ROGERSVILLE – The Greene Devils shook off a shaky first quarter and shot the lights out inside “The Teepee” for a 78-49 win over District 2-3A opponent Cherokee on Tuesday night.
“It’s always good to get a conference win and we look to keep building onto it,” Greeneville Head Coach Brad Woolsey stated.
Greeneville found the bottom of the nets from outside the arc 11 times in Tuesday night’s contest. Seven different players hit a three-point shot and 11 players scored in total.
Zaydyn Anderson had a standout night and scored 20 points in three quarters with a trio of three-pointers and a rim-rattling two-handed dunk. When Greeneville needed a boost in the second quarter, he was there. Only leading by one, he went on to score 11-straight points in the opening half of the second quarter to stretch Greeneville’s lead to a dozen. From there they had no trouble getting shots to fall and raced to a big victory on the road.
“It was good to see Zaydyn shoot it the way that he did. And he had that dunk so that was great to see,” Coach Woolsey mentioned.
While Anderson had a strong second quarter, Isaac McGill delivered a strong third quarter with 10 of his 16 points occurring in the frame.
The win bumped Greeneville’s District 2-3A record to 2-0 and their overall record to 10-10.
The Greene Devils never trailed throughout and led the game wire-to-wire. Trey Thompson began with five-straight points on a catch-and-shoot three and a fastbreak windmill dunk. After opening with five points, he would only score two from the free-throw line the rest of the night.
Braxton Markham was Cherokee’s leading scorer with 15 points and started their scoring with a three-pointer. After scoring a quick two to pull the Chiefs within two again, Zaydyn Anderson, Jherivus Moore, and Isaac McGill stretched the lead back out with layups. Cherokee created a small seven-point run with an Isaiah Jones layup, a Lofton Hayes three, and a runner from Jones again. Cole Smith punched home a three-point bucket before Braxton Markham delivered a three from way downtown to make it 16-15 after the first quarter.
Even though Cherokee played Greeneville close in the first quarter, Zaydyn Anderson made sure to remind everybody that the Devils remained fully in control. He provided a quick 11-point swing with a trio of tripes and a transition layup to push the lead up to 27-15. “The guys did a great job at finding Zay. When you work the ball and you don’t take average shots and you take good shots, it makes a huge difference. We found Zay and took great shots and it paid off and he hit three in-a-row,” Coach Woolsey said.
Greeneville continued their second-quarter dominance with a pair of threes from Dom Tweed, a layup from Cole Franklin, and a triple from Tarin Clarity.
The Greene Devils outscored Cherokee 24-8 in the period and led 40-23 at the half.
The second quarter belonged to Anderson, but the third seemed to belong to McGill. He found the open spaces and open lanes on the court to deliver five layups and a total of 12 points in the quarter.
Landon Jeffers heated up for Cherokee and nailed back-to-back three-point attempts from behind the arc.
Zaydyn Anderson delivered the stamp of approval on his standout night with a breakaway two-handed slam to end his 20-point night. Greeneville entered the fourth quarter ahead 61-33.
Another closely contested frame occurred in the fourth with Greeneville narrowly winning it 17-16, but the damage had already been done.
Ryan Maggert, Parker Quillen, and Braylen Kidwell all scored for Greeneville in the fourth. The Greene Devils ended the night with 11 of 12 players scoring.
The Greene Devils hopped on the bus happy with a 78-49 road win to stay atop the District 2-3A standings.
Greeneville was led by Zaydyn Anderson with 20 points and Isaac McGill with 16. Braxton Markham led Cherokee with 15 and Landon Jeffers had 14.
Grainger travels to Hal Henard Gymnasium on Friday night for Greeneville’s next District 2-3A matchup. “Grainger is always a tough game. In our conference they’ve probably been our biggest rivalry type of game. It’s going to be huge for us. It’ll be the same thing we’ve got to show up and play hard and play together and if we do that then I think great things will happen,” Woolsey stated.
