MURFREESBORO – The Greeneville basketball team fought back with a fury on Friday night in the Muphy Center on the campus of Middle Tennessee State University, but early offensive woes were too much to overcome as the Greene Devils’ season came to an end in the semifinals of the Class 3A State Tournament.
The Devils who shot lights out the day before against Munford in the opening round could not find the same rhythm against Upperman on Friday and fell 55-47.
“I didn’t feel like we played very well in the first half,” Greeneville coach Brad Woolsey said. “Offensively we just weren’t in synch at all. We were just not together on the offensive end. But these guys battled and I’m proud of them. I was so proud of the fight we showed. You never want to see the end of your season, but to see those guys exhibit courage and exhibit togetherness was really good to see.”
While things looked bleak for the Devils heading into the fourth quarter they had the crowd on the edge of their seats until the final horn.
Upperman went in front 44-31 with 5:19 left to play when Evan Hudleston tapped one off the glass. Going the other way, Trey Thompson called for the ball and knocked down a three pointer from the top of the key. Cole Franklin followed with a pair of layups for Greeneville that closed the gap to 48-38.
With 2:57 left to play Franklin drained a three-pointer from the corner. Some tough defense by the Devils forced Upperman’s Bronzden Chaffin to give up the ball to Franklin. Zaydyn Anderson’s triple was off the mark, but Taren Claridy saved the offensive rebound while flying out of bounds.
On the inbound play Cole Smith knocked down a triple from the left corner that cut the lead to 48-44. Then, with 1:21 to play Smith came up big again by connecting from deep to close the gap to 50-47.
“Cole is a quiet kid, but when he gets going he’s an emotional guy,” Woolsey said. “Obviously knocking down the shots is big, but he’s coming off the court getting the crowd fired up. We love that type of warrior mentality. It doesn’t matter if it’s football, basketball or baseball he’s going to go fight. He was a huge reason we were still in it.”
Coming up the floor Class 3A Mr. Basketball recipient Ty Cobb went through Franklin’s chest to beat the full-court press and Franklin became the second Greene Devil to foul out of the contest.
On the night Greeneville was called for 23 fouls and Cobb was able to attempt 14 free throws while making 12 of them.
Over the final minute Thompson felt the full force of the Bees’ defense and the Devils could not get the shots they needed to complete the comeback, falling 55-47.
Much of Greeneville’s late dilemma could be attributed to a slow start.
“I felt like today started a little bit similar to yesterday, but yesterday we made a couple of shots and that picked everything up,” Woolsey said. “Today we scored the first three points and then went a long time without scoring. When you don’t see the ball go into the bucket it can be demoralizing.”
Greeneville took the first lead at 3-0 when Jhervius Moore hit a jump shot from the top of the lane and Isaac McGill made one free throw with 6:08 left in the opening frame. Greeneville did not attempt another free throw over the next 30 minutes of game play.
The Devils came to a complete halt as it went on an 8:57 scoring drought that stretched into the second quarter. They could not get outside shots to fall against the Bees’ zone defense, nor could they find the holes in the zone to get good looks on the interior.
On the other end of the floor Cobb and Landon Hall were able to slash into the paint and either score or draw contact as Upperman’s lead grew to 10-3.
With 5:11 left in the first half Greeneville scored again when Yordan Mills slipped a pass to a cutting Thompson for a lay in.
Upperman’s lead grew to 18-10 when Cobb dropped in a short jumper from the paint. Greeneville scored the final seven points of the first half to close the gap to 18-17. Franklin started the run with a three-pointer. Anderson came up with a driving layup, and then Mills picked the pocket of Chaffin and sent it ahead to Thompson for a lay in with 36 seconds left.
Greeneville’s offensive woes carried over into the third quarter and it took nearly four minutes for it to score. By the time Isaac McGill got a driving layup to roll through the iron Upperman led 26-19.
Thompson was able to sink a pair of three-pointers to keep the Bees from running away, but the third quarter closed with Upperman leading 38-27.
Thompson finished the night with 19 points, six rebounds and three blocks. Cole Franklin had 10 points and three steals. The Greene Devils finish the year with a 26-12 record.
For Upperman Cobb scored 33 points, while Chaffin had 12.
Upperman will take on Tullahoma on Saturday at 4 p.m. Central Time for the Class 3A State Championship.
