3 hours Ago By By ANDREW SMITH [email protected]
BLUFF CITY — Friday night at the Food City Thanksgiving Classic saw the Dobyns-Bennett Indians be unruly holiday guests to tournament hosts Sullivan East. The Tribe went 12 of 16 from the field in the first quarter en route to a 95-46 win over the Patriots. “I thought tonight was one of the most unselfish games we played,” D-B head coach Chris Poore said.
“Like I told our guys, they could have easily been forcing the issue to go one-on-one, knowing they’d have limited minutes. But I thought they really moved the ball well, we’re looking out for our team first.” Dobyns-Bennett (5-0) controlled the first quarter with its hot shooting, grabbing a 32-10 lead.
Much of the big first half was led by Elijah Thomas, who put up 15 of his team-high 18 points in the half. He went 4 of 4 from the field in the first 16 minutes, sinking three 3-pointers. Meanwhile, the Patriots (1-4) were led in scoring by Thomas Ridlehuber, who scored a dozen.
Vikings slip past Bulldogs After leading by as much as a dozen, Tennessee High found themselves trailing Hampton in the fourth quarter. The Bulldogs were up 47-46 with under 30 seconds to go, when Hampton coach Ned Smith called a timeout. However, it was Vikings senior Colin Brown who ended up with the ball, as his layup put Tennessee High back on top 48-47.
That proved to be the final, as Bryce Fagan’s game-winning jump-shot attempt was blocked at the buzzer by Reed Miller. “You hear the hoopla, you hear all of the good stuff,” Vikings head coach Michael McMeans said. “They needed to see something bad, you need to see a night where they’re missing shots.
We’re averaging 80 points a game right now, and they need to see that’s not guaranteed every night.” In the early going, it looked as though the hot streak Tennessee High (5-0) started the season with would continue. The Vikings opened the game with a 13-2 run and led the Bulldogs 18-6 through the first quarter.
While the lead held at 12 through halftime, the Bulldogs (5-1) rallied for a 7-2 run to spark some life into the team to start the second half. Hampton’s deficit was trimmed to four with the help of the momentum. With 2:42 left in the game, Hampton took its first lead by way of a Bryce Fagan free throw.
The two sides traded baskets until the ‘Dogs took the 47-46 lead with over a minute left. Then, Brown pulled his heroics to give the Vikings a lead it wouldn’t relinquish. He led the Vikings in scoring with 16 points.
Meanwhile, both Tuff Robinson and Bryce Fagan had 15 to lead the way for the Bulldogs. KACHEA grabs first event win The KACHEA Wildcats got off to a slow start, but they ran past Happy Valley to start play on Friday, 50-31. “It’s always good to get a win,” KACHEA head coach Jeff Fisher said.
“Hats off to Shane (Williams) and his team. He always has his guys playing hard. They get after you, they make you play the whole entire time.
He made us pay attention and step up to match their energy.” After trailing 11-10 after the first eight minutes, the Wildcats (2-3) outpaced the Warriors 40-19 the rest of the way. The big momentum shift came in the closing moments of the first half.
Happy Valley (0-6) had tied the game at 19, then Grant Thompson and Noah Coclough both drained 3s to end the half up six. Thompson led all scorers with 20 points, while Coclough chipped in 19 of his own. The Warriors were led in points by Artee Bahn with eight, while Ron Paul Parker had seven.
West Ridge rolls past Volunteer Both the Wolves and Falcons got off to a solid start to Friday’s contest, as West Ridge held a 21-13 lead after the first quarter. However, it was West Ridge (5-1) that continued to stay hot throughout the contest, outscoring Volunteer 56-49 the rest of the way to win 77-62. The Falcons (2-4) let the game get away from them in the second quarter, as they were outpaced 17-6 before the halftime break.
Six of the 17 came from Avery Horne, who finished his day with a team-high 20 points. Lucas Gilliam scored the most for Volunteer, as he put up 18 points — with 10 of those coming at the free-throw line. Up Next The Food City Thanksgiving Classic will conclude on Saturday with action starting at 1 p.
m..
