Down two starters, the Greeneville Greene Devils had zero issue with the visiting Cherokee Chiefs as they claimed a 78-47 win on Tuesday night.
“Getting conference wins are the most important wins you could have. It feels good to get that. I felt like the guys played hard tonight. We executed some things on defense that we emphasized on. We’re always proud of that,” Greeneville Head Coach Brad Woolsey stated.
The Devils started today without two key starters. Zaydyn Anderson and Isaac McGill were out of action and were filled into the starting lineup by Cole Franklin and Yordan Mills. Even without two athletic playmakers, Greeneville still managed to claim a 31 point win over Cherokee to stay perfect in District 2-3A play. Eight different players scored for the Greene Devils.
“We’re blessed with guys that are good athletes. When good athletes play hard, good things happen. I felt like we shared the ball well and got things moving,” Coach Woolsey explained. He continued with, “No batter has to step up, just step in and be who you are and do your job and I felt like they did that.”
Trey Thompson’s skill was on full display with a game-high 36 points, scoring from all levels. His 36 points consisted of a trio of threes, four dunks, 9-of-10 free throw shooting, and a multitude of layups. The highlight of the night came from Thompson also with an in-game between-the-legs dunk late in the third quarter that served as an exclamation point on their win.
“I see it all the time. He does it all the time in practice. It’s not like we hadn’t seen it before it was just cool to see it in a game. I was glad he got the opportunity to do it and try it. I could only imagine what the next one could be,” Woolsey said.
The win helps them improve to 6-0 against District 2-3A teams and locks them into the top spot in Region 1-3A tournament.
New starter Cole Franklin began the contest with a layup through a foul. For the next 12 points Trey Thompson took over. He started with a pair at the free-throw line and a layup before expanding his range for a three-point bucket. Franklin and Thompson teamed up for an alley-oop dunk on a fastbreak. Thompson ended the 12-point run with another triple. Dominic Tweed took over next with five-straight from the three-point line and off the glass. Ryan Maggert landed a three-pointer through the nylon net to end the first with Greeneville ahead 22-5.
The Devils produced another 22-point quarter in the second, but allowed Cherokee to score 17 in the frame and even pull back within a few possessions again. Cherokee outgained Greeneville 9-3 in the first couple minutes before the Devils went on a 7-0 run.
Franklin and Thompson took over in the second and combined for 17 of their 22 in the quarter. They scored nine-straight in the middle to break away to a larger lead. Thompson drove baseline for a quick lay in before Franklin buried a three. Next was an alley-oop lob on an inbounds play and another layup to cap the run.
The Greene Devils held a 44-25 lead at the break.
As if 24 points in the first half didn’t do the job, Thompson came out of the break and scored 12 of their 16 in the third. His efficiency in the paint showed the most in this quarter. A put-back layup, slam dunk, and an and-one play all led up to the highlight moment.
Thompson broke free on a fastbreak play and threw down a between-the-legs dunk to cap off his 36-point performance.
Greeneville led 60-34 after the third and the young guys finished the deal with a great fourth quarter. Jhervius Moore and Yordan Mills started the quarter with three-point plays before the bench filled up the rest of the scoring log. Taren Claridy landed a floater and a layup, Braylen Kidwell converted an and-one play and made another layup, and Ryan Maggert converted an and-one play too.
Greeneville ended the night with a 77-47 victory. Trey Thompson dropped 36 in the win and Jhervius Moore had 9.
They hit the road on Friday for an important District 2-3A battle with Grainger.
