The South Greene lacrosse team hosted its first Region 1-1A home game on Thursday night and lost a hard-fought battle, 10-6, to Sevier County on Thursday night.
“The fellas gave us their best effort and fought the entire two hours we were out here. Close game, the fellas just needed to capitalize on our decision making and fix our mistakes,” head coach Austin Wallace stated.
The Rebels held a 3-1 lead in the second quarter, but watched it slip from their grasp as the Smoky Bears scored six-straight to take control. Grady Clark was a catalyst in their victory. Clark scored five goals in total and was Sevier County’s best offensive weapon.
More history was made on Thursday. Sophomore Ty Wilhoit from Greeneville High School scored the first goal on Greene County soil.
“It was huge. Ty wasn’t here last week for our first win when we made history at Kingston, so to make our first goal on our home field was huge. Well-deserved for him,” Coach Wallace expressed.
South Greene also made history by picking up win No. 1 in their most recent matchup at Kingston. The Rebels were in search of their first home win on Thursday, but fell short and fell to 1-4 (0-2) in the process.
Sevier County struck first with Bryce Sineath’s goal at the 6:25 mark of the first quarter. The Rebels netted the equalizer only a minute later at the 5:12 mark with Wilhoit’s history-making goal. Wilhoit assisted Jackson Lewis on South Greene’s second goal to take a 2-1 lead at the end of the first.
Jackson’s brother Gideon Lewis scored the third-straight goal for South Greene as the Rebels led 3-1 just 44 seconds into the second quarter. Sevier County scored three-straight next and ended the half with a 4-3 lead. Spencer Payne scored at the 4:08 mark, Sawyer Broome knotted it up at the 2:48 mark, and Grady Clark broke the tie with his first at the 1:55 mark.
The Smoky Bears scored three goals in just over two minutes to lead 4-3 at the half.
Sevier County never cooled off and scored three-straight again to open up the second half. Grady Clark scored two-straight to start and claimed a hat trick and scored a third in succession also to help them lead 7-3. Clark scored four-straight before Jackson Lewis ended their streak with a South Greene goal. Clark scored a fifth-straight goal to push the lead to 8-4.
Jackson Lewis completed a hat trick of his own, the first in South Greene history, at the end of the third period for more history on the pitch. “It was massive. The Lewis’ basically started this program and for him to set a standard and set history in this program is massive,” Wallace stated.
Both teams traded goals back and forth until the end of regulation. Broome scored with 4:15 left, Gideon Lewis assisted Jackson Lewis for his fourth goal with 52 seconds left, and Payne scored with 25 seconds left.
Sevier County defeated South Greene 10-6 when the clock hit zeros in the fourth.
The Rebels travel to Gibbs for a contest at 7:00 PM tonight. “Put this loss behind us. Forget that this happened and put our best foot forward. Get well rest and come out tomorrow flying and ready to go!” Coach Wallace explained.
