BY MARK BROOKS
BRISTOL – The Greeneville Greene Devils were all smiles on Saturday afternoon after they won their first game of the season, 75-46 over University High in the The Classic at Viking Hall in Bristol.
Greeneville head coach Brad Woolsey said, “It feels really good and they played really well. I’m pleased to get things in the right column. We talked about you’re either the hammer or the nail…the pressure is being put on you or you’re putting on the pressure, and our guys came out today and wanted to be more like the hammer and put on the pressure. It’s good to be the hammer.”
Parker Quillen set the tone for the game right off the bat with a triple from the top of the key. On the next possession he was good from in front with a nice little turn-around jumper. The Devils were up 5-3 and would never trail again.
Greeneville then dialed up the defense and forced a turnover that led to a Taren Clairdy layup. Clairdy then stole the ball and led the Devils on the fastbreak for another layup. Brayden Kidwell finished off the mini run with another fastbreak layup that sent the Bucs into a timeout.
Coming out of the timeout it was Yordan Mills scoring as Zy Neal sent a pass to Mills for an easy one down low. Mills then made a clean steal and went coast-to-coast for another layup. It was the Neal to Mills connection again to finish off the quarter with Greeneville leading 17-8.
Kidwell extended the Devils’ lead as the second quarter started with the three-point play the hard way, Clairdy sent a pass to Kidwell underneath the goal and Kidwell muscled up the shot on the glass. Neal came up with the steal and long pass to Clairdy down court, and Clairdy brought the crowd to their feet with the slam and 22-8 lead.
The Devils lead grew to 29-8 quickly as Quillen drilled a triple from the corner, Kidwell had an easy layup, then Kidwell stole the ball and went the distance for another layup.
Quillen took a pass from Neal on the block for a short jumper and Kidwell buried a triple from the elbow to put the Bucs on their heels at 34-10.
The Bucs were noticeably frustrated and Jansen West expressed his displeasure and was hit with a technical foul, Mills hit one of the two technical free throws. The short stoppage in play didn’t slow down the Devils and William Woolsey hit a short jumper in the lane before Amir Knight just beat the buzzer with a floater to give Greeneville a 39-16 halftime lead.
Neal got things started in the third quarter with a three-pointer from the top of the key. Moments later it was Neal again with the steal and drive to the basket on a spin move to give the Devils a 48-18 lead. Even with a 30 point lead neither team slowed down. Clairdy scored on consecutive fast-breaks, and Neal and Mills hit back-to-back triples. Clairdy punctuated the quarter with another electrifying dunk coming off the baseline.
With the score 62 to 33, Woolsey pulled back on the reigns and gave way and let the younger Devils finish out the game.
The Devils put five players into double figures, lead by Kidwell with 16 points, Mills 14, Clairdy 12, and Neal and Quillen both had 10.
GREENEVILLE – Kidwell 16, Mills 14, Clairdy 12, Neal 10, Quillen 10, Knight 4, Fields 4, Jobe 3, Woolsey 2
UNIVERSITY HIGH- West 16, Poston 11, Francis 6, Gray 5, Yocum 6, Templin 2
