North Greene Leads Wire-To-Wire In Win Over University

ELIZABETHTON – The North Greene boys basketball team never trailed in a wire-to-wire victory in Tuesday’s District 1-1A Tournament third-place game over University High 72-60.

“It feels pretty good. I thought we played cohesive tonight. I thought we were together. I’m not super pleased with our defensive effort. Offensively I know we shot the ball better and were able to get some shots in the paint. I’m happy with our performance, but I know that we can be a little better. So now it’s on to play for fun now. It’s win or go home,” Huskies Head Coach Matt Weems stated.

There’s something about North Greene shooters and Happy Valley’s gym that go together like peanut butter and jelly. Bennett McClain scored 36 points and tied a program record with nine three-pointers in the District 1-1A semifinals in 2024. On Tuesday, Jaiden Bailey hit seven three-pointers and finished with 22 points to lead North Greene to victory.

Coach Weems said, “My lord he was on fire. It felt like every one he took was a good shot. He seen the first one or two go in and the basket got real big for him.”

The Huskies had a good shooting night and finished with a 51 percent field goal percentage. Ten three-pointers landed in the bottom of the nets and seven different players scored.

Tuesday night was a wild night in Region 1-1A. Unaka upset No. 10 Hampton in the District 1-1A Championship right after and Hancock County upset Cosby in the District 2-1A Championship. North Greene was close to avoiding No. 10 Hampton in the Region 1-1A Tournament and having an easier path to the championship game, but the other upset in District 2 now puts Cosby in North Greene’s pod and doesn’t make it any easier. The Huskies went 0-2 against both Cosby and Unaka who are both in their pod.

North Greene will travel to Cosby on Saturday for their Region 1-1A quarterfinal matchup at 7 PM.

Both teams had four players reach double figures. Jaiden Bailey was a deadeye on Tuesday with a game-high 22 points. Thomas Darnell scored 17, Tyler Britton scored 15, and Havoc Fair had 11.

Mekhi Yocum and Ty Templin both scored 13 to lead University. Zulum Aninyei scored 12 and Mason Francis scored 10.

North Greene moves to 11-20 after Tuesday’s win.

The Huskies never trailed and started hot. Jaiden Bailey and Isaac Gaby helped North Greene lead 9-3 very early with a trio of three-point bombs. The lead grew to 15-5 with Havoc Fair’s layup off Gaby’s assist and a pair of foul shots from Thomas Darnell. University’s Mason Francis cut it to six with a three-pointer. Darnell scored four-straight to end the quarter and helped North Greene lead 21-11 after eight minutes.

Ty Templin started the second with a three and a contested layup to cut it to five and reach double figures. But as soon as University started creeping back in, Jaiden Bailey splashed another three-pointer and Kelson Eastep made a layup to stretch it back to ten. Kingston Ricker got his name into the book with a layup in the late stages of the frame.

The Huskies led 33-25 at the half.

Havoc Fair began North Greene’s second half with a layup on the third shot of the possession and Tyler Britton followed up with a floater. University was able to score on their first four possessions and cut the lead to four, 37-33, halfway into the third. Jaiden Bailey scored his fourth three of the game, but Janson West’s three and Zulum Aninyei’s layup cut it to 40-38. Bailey came right back down to hit his fifth three of the contest and stretched it to five.

Speaking of five, it took five minutes for University to finally have an empty possession in the quarter. The Bucs scored on five-straight possessions, but then went scoreless in their next two. University shot 8-for-11 in the third.

Tyler Britton’s and-one basket bumped North Greene’s lead to eight. University always found ways to cut into the lead, but Jaiden Bailey was there to save the day. His sixth three found the bottom of the net and helped keep North Greene’s momentum.

The Huskies had 2.4 seconds to make something happen at the end of the third and did. Thomas Darnell cut to the basket and made a layup right before time expired for a nicely executed buzzer beater.

North Greene led 53-45 entering the fourth quarter of play.

Darnell started the fourth with a big and-one bucket. The Huskies had numbers moving up the floor and Bailey decided to pull the trigger from beyond the arc again and made his seventh three-point shot of the contest. The Huskies reached their biggest lead at 61-50, but University scored five-straight to cut it to six with only 2:46 left.

The Huskies went empty on back-to-back possessions, but a clutch poke by Tyler Britton forced a turnover and he pulled up at the three-point line and sank a clutch dagger in transition to make it a 9-point game with 1:44 left. Havoc Fair helped hammer the last nail into University’s coffin with a strong and-one to create North Greene’s biggest lead in the final two minutes.

North Greene defeated University High 72-60 in the third-place consolation contest.

“I was really overall proud of our team. Everybody got in and contributed in a positive aspect. We rebounded the ball a lot better. Just overall a pretty good night,” Weems mentioned.

Both teams had four players reach double figures. Jaiden Bailey led North Greene with a game-high 22 points. Thomas Darnell scored 17, Tyler Britton scored 15, and Havoc Fair had 11. Mekhi Yocum and Ty Templin both scored 13 to lead University. Zulum Aninyei scored 12 and Mason Francis scored 10.

North Greene will travel to Cosby on Saturday for their Region 1-1A quarterfinal matchup at 7 PM.

“We know what we’re good at and we know what we struggle with. There’s things to work on this upcoming week. I think we’ve got to be a little better at communicating. Overall, I think the momentum we built this week was good for us. We kind of found our ways to win. I’m proud of that,” Coach Matt Weems explained.

All-Conference:

Tuff Robinson, Hampton (Defensive Player of the Year)

Colby Clark, Hampton (Freshman of the Year)

Chase Davenport, Hampton

Bryce Fagan, Hampton

John Hardin, Unaka (Player of the Year)

Zach Wallin, Unaka

Aiden Walsh, Unaka

Justius Wallin, Unaka

Tyler Britton, North Greene

Thomas Darnell, North Greene

Knox Poston, University