North Greene Uses Second-Half Rally To Claim District Championship

BLOUNTVILLE – North Greene tightened up on defense and erased a nine-point, second-half deficit to defeat Unaka 44-39 to be crowned District 1-1A Champions for the second-consecutive season on Tuesday night at West Ridge High School.

“I was proud of them for showing toughness after not the best start. We gave up 17 in the first quarter, that’s not us. And I think we gave up 20 something the rest of the game. We’ve got to drag teams into the mud with us. That’s what we do. Scored just enough to hang on,” Head Coach Sam Tarlton said.

The trio of Lance Carrico, Thomas Darnell, and Lawson Davenport all entered double figures in scoring and had three separate key runs to help their team achieve championship status. Darnell led all scorers with 16 points (seven in the fourth), Carrico scored 12 (eight in the first), and Davenport delivered 10 (eight in the third). Carrico took home Tournament MVP honors with an average of 9.5 points per game.

Even after claiming his second-straight conference title and securing Coach of the Year honors, Coach Tarlton still knows there’s more work to be done.

“That’s great and you want to win the district. It’s one of your goals. We have a standard where we want to win meaningful games up into March. You can win the district tournament all you want to, but if you lose next Tuesday all that is really for nothing,” he stated.

The win gives North Greene the night off on Saturday with a first-round bye in the Region 1-1A Tournament because District 2-1A only has three teams. They will play the winner of Hancock County and University High in the semifinals with a state sectional opportunity at stake.

Tuesday’s win served as North Greene’s 19th win in-a-row.

The night didn’t start out how North Greene wanted it to. Thomas Darnell started with a layup, but Unaka went on a scorching 10-0 run in response to climb on top 10-2. Austin Lambert nailed a three in response to Darnell’s layup then scored again with a put-back layup. Rylan Crabtree swished a three-pointer before Mason Wilson ended the run with a layup. The layup resulted in him gathering his own rebound after a blocked three and slashed through the paint for the layup. Coach Tarlton called a timeout to halt the run.

After the timeout, Carrico hit a patented three from the top of the key. The Rangers kept pace and stayed out front for the rest of the quarter. John Hardin landed a post hook, Carrico responded with a layup, and Aiden Walsh landed a post hook. Carrico and Wilson traded three-point plays to end the frame. Carrico with an and-one and Wilson knocked down a three-point shot.

North Greene trailed 17-10 after one.

Darnell scored North Greene’s first five of the frame to pull them closer. He scored with a pair of layups and a free throw. Carrico landed a free throw through the net and Isaac Gaby made a layup to finish a 6-0 North Greene run. Unaka finished the quarter with five-straight to pull out to a seven-point halftime lead.

The Huskies went into the half trailing 25-18.

The game’s biggest lead came when Hardin scored on a post hook to begin the third quarter and put Unaka up nine points. Davenport proceeded to take over the quarter and was responsible for ten of their thirteen points in the frame. He started with a free-throw line floater before assisting Darnell on a transition layup. He landed another smooth floater through the hoop.

Jaiden Bailey interrupted his run with a clutch offensive play to help knot the score at 27-27. He came away with an offensive board and banked in a three-point shot to tie it.

North Greene’s run capped out at 11-straight with Davenport’s fastbreak layup. Hardin was left not boxed out under the goal and ended the run with a layup. Davenport rose up for a quick flush to end his hot third.

“We challenged him at halftime. If you go back to when Bennett got hurt, I told him and Lance they’ve got to be consistent and aggressive or we can’t win. I don’t think he was very aggressive. I think he was like two-years-ago Lawson in that first half. We challenged him in here and he responded,” Tarlton expressed.

North Greene came from nine down to take a 32-31 lead headed into the fourth.

Lance Carrico and Austin Lambert traded threes to start. Crabtree dribbled into space to hit a mid-range jumper and give Unaka their final lead at 36-35. Davenport and Darnell provided layups to help North Greene regain the lead.

In crunch time the possessions became more meaningful and the shots weighed heavier. John Hardin had a wide-open look from three-point land to tie it, but the shot rimmed out. North Greene had two chances on one possession after Jaiden Bailey’s third offensive rebound of the night, but neither shot would fall. Lambert was fouled on a put-back attempt and made 1-of-2 free throws with 1:35 left.

North Greene had the ball up two and Unaka had three fouls to give so they did their best to waste clock. After one of the fouls, they perfected a sideline out-of-bounds play that resulted in a wide-open layup for Darnell.

Thomas Darnell came in clutch when it mattered and took over the last minute. After his layup he pulled down a defensive rebound and scored on another wide-open layup on another sideline play. On Unaka’s last attempt to cut into their lead, he stole a pass and went to the free-throw line to sink a foul shot.

“What they’re doing when they’re playing man is they’re taking his man and sticking him in the middle so they’re not guarding him. And if you’re not going to guard somebody, they have to make you pay. And I thought he did a great job at that. And how you do that is you have to be a really great cutter on the backside and a great rebounder,” Tarlton explained.

North Greene left the court victorious 44-39 and claimed their second-straight District 1-1A Championship.

Thomas Darnell scored the game’s leading 16 points. Lance Carrico delivered 12 and Lawson Davenport provided 10. North Greene’s defense allowed 17 points in the first quarter and shut Unaka down for only 22 for the rest of the game and only 14 in the second half.

Unaka’s John Hardin was limited to six points after dropping a 30-piece in Saturday’s semifinal game. Lance Carrico was responsible for limiting him. “I’m going to tell you where I’m most proud of him and where he’s grown the most over the last three years he’s been playing at North Greene it’s his defense. John Hardin had 30 the other night and he had 6 tonight. Part of that is our doubles, but Lance did a great job guarding him without fouling,” Coach Tarlton explained.

North Greene has a first-round bye in the Region 1-1A Tournament and will play Hancock County or University High next Tuesday back at West Ridge High School.