FARRAGUT – The Greeneville boys basketball team trailed for much of Saturday afternoon, but a fourth-quarter rally allowed the Greene Devils to get in front and then hold off Fulton for a 58-57 win in The Recruit Me Thanksgiving Tournament at Farragut High School.
“You know when you play against Fulton you are going to play against a team that plays great defense and is coached really well. So to get out of here with a win is a huge for us,” Greeneville coach Brad Woolsey said. “We didn’t necessarily play that well, but we gutted it out at the end. We had different guys step up at different times to make plays for us, and if we can cut down on turnovers this can be a pretty good team.”
Fulton has won the last two Class 3A State Championships and been in the state tournament 20 times in the last 30 years. While some of the key pieces from those state-title runs are gone, and it is still early in the year, beating the Falcons is always something to be proud of.
“Playing Fulton is always a great test. They have such a great history and anytime you can beat them its good. Coach (Jody) Wright has been a great coach who does things the right way for a long time. When you get wins against good team it’s great. This obviously isn’t the end, and it’s not where we are trying to finish, but for an early-season game it’s a nice W.”
The Greene Devils started the fourth quarter trailing 46-45, but 38 seconds into the period Trey Thompson nailed a three-pointer on an inbound play for 48-46 lead. Greeneville played from in front the rest of the way, but in the closing seconds things did tighten up.
With 4:21 left to play Cole Franklin tipped in a missed three-pointer by Dominic Tweed for a 52-48 lead. Franklin came off the bench on Saturday and gave the Devils a big boost in the second half. He took over the point-guard duties late in the game and kept the Falcon’s pesky press at bay while also scoring eight points in the final two quarters.
“I felt like both Coles (Cole Franklin and Cole Smith) gave us a little boost in the second half,” Woolsey said. “Cole Franklin is super athletic and when he used his strengths we got better. He got some put backs and got his hands on the ball on defense. Probably the best thing about this team is that its deep, and we feel like those guys on the bench can come in and help us.”
Isaac McGill put back his own miss to give Greeneville its biggest lead of the night at 56-49 with 2:05 left to play.
Fulton would not go down easy and on the trip the other way Nick Steen put back a miss through contact and turned it into three points.
With 40 seconds left Steen drove the lane and produced three points the old-fashioned way once more to close the gap to 56-55.
Thompson kept Greeneville in front with a tough two points, but Keirus Cox again scored through contact for Fulton with 18 seconds remaining. Cox missed his free throw to keep Greeneville in front 58-57, but the Falcons’ press paid off one more time when it forced a 10-second call with 7.7 seconds left to play.
On the final possession Derrick Smith slashed through the lane and got the potential game-winning shot he wanted, but the ball bounced across the rim. Thompson grabbed the rebound and sealed the win for the Greene Devils.
Thompson led Greeneville on Saturday with 28 points and 16 rebounds. Tweed was also in double figures for 12 points.
Saturday’s action started with Greeneville scoring the first five points behind a lay in from Thompson and triple from Tweed.
Fulton moved in front at 9-8 by the midway point of the first period when Travis Ballenger stole the ball in the back court and Smith nailed an elbow jumper.
A three-pointer by Thompson put Greeneville in front 13-9, but Steen scored the final four points of the frame to even the score at 13-13.
In the second quarter the Falcons turned up the pressure and made just getting the ball to midcourt a difficult task for the Greene Devils.
That led to an 11-4 run in the first 4:37 of the quarter and gave Fulton its biggest lead at 24-17.
“We have to be a whole lot better against the press, but we’ve spent about seven minutes working on it,” Woolsey said. “It was just one of those things where we have to execute what we worked on practice better. Once we executed it loosened them up. I feel like its something we’ll get better at as the season goes on.”
The Devils finally adjusted to the press and Thompson got the offense going with a pair of inside buckets. With seven seconds left in the first half Thompson found himself a step ahead of the press and attacked the basket from half court. He was fouled going to the rim for a three-point opportunity that closed the gap to 29-26 at intermission.
In the third quarter Fulton went in front 37-31 when Ballenger stole the ball at his own three-point line and quickly laid it in.
Franklin got Greeneville going with a steal that turned into a lay in for Tweed. Franklin then broke the press for a layup that narrowed the margin to 39-37 with 2:36 left in the quarter.
With 1:06 left in the third quarter Thompson caught the ball on the block and a pair of Falcons swarmed to him. That allowed for a quick pass across the lane to an open Franklin who gave Greeneville a 41-39 lead.
With one second remaining in the quarter Smith was fouled and made both free tosses to put Fulton back in front at 46-45.
Steen led Fulton with 20 points, Smith had 19 and Ballenger 10.
