The Greeneville Greene Devils are moving on to the Region 1-3A semifinals after a win over the David Crockett Pioneers on Saturday night in Hal Henard gymnasium, 71-63.
It took one of coach Brad Woolsey’s best coaching efforts and William Woolsey’s career night to do it.
The game didn’t start off well for the Devils as the much taller Pioneers were roaming the baseline and back cutting for easy buckets. Colton Mullins, standing at 6’6″ was cutting to the goal at will and Caleb Evans was living in the paint, taking advantage of the Devils lack of height in the middle.
David Crockett had a four point lead at 14-10 with just over three minutes remaining in the first quarter.
William Woolsey answered by drilling back-to-back triples from the top of the key and the Devils were up 19-18. Zy Neal got off a three-point attempt as the buzzer sounded that was no good but was fouled in the process. Neal made two of the three free throws as he stood at the line all alone to give the Devils a 21-18 lead after a high energy first quarter.
In the second quarter the Pioneers back door cuts on the baseline runs stopped thanks to the long arms of sophomore Amir Knight. Knight’s presence in the paint on defense completely changed the game, forcing the Pioneers to play more on the perimeter. As the defense was holding its own the offense kicked in with Braylen Kidwell knocking down back-to-back corner threes.
Woolsey drilled another triple from the wing for Greeneville. The Pioneers cut the lead to four on a couple of occasions until Kidwell hit another three from the corner just as the buzzer sounded to end the first half, giving Greeneville a 35-28 lead.
Woolsey knocked down another pair on triples as the third quarter got underway, both from the top of the key. The second one at the 6:50 mark put the Devils up 41-30 and forced Pioneer coach Sam Tarlton into a timeout to talk things over.
Kidwell nailed a three-bomb from the corner and Taren Clairdy took a full court pass from Yordan Mills for a easy lay-in to give the Devils their largest lead of the evening at 46-32 at the five minute mark. The pace settled down a that point for a few moments until Parker Quillen made a corner three and Clairdy hit one from the opposite corner. Cam Gauge kept the Pioneers close with a pair of triples. The Devils led 52-40 heading into the final frame.
The pace picked back up as the the fourth quarter starting with Gouge and Lukas Easterling hitting back-to-back triples that cut Greeneville’s lead to six points forcing coach Woolsey into a timeout.
William Woolsey hit a layup in the lane coming out of the timeout, moments later Mills found Woolsey all alone under the goal for another easy layup. Neal was good with a runner in along the baseline and Woolsey drilled another three pointer from the top of the key to increase the lead back to double digits at 61-50 with 3:15 to play.
Clairdy extended the lead to 13 points when he drove the lane trough traffic for a slam dunk that all but sealed the deal for the Devils. The Pioneers were forced to foul at that point but the Devils were able to make enough free throws in the final minutes to escape with the win 71-63 and move into the Region 1-3A semifinals on Tuesday night against Elizabethton at Grainger High School in Rutledge.
Coach Woolsey gave credit to Knight saying after the game, “Amir came in and did a good job, he got some fouls but did a good job. We stopped giving up back cuts, that’s probably the biggest thing we did. .Amir, Willie and Taren did a great job on (Mullins). He was hurting us early and it made things tough on him”,
He also gave credit where credit was due, to William Woolsey, saying, “I’s crazy the way it happened. He came out of the womb as part of the program, Willie has been a part of it for a very long time, very happy for him.”
The younger Woolsey saved his best for last in scoring a game high 24 points.
GREENEVILLE – Woolsey 24, Kidwell 15, Clairdy 13, Neal 11, Mills 5, Quillen 3
DAVID CROCKETT – Eaves 19, Gauge 14, Street 9, Easterling 7, Mullins 7, Border 4, Britton 4
