BRISTOL – The South Greene Rebels began their 2025-26 regular season on Tuesday night and it didn’t quite go the way they wanted as they suffered a 70-35 loss inside of Viking Hall.
The lack of conditioning was noticeable for the Rebels. The football team’s run in the Class 2A Playoffs ended on Friday night and their return to basketball was a quick turnaround before playing their first regular season game. In fact, they have only practiced as a full team for one day before last night’s loss to the Vikings.
“Disappointed. I knew football boys with one day of practice weren’t going to be ready to play. We’ve been with the majority of this group now for a month and a half and I expected to at least come out and compete,” Rebels Head Coach Terry Hoese stated.
A pair of injuries to Charlie Lane and Gavin Dyer on Friday and Saturday put a short-handed team of Rebels in a tough spot down two starters.
South Greene didn’t have a double-digit scorer. Lucas Couch led the Rebels with 9 points and Alex Leon had 8. “It’s going to take some time, but I’ve got kids who want to compete and play hard. There’s no doubt in my mind about that,” Coach Hoese mentioned.
South Greene struggled to make anything from the field. Will Arrowood drained a three-pointer with about six minutes left in the first to take a 3-2 lead. It was the only lead they held. A 7-0 run by the Vikings put Tennessee High ahead 9-3. Alex Leon scored a layup with an assist from Simon Burns and Arrowood made another three to cut the lead to 9-8, but everything started to get away from them after that.
Tennessee High scored 27-straight and held a 36-8 lead in the second quarter. Alex Leon scored a pair from the free-throw line to end the dry spell with 1:46 left in the half. Lucas Couch scored a layup to end their cold spell from the field. The Rebels trailed 45-16 at the half. “We’ve got to quit having those spells where we don’t score,” Coach Hoese stated.
The second half was more competitive, but the Rebels were still outscored 25-19. Tennessee High’s press defense caused frustration among both players and coaches with the Rebels committing more than 20 combined turnovers in the game.
The lead was too much to overcome and South Greene dropped their season opener 70-35 on the road.
“They’re good and I like playing good teams. You either come to play or you get your tail beat. It just makes you better in the long run,” Hoese ended with.
South Greene’s next game will be Tuesday in the Hardee’s Classic at David Crockett High School and will play Daniel Boone.
