Melissa Ervin’s first 3-pointer as a member of the Sullivan East High School girls basketball team fell through the net in November of 1997. Her final shot from beyond the arc while wearing No. 33 for the Patriots ripped the chords in March of 2001.
In total, Ervin would knock down 362 3-pointers in her four years at the school in Bluff City, Tennessee. Fifteen years removed from her final game at East, a player who could match her marksmanship has yet to materialize in these parts.
Ervin made a majority of her 3s at the palace located on Weaver Pike, but also was known to put on shooting displays at Viking Hall, Freedom Hall and the Buck Van Huss Dome in Kingsport, the latter of which was the place where she earned most valuable player honors in the 2001 Region 1-AAA tournament.
She made four treys at the Murphy Center in Murfreesboro in the 2000 TSSAA Class AAA tournament, the same year she connected on a handful of long-range swishes at Thompson-Boling Arena in Knoxville in helping East win a sectional title.
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What was her secret to success?
“If I can get an open shot and hit it in the first two or three minutes, I can really get going and get a lot of confidence,” she told the Bristol Herald Courier’s Bucky Dent after a regional tournament win over Greeneville in 2000.
The late Mickey Forrester, East’s longtime coach, was not surprised by the trajectory of his shooting star.
“I knew she was coming and I was waiting for her to get there as you do most players,” he said in a 2001 interview. “The kids start coming to my camps in the second grade and I knew she was going to be a great player and she fulfilled what I thought she could do.”
Ervin helped the Patriots compile a 95-36 record and had talented teammates during her tenure such as Katie O’Dell (who eventually won Big South Conference player of the year honors at High Point University), Stephanie Ervin (her twin sister), Lori Fleenor, Brittany Perry, Amy Cross and Amber Whitaker.
Ervin would continue making shots at the college level, scoring more than 1,000 points during in a career that was split between Western Carolina and King. One of her top moments King came when she almost shot the Tornado into the NAIA national tournament in 2004.
She had 27, 30 and 24 points in three Appalachian Athletic Conference tourney games. King narrowly lost to Tennessee Wesleyan in the finals.
“Ervin’s a phenomenal player,” TW coach Stan Harrison said following that matchup. “She had a great tournament and we knew coming that she was the one we had to try and D up. We did the best job we could and it still didn’t get it done.”
Ervin had many talents. She was an all-state volleyball player and a member of two state runner-up teams, could hit a softball a mile and was a finalist for the Bristol Herald Courier’s Gene “Pappy” Thompson Award.
She is now the coach at Liberty Bell Middle School in Johnson City, Tennessee, and guided her squad to a Middle Eight Conference title this winter.
What can’t she do?
Ervin was even a sports writer for a short time, spending a couple of months in the spring and summer of 2003 as an intern at the Bristol Herald Courier and covered four VHSL postseason games during that time.
Needless to say, she’s the best pure shooter I’ve ever worked with.
Now, for a look at high school basketball moments which occurred this week in history:
Feb. 13, 1963
Despite 18 points from Tommy Green, Tennessee High suffered a 53-50 loss to Elizabethton. … Johnny Barr and Jimmy Ingram scored 12 points apiece in Marion’s 54-41 thumping of Abingdon. … Paul Carter pumped in 20 points to key Wise’s 62-44 pounding of Pound.
Feb. 12, 1974
Eddie Holtsclaw fired in 39 points as Sullivan East outlasted Tennessee High for a 66-64 double-overtime triumph. … Carlos Lee scored 17 points in Virginia High’s 80-63 romping of Richlands. … Garden got the best of Haysi, 94-62, as Dave West and Pat McClanahan each scored 15 points.
Feb. 10, 1984
Abingdon lambasted Lebanon, 61-49, thanks to Tom Reid’s 18 points. … Robert Lomans paced Chilhowie’s attack with 18 points as the Warriors crushed Castlewood for a 65-43 win. … Daniel Casey collected 23 points and 15 rebounds to power Powell Valley past Clintwood, 64-55.
Feb. 9, 1996
Josh Shoemaker’s 29-point, 11-rebound stat line highlighted Gate City’s 61-44 vanquishing of Virginia High. … Despite 22 points from Russell Lyon, Sullivan East suffered an 83-43 setback to Nathaniel Bailey-led Science Hill. … J.T. Moore scored a game-high 18 points, but it wasn’t enough as Richlands suffered a 79-59 loss to Graham.