Led by Class 3A Mr. Basketball Ja'Kobi Gillespie, Greeneville starts tournament with a bang

MURFREESBORO — Greeneville's start to this season's state tournament was vastly different than how things played out the year before.

In their run to the Class AA championship last season, the Greene Devils  won their three games by a total of 10 points. 

Greeneville more than tripled that Tuesday.

Crushing Jackson North Side 71-37 in in the quarterfinals of the Class 3A state tournament at Middle Tennessee State's Murphy Center, Greeneville (29-6) established itself as the team to beat. 

"We came into this tournament knowing that we've been here before so we know how the environment is and how to deal with it," Greeneville junior Adjatay Dabbs said. "This really is like a homecourt to us at this point. Coach has been telling us all year that we have the target on our backs but we've been preparing for that all season."

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Dabbs was just one of three Greeneville players to finish in double-digits scoring 16 points. 

Reid Satterfield added on 13 and Belmont signee Ja'Kobi Gillespie led all scorers with a game-high 22 points and some highlight reel dunks fresh off of winning the Class 3A Mr. Basketball award the day before on the same court. 

Unlike any other team playing in the state tournament in any class, Greeneville has the luxury of starting two 2,000-point scorers in Satterfield and Gillespie. 

"I think I've said it's special a ton but it really is having these two," Greeneville coach Brad Woolsey said. "The teamwork is just really nice. It's beautiful to watch but honestly, the teamwork and seeing guys who enjoy being together is the biggest thing for me."

Gillespie and Satterfield have been best friends for as long as they can remember.

They been playing basketball together since the fourth grade and developed a chemistry that allows them to feed off of each other without needing to say a word.

"We know what each other is going to do before the other even does it," Satterfield said. "That really helps us just play together and dominate."

Neither player approached this state tournament any different than they would have any other game. 

Gillespie said he just worked hard against North Side (20-8) and played the same good defense he does in any other games. When it came to the dunks, he said he just saw that he had open fast breaks and was going to dunk it. 

Gillespie, Satterfield and the rest of the Greene Devils weren't going to let themselves get too far ahead because of one blowout win with the next goal being a win on Friday and then another on Saturday to bring home one more gold ball. 

"I don't think this sort of win will make us think or approach any of the other games any differently," Satterfield said. "We're going to keep the same mindset we have now and hopefully we can just come out and do it again on Friday."

Reach Joe Spears at jspears2@gannett.com or 731-343-4923. Follow him on Instagram and Twitter @joe_spears7.