ROGERSVILLE – The North Greene boys used a relentless defensive effort and got a big offensive boost from Thomas Darnell on Friday as they beat South Greene 59-53 in the semifinals of the Big H BBQ Christmas Bash.
“I thought we battled and played hard. I was really proud of our effort and the physicality was there,” North Greene coach Matt Weems said. “We knew this was going to be a tough matchup. I told the boys that we were going to have to be the tougher team, and I felt like we did a good job of that. Overall it was a great team win.”
The Huskies move on to play host Cherokee on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. in the tournament’s championship game. South Greene will play West Greene at 4:30 p.m. for third place.
“I’m excited we get to play for a championship,” Weems said. “We won our Thanksgiving tournament at Claiborne and I told the boys that I guess we might as well win this one too. Cherokee got us the first time we played, so we’ll see if we can make the adjustment and play a little bit better.”
The Huskies got started quickly on Friday and on the first possession of the semifinal contest Darnell came down the baseline and tapped one off the glass for the first points of his 20-point effort.
Darnell’s offensive output had been limited in recent contests, but he came alive against the Rebels, as he powered up buckets inside and knocked down a trio of three-pointers.
“Thomas was 3-for-3 from three and that was a pleasant surprise,” Weems said. “Thomas can be the most athletic kid on the court most nights. He’s been battling through some sickness, but I’m really proud of how he stepped up.”
North Greene led 8-0 in the early going after Jaiden Bailey and Havoc Fair hit from behind the arc.
South Greene slowly began to find some offensive success and just before the buzzer Gavin Dyer found Jameson White open along the right wing. He drained a triple that tied the game at 10-10.
Noah Wright scored from the block to give South Greene its first lead at the start of the second quarter. That lead was short lived and Darnell gave it back to the Huskies with a straight-away trey.
Dyer cut North Greene’s lead down to 18-16 when he posted up on an inbound play and laid one in. That was the only field goal Dyer made in the first half and one of two he made the whole night. That was because of Bailey’s relentless pursuit that held the Rebels’ top scorer to nine points.
“Jaiden really shut down their best player. Dyer can get hot in a hurry, we told Jaiden that on the catch he had to be there because he has such a quick release. He was on him all night, and did a very good job with it,” Weems said.
With 1:19 left in the first half Tyler Britton sank a three-pointer for the Huskies to stretch the lead to 24-18. Just before the buzzer Isaac Gaby darted into the lane from the right wing and put up a runner that gave the Huskies a 26-19 lead going into halftime.
Just nine seconds into the second half Darnell struck from deep along the right wing to give North Green its first double-digit lead at 29-19.
With 5:12 left in the period Gaby drove into the paint and kicked it to Bailey for a triple that made it 34-21. North Greene’s biggest lead of the night was 14 points and came when Britton sank a shot from deep in the corner that made it 40-26.
The third quarter ended with the Huskies leading 44-30.
South Greene did not go down easy and the Rebels were able to take advantage of a few North Greene turnovers to make things interesting in the final minutes. White capped a 10-0 Rebels’ run with a fade-away jumper from the short corner that narrowed the gap to 46-43 with 3:23 left to play.
Fair and Darnell quickly got up the floor for a two-on-two matchup with the Rebels and despite Weems’ protest from the bench Darnell launched a triple that went in and put the Huskies on top 49-43.
South Greene never got any closer and Nort Greene did the rest of it damage from the free-throw line as it secured the 59-53 win.
In addition to Darnell’s 20 points Britton scored 12 points, Gaby had 11 and Bailey scored nine points for North Greene.
White scored 17 points for South Greene and Cayden Fillers put in 13 points.
North Greene stayed hot and defeated county rival South Greene 59-53 to advance into Saturday night’s Big H BBQ Championship Game. We caught up with North Greene Head Coach Matt Weems after the win. pic.twitter.com/mhwdkuK4yG
— GreeneSportsZone (@GSportsZone) December 20, 2025
The Huskies avenged a regular-season loss to South Greene with a Big H Semi-Finals victory, 59-53#FirstHorizon pic.twitter.com/ufjl2X0yT9
— GreeneSportsZone (@GSportsZone) December 20, 2025
The Huskies were clicking tonight as they beat South Greene, 59-53, to secure their finals appearance against Cherokee tomorrow night.#FirstHorizon pic.twitter.com/GR1p2VoQ7P
— GreeneSportsZone (@GSportsZone) December 20, 2025
THOMAS DARNELL BREAKS THE HUSKIES INTO THE FINALS
TD drops 20 over South Greene en route to a Big H BBQ Finals appearance #FirstHorizon pic.twitter.com/g7mff6kBvS
— GreeneSportsZone (@GSportsZone) December 20, 2025
Cherokee 58, West Greene 49
The West Greene boys mounted an impressive second-half comeback on Friday, but then watched Cherokee pull away again before taking a 58-49 win in the semifinals of the Big H BBQ Christmas Bash.
“We were sluggish all night and let the officiating dictate how we play,” West Greene coach Allen Tolliver said. “We just didn’t have a great night, and we didn’t capitalize when we had chances.”
Cherokee will play for the tournament title on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. against North Greene. West Greene will take on South Greene at 4:30 p.m. in the third-place game.
“We have to come back tomorrow with some energy,” Tolliver said. “This isn’t the game we wanted to be in, but it’s a county rival. We have to have that fire in us. Four games in five days tough, but they know they just have to come in and play hard one more time before they get a little break.”
Friday’s second half started with Cherokee leading 27-14, but the Buffaloes found new life, albeit briefly, and stormed back.
Elijah Williams started things with a steal he took the other way for a breakaway layup. Luke Heck then nailed a three pointer. Josiah Dawson capped the 13-0 run by spinning off a defender on his way to a driving layup.
With four minutes left in the third quarter the game was tied at 27-27.
Eli Markham broke the streak with a layup for Cherokee and then Isaiah Jonas, Markham and Landon Jeffers all hit three pointers for the Chiefs.
The quarter closed with Jonas scoring three points the old-fashioned way for a 43-29 Cherokee lead.
“We did a good job of tying it up, but then we started just firing up quick shots,” Tolliver said. “That’s not at all what we did during our run. During the run we were using reversals and skip passes. We hit cutters and found the post. But we got away from that. Once they pushed it back up to 12 they have enough ball handlers to run the clock down.”
In the fourth quarter the Buffaloes got as close as 52-45 when Williams rolled in a runner, but the Chiefs answered with six consecutive free throws to hold on for a 58-49 win.
Neither offense got much going in the first quarter, but when Ayden Lamons scored on a putback the Buffs led 5-3. Cherokee’s Jeffers answered with a triple and the Chiefs led 10-9 at the end of the opening period.
West Greene led again at 12-10 when Dawson knocked down a corner three.
Cherokee’s pressing defense caused plenty of problems in the second quarter and held West Greene to five points in the period.
After Gavin Lawson nailed a pair of triples the Chiefs were in front 16-11. Jonas scored six points in the period and Cherokee went to halftime leading 27-14.
Lamons led West Greene with 14 points, Dawson scored 13 and Williams had 10.
Jeffers finished with 14 points for Cherokee and Jonas put in 11 points.
The West Greene Boys had their moments in the semi-finals matchup against Cherokee.#FirstHorizon pic.twitter.com/0TvZexQjam
— GreeneSportsZone (@GSportsZone) December 20, 2025
The West Greene Buffaloes came up short in the Big H BBQ Semi-Finals against Cherokee, losing 58-49.#FirstHorizon pic.twitter.com/w08hRAbhOJ
— GreeneSportsZone (@GSportsZone) December 20, 2025
