was needed to celebrate a 59-50 win once the clock hit triple zeros.
Abby Adkins led the way with a game-high 22 points. Maria Lyde scored 17 points and Julia Woolsey had 11. The Lady Devils shot 55% (21-for-38) as a team.
Brookly Roach led Grainger with 14 points and Addison Brickey scored 12.
Greeneville’s next test doesn’t get much easier as the Lady Devils travel to play defending District 2-3A champions Volunteer on Tuesday.
“We’ve got a lot of work to do and we’ll go to work tomorrow because it doesn’t get easier. Going over to Volunteer is tough,” Coach Watts expressed. “We need to go over there and put our stamp on them.”
