GREENEVILLE — There was a gaping hole in the middle of the defense, and Keith Arrowood spent the entire game exploiting it.Unicoi County’s senior guard soared for a career-high 25 points — adding nine rebounds and six assists — as the Blue Devils crushed Johnson County 72-50 in the semifinals of the Region 1-AA basketball tournament Tuesday night at Hal Henard Gym.In the other semifinal Trevor Wright provided a thrilling end to an ultra-tight game, getting an old-fashioned three-point play with 8.5 seconds left to give Greeneville a 53-50 win over Elizabethton.The Greene Devils (23-9) will play the Blue Devils (26-6) in Thursday’s championship game at 7 p.m.Both teams not only reached the title game, but also secured spots in Monday’s sectional round. It is the seventh straight time — and eighth in nine years — for Unicoi head coach John English, who sat out last season for a one-year leave of absence.After finishing third in last week’s district tournament, including a loss to Johnson County, the Blue Devils saved their season by avenging that loss.“Absolutely,” said English. “This is what it’s about, tournament time. That’s what the season is about. From Day 1, they’ve talked about getting to the substate. They have bigger goals than that, but you have to get there first.”Early in the game, Unicoi’s guards — especially Arrowood — dribbled into the lane without much resistance. They got off a lot of easy shots, made some, missed some, and Unicoi got some offensive rebounds.“In the district game, we didn’t attack,” said English. “That’s all we talked about coming into this game. We wanted to get in the paint and work from there.”It was a pattern that repeated itself throughout the contest.“I was just reading the defense,” said Arrowood. “I read it and got in there.”For a Twitter interview with Arrowood, follow Douglas Fritz @FritzBlitzzz.Unicoi initially took control of the game in the second quarter with a 10-0 run to earn a 29-16 edge. However, Johnson County closed the half strong and trailed only 33-29 at the break.The Longhorns battled within one at 34-33 early in the third quarter, but dribble penetration broke them down again. This time, Arrowood and Ethan Rice were dribbling into the lane and dishing the ball to the posts.In a stretch of 1:08, Rice had two assists and a bucket. That was followed by Arrowood scoring six points as the Blue Devils closed the third quarter with a 9-0 run to enter the fourth with a 49-36 edge.Arrowood was also getting things done at the other end of the court.“When we went to a box-in-one on (Chase) Phillips, he didn’t score the last quarter,” said English. “Arrowood was covering him, and he did a great job. He gave effort on both ends of the court and came up huge.”Unicoi also got big games from Lucas Hensley, who totaled 14 points and six rebounds, and Rice, who finished with 13 points and six assists.“This keeps us alive, all eight seniors,” said Arrowood. “We want to go to Murfreesboro for the first time with Coach English.”Brian Dempsey led the Longhorns with 23 points and seven rebounds. Phillips added 12 points.Greeneville 53, Elizabethton 50There were so many elements to this game, it would be hard to pinpoint the difference. But the sum of the parts added up to a tie with a minute remaining.Elizabethton went first, and may have shot a little too quickly. Greeneville rebounded the miss with about 40 seconds left, and held for one shot.Wright took the ball from midcourt and with 10 seconds left drove hard into the lane. He pulled up and used a Euro Step to create just enough of an angle to get to the rim — and it may have bought him the block call as well.“I definitely froze for a second,” said Wright about hearing the whistle. “They had been calling it both ways, and they were letting us play. But I didn’t know what the call would be there.”For a Twitter interview with Wright, follow Douglas Fritz @FritzBlitzzz.Greeneville head coach Brad Woolsey said he wasn’t sure, either.“I will have to watch the film,” said Woolsey.The bucket counted, and Wright stroked the free throw. Elizabethton had 8.5 seconds left, and got the ball to Zeke Clark. The junior was getting in position for a 3-point attempt, but the ball was poked out of bounds with five seconds left.Clark got it again, but had to force a contested shot at the buzzer.It was a tough end for the Cyclones (22-9), who overcame a technical on Clark with 6:17 left in the third quarter that was his fourth personal foul. It came after a very questionable offensive foul on Clark. At the other end of the court, Clark reportedly said, “What did I do?” and was assessed a technical.Leading 31-28 at the time, the Cyclones maintained that lead throughout the rest of the third quarter.“Our kids did a great job handling it,” said Honeycutt. “They did a good job keeping their composure. We didn’t make enough plays down the stretch, but we gave it our best shot.”Clark certainly battled to the finish of his career. He totaled 20 points and buried three tightly guarded trey balls in the fourth quarter.“Clark kept making big shots,” said Woolsey. “All credit to him. They weren’t easy shots. They were pull-ups with people in his face.”Elizabethton led 50-46 with two minutes left in the game, but Anton Almqvist hit a layup before Wright tied the game with a basket with 1:10 remaining.It was big win for Greeneville’s program, said Woolsey.“We want to teach the kids the right things as far as life goes, but from a professional standpoint and a school standpoint, this is icing on the cake,” said Woolsey.Almqvist and Hays Culbreth each totaled 11 points for the Greene Devils with Culbreth adding five assists.For Elizabethton, Tyler Nichols added 14 points while Conley Bowers totaled eight.
from Johnson City Press Latest News Feed
To read more visit: http://bit.ly/1clyH7m
This share sponsored by East Coast Wings Johnson City
from Tumblr http://bit.ly/1kdHb5j
via This share sponsored by East Coast Wings Johnson City
No comments:
Post a Comment