ERWIN – South Greene watched its season come to a close again in the Region 1-2A semifinals after a 60-54 loss to Austin-East on Tuesday night at Unicoi County High School.
The Rebels weren’t able to get over the hump that has caused them problems for four-straight years. After a hard-fought game that didn’t go their way, Rebels Head Coach Terry Hoese was still pleased with his team’s efforts.
“Bottom line is we got beat by a good team. When it’s all said and done that’s what it’s about at this time. There’s 32 teams left coming into tonight and all 32 teams can play. Somebody’s got to win and somebody’s got to lose,” he expressed. “I hate that I couldn’t get them over that hump. I felt like these guys worked hard enough and deserved to get there. When it’s all said and done, I think we’ve been represented really well.”
Three seniors played their final games in a South Greene uniform, but they didn’t go out without a fight. Chandler Gamble led all scorers with 20 points, Jase Roderick scored 12, and Trey Gentry scored 10. They accounted for 42 of their 54 points.
“Gamble wound up with 20 tonight and Roderick had 12. I felt like both of those guys really gave me what they could give me. Then you throw Trey in there with 10. His 10 were tough buckets,” Hoese mentioned.
Senior Micah Shelton didn’t receive any playing time and didn’t gain much all year, but Coach Hoese praised his willingness to stick it out and stay within the program. “There are no kids left like that. He’s the real deal.”
The senior class leaves the program with 81 total wins. “There aren’t many groups that can come through South Greene High School and say that. They’ve had successful careers,” Hoese bragged.
With their season coming to a close they finished 22-10 (9-1) with a split of the District 1-2A regular season title and the tournament championship.
For the Rebels, it was a mix of poor shooting and turnovers. A 13-for-24 night from the free-throw line and an abundance of missed shots down the stretch lowered their chances of moving on with a win. Things looked up from the beginning though. After a pull-up three-pointer from JP Pruitt Austin-East went on a 4-minute scoreless streak that South Greene was able to capitalize on. They went on a 9-0 run in that 4-minute stretch. Trey Gentry started with a pair of free throws, Jase Roderick sank a free throw to complete an and-one play, Gentry sank another free throw, Chandler Gamble made a tough layup, and Roderick finished it with a free throw. Larrione Winton made a layup to break A-E’s dry spell.
South Greene reached the charity stripe 13 times in the first quarter and made 8 of those attempts. Gamble went 2-for-2 and Cayden Fillers went 1-of-2 late in the quarter. Noah Wright made a layup between both player’s attempts at the line.
The Rebels led 14-10 after one quarter.
The lead reached six with a fastbreak layup from Roderick. Then the lead quickly started to dwindle and be tough to maintain. Pruitt hit another triple and Juwaan Troutman completed an and-one play after the Rebels gave up what seemed like half-a-dozen offensive rebounds. Charlie Lane broke the 16-16 tie with a layup, but D’Shawn Fenderson tied it back up with two foul shots.
Jase Roderick sank a jumper in the paint, but the Roadrunners would soon speed away with a 10-point run to take a large lead. Gamble’s and-one gave them some life and Lane’s three near the end of the half brought them within four, but a buzzer-beating layup pushed the lead to six going into the half.
South Greene then trailed 32-26 at the break.
The beginning of the third seemed like the game may get out of hand with Austin-East scoring five-straight to reach an 11-point lead, but that’s when South Greene stormed back.
Jase Roderick’s put-back layup and Trey Gentry’s driving layup started the comeback efforts. JP Pruitt hit his third three-pointer before the Rebels went on a 13-2 lead to regain the lead. Gavin Dyer had a rough night shooting, but managed to sink 2-of-3 free throws when fouled on a three-point shot. He missed the last one and it was rebounded by Gamble who scored a layup with it to complete a 4-point trip. Roderick drained a free-throw line jumper, Gentry laid the ball off the glass with hard contact, and Gamble scored five-straight to close it out. They led 43-42 at the 33-second mark in the third quarter.
Jaiden Turner’s layup to end the quarter gave Austin-East a 44-43 lead entering the fourth quarter.
A lay in by Gamble started the frame. Turner responded with a layup too before Cayden Fillers downed a baseline shot. South Greene led 47-46 after Filler’s shot and it would be the last lead of the night for them. A 6-0 run on three made layups sent Austin-East ahead 52-47. Gamble made another big layup with 3:02 left to cut it to three. They managed to get a stop on defense, but a bad turnover led to a layup by Reggie Jones. A missed shot led to Gamble’s put-back layup to bring their deficit back down to three.
The Rebels couldn’t buy a bucket within the last two minutes and suffered through missed shot after missed shot. While continuing to miss, Austin-East attempted to pass it around and waste clock. South Greene was forced to foul and the Roadrunners went 6-of-8 from the line.
“We had to battle back in that third quarter and we took the lead and I thought we were going to be alright. The lid went on the goal and we couldn’t score and couldn’t get the ball down the court. Just made some mistakes and we couldn’t make those mistakes,” Hoese explained.
South Greene’s last three points came from Trey Gentry with a free throw and a layup on their final shot with 8 seconds remaining.
Their season came to a disappointing end after a 60-54 loss to Austin-East in the Region 1-2A semifinals.
Chandler Gamble led the way with 20 points, Jase Roderick had 12, and Trey Gentry delivered 10.
JP Pruitt led Austin-East with 17 points.
