MURFREESBORO – It took a little bit of time for the Greeneville boys to get comfortable shooting in the Murphy Center on Thursday afternoon, but once the Greene Devils got warmed up there was little Munford could do to slow them down in their Class 3A State Tournament quarterfinal contest.
The Greene Devils lit the Glass House on fire with 11 three-pointers while shooting 52.4 percent from beyond the arc, then in the second half the Cougars had no answer for big man Trey Thompson as Greeneville moved on with a 63-46 win.
“This was awesome. I loved doing this with my teammates, I loved the atmosphere here at MTSU,” Thompson said. “This is special. I love these guys, they are the best teammates I’ve ever had. I’ve played with these guys since third grade and it’s awesome to win with them here. I love this team, and I love the Greeneville community. We heard that crowd noise today and it’s awesome to have that with us. It’s something special.”
Greeneville advances to the semifinals in its first trip back to Murfreesboro since winning the state championship in 2022. The Devils will play Upperman and Class 3A Mr. Basketball recipient Ty Cobb at 4 p.m. Central Time on Friday. The winner will move on to Saturday’s state championship game. Upperman beat Hume-Fogg 54-40 on Thursday in its quarterfinal contest.
“Upperman is a well-coached team, and from a defensive perspective it may be similar to today. They seemed to play a 2-3 today, but we may see some other stuff,” Greeneville coach Brad Woolsey said. “I think Cobb is similar to (Munford’s Jadyn) Lee. He’s really, really good and he obviously shoots it very well. We’re going to have to try to slow him down, I don’t know that you can stop a player like him.”
Through the first six minutes on Thursday Greeneville could not get anything to fall through the net and shot 12.5 percent from the field. Fortunately, they were good enough on the defensive end to still be within striking distance, down 8-5.
At the 1:59 mark of the opening period Zaydyn Anderson slipped a pass to Thompson on the left wing and the junior connected from deep to lift the lid off the rim and even the score at 8-8.
Munford answered with a layup going the other way, but Thompson then drove the lane and kicked to Cole Franklin in the corner for a trey that put Greeneville on top 11-10. Before the first quarter closed good ball rotation set up Anderson for a triple and Greeneville led 14-12.
“We had to find good shots. There wasn’t any kind of magic switch we flipped. We had to find good shots and make them,” Woolsey said. “We changed our high-low action a little and that may have loosened some things up. But ultimately, it’s about believing, and these guys had to believe that they could do it. We want them to play with courage and they showed that they were courageous today.”
The threes kept flying for Greeneville in the second quarter and over a 1:16 stretch Franklin hit from deep twice and then Dom Tweed set up Anderson for a trifecta that put the Devils in front 27-19.
Munford scored the final five points of the second quarter but Greeneville took a 27-24 lead into intermission.
After starting 1-for-8 from the field the Devils were 7-for-9 over the final 10 minutes of the first half. They made eight field goals in the first half and all eight were three-pointers.
In the second half Thompson’s mere presence around the painted area changed the game as Munford did all it could to prevent him from getting the ball. Often that meant a foul call. Thompson went 9-of-11 at the free throw line the second half and scored 16 of his 28 points after the break. He finished the day with 28 points, 12 rebounds, and seven assists.
“In the second half we knew we had to step on the gas and keep going at them. We had to play as a team and just keep pushing until we came out on top,” Thompson said.
Early in the third quarter Munford closed the gap to 31-30 when Ja’Dyn Lee made a free throw.
Over the next 30 seconds of game time Greeneville scored six points and Munford never touched the ball. It started with Thompson going to the rim through contact for the old-fashioned-three-point play. Courtney Chaffin picked up his third foul on the play and when coach Kameron Foster subbed in Isaiah Britton a technical foul was issued because Britton’s jersey number was incorrect in the official book.
Thompson made the two technical free throws, and he was fouled again on Greeneville’s ensuing offensive possession. This time he made one of two at the stripe for a six-point possession that stretched Greeneville’s advantage to 37-30.
Lee came back with six points for Munford over the final 4:31 of the third quarter, but Greeneville stayed in front at 41-36.
With 6:19 left to play Munford’s Chaffin put back a miss that cut Greeneville’s lead to 43-42. Lee followed with a run through the lane and converted a tough layup. He was awarded a free throw that could have tied the game, but it was off the mark and Greeneville led 45-44.
Over the final 5:19 Greeneville outscored the Cougars 18-2. Anderson started things with a triple from the corner and Thompson brought the crowd to its feet with a jam that stretched the lead to 52-44.
Anderson and Cole Smith each hit from deep in the closing stretch before the game was finished at the foul line.
After a slow start Greeneville ended up shooting 56 percent from the floor and 52.4 percent from three-point land. The Devils out rebounded Munford 24-15, and won the assist battle 16-7.
Anderson finished the day with 13 points. Franklin came off the bench to score nine points, and Isaac McGill had eight points, four rebounds and four assists.
Lee scored 30 of Munford’s 46 points.
