CHURCH HILL – The Greeneville girls basketball team has been brooding over the past few days and on Friday night Volunteer turned into the victim of their frustration.
After suffering a 75-49 loss to Cherokee on Tuesday the Lady Greene Devils returned to Hawkins County angry and delivered a near historic smack down of the Lady Falcons, 67-17.
“Our players were mad after Tuesday night,” Greeneville coach Annette Watts said. “After Tuesday I don’t think they realized how little we did and how good we made Cherokee look. It’s been a rough week and I’ve been on them hard. We decided we were going to come out here tonight and show people what we can do. I am so proud of them for coming back and playing like this tonight.”
The Lady Greene Devils have one more regular season contest on Tuesday with Dobyns-Bennett before they head into District 2-3A Tournament as the top seed on Thursday. For Watts the goal will be to maintain the level of focus and intensity she saw out her squad on Friday throughout the postseason.
“The girls were just saying, ‘We have to maintain this’. I told them that I would do my part to try to get this out of them, but they have to bring it every day,” Watts said.
Defense set the tone for Greeneville on Friday as the Lady Devils they forced 21 turnovers in the first half and 26 overall. That had the Lady Devils in front by 20 points before Volunteer could make its first field goal, and they never slowed down after that.
“One of our goals tonight was to force 20-plus turnovers and I think that motivated our kids to go out there get them. We got out in that press and got all over them, and I think they thought that was fun,” Watts said.
Less than three minutes into the contest the Lady Found themselves up double digits at 12-2 with Brylee Tullock and Jordan Swatzell loosening up the defense with a pair of three pointers.
Tullock hit from deep two more times in the first quarter and Matea Gray and Swatzell each made the most of second chances as the lead reached 22-2.
Tullock was on fire on Friday as she poured in 26 points in the first half and finished with 28 points. But more than that she was directing the offense and creating chances for her teammates and wreaking havoc on defense, adding seven steal, five assists and four rebounds to her stat line.
“Brylee kept everything catchable she was maintaining eye contact with her target and finding the right person. She shot the ball well, but I was most proud that she got down and defended,” Watts said.
With 1:13 left in the first period Volunteer scored from the field for the first time when Elizabethton Byington found space in the paint for the first time.
Greeneville closed the period leading 24-2.
After shocking Volunteer in the first period the Lady Greene Devils demoralized the Lady Falcons in the second period.
It took Tullock just over two minutes to add 11 points to her scoring total in the period as the turnovers on one end of the floor turned into breakaway chances on the other.
The most impressive play during the stretch came when Julia Woolsey threw up a baseball pass that looked as though it might be returned to the Lady Falcons but Maria Lyde rose up and tipped it ahead to Tullock behind the last defender for a layup.
Lyde capped a 13-0 run that started the second quarter by taking a steal coast to coast for a 37-4 lead.
While Tullock dominated the outside Lyde was a force on the inside on Friday. She finished the day with 16 points, eight rebounds and a career best eight blocks.
“I loved what Maria was doing. The girls she was guarding is a lot bigger than her, but she’s a freshman and Maria took her to school,” Watts said.
Byington scored the Lady Falcons’ only points of the quarter at the 4:56 mark, and then Greeneville closed the first half on a 16-0 run.
Lyde scored eight points in that stretch while Tullock, Woolsey and Allison Hayes all left Volunteer chasing with transition buckets.
Greeneville took a 53-6 lead into halftime.
The clock ran continuously in the second half, but that did not stop Greeneville’s lead from growing. Steals by Tullock led to easy buckets from Woolsey and Hayes and at the end of three quarters the Lady Devils led 63-11.
Greeneville’s biggest lead came at 65-11 when Woolsey drove the lane for a layup.
Four points at the free throw line in the fourth quarter by Volunteer kept Greeneville from breaking the program record for margin of victory. The high-water on record is 53 points, and for much of the fourth quarter the Lady Devils held that advantage, but they finished leading by 50 points.
Woolsey was also in double figures with 10 points for Greeneville.
Byington and Emma Miller led Volunteer with four points each.
