JONESBOROUGH – Noah Wright’s free throw with two seconds remaining in the game lifted the South Greene Rebels to a 49-48 win over Daniel Boone and into the championship game of the 35th annual Hardee’s Classic at David Crockett High School.
Coach Terry Hoese said of his unlikely hero, “To be honest with you that kid (Wright) deserves to be in the game. He plays a tough as anybody I have. I was debating intentionally missing that last free throw, but I didn’t any have fouls to give. He got the one that counted.”
The game started off fast and furious, but the scoring did not. Neither team could get shots to fall in the early going, the Rebs led 6-1 with under two minutes left in the first quarter when Jacob Arnold and Gavin Pearce got the Daniel Boone Trail Blazers going. The Blazers had a one-point lead after the end of the first quart 8-7.
In the second quarter shots started falling better for both teams. South Greene’s Jase Roderick drove the lane for a layup as did Tret Gentry just seconds later. Gentry then stole the ball and set up Chandler Gamble. After an empty possession by the Blazers, Cayden Fillers followed his own miss for the put back, Roderick hit the boards for an easy layup and Gavin Dyer nailed a triple from the elbow to give South Greene a 21-9 lead at the 3:21 mark of the first half.
Arnold and Pearce then got the Blazers quickly back in the mix with a couple of three-point baskets over the next two minutes. Dyer added another triple from the elbow and Roderick ended the scoring for the first half with Rebels leading 27-20.
In the third quarter the shooting woes continued for the Rebels as they were held without a made shot from the floor and could only manage three of six from the free throw line. On the other end of the court the Blazers scored 16 points in the quarter and took a 36-30 lead into the final frame.
Roderick opened the fourth quarter with a put back through contact, the free throw was good for an old-fashioned-three-point play. Moments later Gamble fought his way to the goal for another three-point-play the hard way to tie the score at 40-40 with 4:14 remaining in regulation.
Roderick gave the Rebels the lead with one of two from the line. Gamble followed with a layup and the Rebels were up 43-40. Pearce then tied the score with a triple from the elbow at the three-minute mark.
The Blazers took a one-point lead on Joe Gurley’s free throw at 44-43. Fillers gave the lead right back to the Rebs with a turn-around jumper in the lane, but a pair of free throws from Clay Rowland evened things up again.
Roderick drained a deep two-point basket just left of the key for a Reb 48-46 lead with under a minute to play. Daniel Boone’s Arnold somehow weaved his way through traffic in the lane for the tying basket with 20 seconds left.
The Rebels opted to let things play out and after a missed shot Wright got the offensive rebound and was fouled as he was attempting the winning shot, he made the first and the second was short but it didn’t matter as all the Blazers had left was a desperation heave.
Roderick led the Rebs in scoring with 17 points and hauled down 11 rebounds for a double-double. Gamble added 12 points and 14 rebounds, also a double-double, while Fillers nearly had a double-double with 12 rebounds and eight points. Pearce led all scorers with a game high 23 points.
South Greene will take on David Crockett on Saturday at 7:30, trying to win their second Hardee’s Classic championship in a row.
University High 64, Chuckey-Doak 40
Earlier in the day the Chuckey-Doak Black Knights were playing for a chance at a fifth-place finish in the tournament against University High, but fell 64-40
After a back and forth first quarter the score was tied at 15-15.
Dominique Atchison banked one in off the glass to tie the score at 17-17 in the early part of the second quarter. Andrew Cole was the big gun in the second quarter for the Bucs, knocking down a couple timely buckets then a big triple as time was winding down in the half and the Bucs took a 24-21 lead into the locker room at the break.
Ryland Grindstaff got a rebound and a layup to start the second half, another layup by Atchison followed by a corner three by Blake Lippard put the Knights up 28-27 midway through the quarter.
From there the Bucs shots started falling and the Bucs led 37-30 after three quarters of play.
By midway through the fourth quarter the Bucs had built a 15-point comfortable lead. Both benches cleared at that point and the Bucs took home a 64-40 win over the Black Knights.
Grindstaff finished with 11 points to lead the Knights while Atchison chipped in with 10. Cole had a game high 20 points for the Bucs.
Chuckey-Doak will be back in action at 11 a.m. on Saturday against Providence Academy at David Crockett High School.
