BRISTOL – The Greeneville girls basketball team could not keep its top players on the floor on Monday night in the Region 1-3A Tournament semifinals due to foul trouble, and saw its season come to an end in a 55-48 loss to Tennessee High.
“We knew this was going to be tough, and we knew were going to have to bring our A game,” Greeneville coach Annette Watts said. “I thought I had us prepared. But Foul trouble cost us. We had to go to those freshmen, and they just weren’t ready. They sure tried, but we had to play handcuffed. I’m proud of this team.”
The Lady Devils did not have the depth to overcome the foul count and when Maria Lyde and Julia Woolsey were forced to spend long stretches on the bench the Lady Vikings were able to erase a double-digit deficit and then swing in front.
The night started with the team’s trading shots until Allison Hayes came off the bench and knocked down a three-pointer to put Greeneville in front 9-6. Kyla Jobe fired in a step-back triple to push the advantage to 12-6 and the first quarter closed with Greeneville leading 14-8.
In the second quarter Greeneville’s three-point shots kept falling over the Lady Vikings’ zone and after Hayes and Julia Woolsey both hit from behind the arc the Lady Devils lead grew to 22-14. Tennessee’s only answer was Jasmine Jones who went inside for a pair of layups and scored 14 points in the first half.
Midway through the quarter Jobe found Abby Adkins coming down the baseline for a layup that pushed the lead to 26-16. A driving layup by Jobe kept the Lady Devils in front at 29-18, but late in the period both Lyde and Woolsey picked up their third fouls.
The Lady Vikings finished the first half on an 8-0 run in which Jones scored six points. Addie Wilhoit went the length of the floor for a layup in the stretch, but the dynamic scorer was largely held in check with just six points in the first half because of the pressure applied by Lyde. With Lyde’s defense hampered in the second half Wilhoit scored 17 points over the final 16 minutes.
“I knew Maria could shut her down, and she did great with that assignment until Addie figured out she could drive in and lean into her,” Watts said. “Once she got the second foul on that lean in move I should have put (Jobe) on her, but I felt like Maria could manage. Then she gets that third on offense, and from there the plan had to change.”
The game went to halftime with Greeneville leading 29-26.
Not a lot of scoring occurred in the third quarter but five minutes into the second half Lyde and Woolsey picked up their fourth fouls within 40 seconds of each other. With 55 seconds left in the quarter Tennessee’s Kerigan West hit a corner trey to close the gap to 34-33, and that is where the fourth quarter started.
Hayes got Greeneville’s offense going again by starting the final frame with a triple, but Wilhoit found her stroke from behind the arc on the other end of the floor. She hit from three-point land twice and tied the game at 39-39 with 6:28 left to play.
Tennessee briefly took the lead at 41-39 Chase Wolfenbarger got a layup to fall, but less than 20 seconds later Woolsey found Lyde on the block for two points.
With 3:10 left to play a free-throw by Lyde gave Greeneville its last lead at 44-43. She fouled out 51 seconds later.
Wilhoit scored seven points in the final 2:12 of play and Greeneville could not match her as the Lady Vikings finished with a 55-48 win that sends them to the Region 1-3A championship game. Tennessee will play David Crockett on Wednesday for the title.
Greeneville finishes the year with a 22-11 record. In their final game as Lady Devils seniors Jobe and Adkins led Greeneville in scoring. Jobe had 13 points, five rebounds and five assists. Adkins had 12 points and seven rebounds.
“Everybody but one team is going to end the year on a loss. You just have to make sure that when you go out you gave it everything you have,” Watts said. “I felt like those seniors gave it all they had. And I told those sophomores and freshmen to let this hurt, because it should. This needs to grind in their stomachs all offseason.”
Lyde finished the night with 11 points and 10 rebounds for Greeneville. Hayes came off the bench to score nine points.
Wilhoit led Tennessee with 23 points, Jones had 14 and Wolfenbarger 12.
