HIGH SCHOOL

Morristown East boys clinch district basketball title

Dave Link
KNS-sports@knoxnews.com

Morristown East High School clinched its first district championship in boys basketball in five years with a 67-56 win over visiting Sevier County on Friday night.

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Senior wing/guard Hunter Blanken scored 20 points, sophomore point guard Connor Jordan had 19 and senior wing Keegan Glenn had 11 for the Hurricanes (18-8, 12-1 District 2-AAA), who won their ninth consecutive game.

Dylan Noe is the team’s third senior. Noe played quarterback for the football team and has offers as an athlete to play football for East Tennessee State University and Carson-Newman.

“It’s honestly been kind of a surprise,” Hurricanes coach Ryan Collins said Saturday of the title run.

“We liked the kids coming back, but we lost eight seniors (from the 2015-16 roster.) Last year’s team was very senior laden, but at the same time we have three seniors who have bought in since Day One and have great chemistry, and we had several players come in and play right away.”

Blanken leads the team in scoring (17.3 points before Friday’s game) ahead of Jordan (15.4) and Glenn (12.7).

Blanken has signed to play golf at Walters State.

The Hurricanes end the district schedule Friday against rival Morristown West and finish the regular season with non-

district games against Hardin Valley on Saturday and at David Crockett on Feb. 9.

“We hope to keep it rolling,” Collins said. “That’s what basketball’s all about. It’s a tournament sport. We’ve put ourselves in good position, but we’ve got to get better every day and hope to make a run in the postseason.”