I-MAC

[PTSportsWriter]

HEARTBREAK!

Lady Red one point short of top-ranked Greeneville

 

By SETH BUTLER

NPT Sports Writer

 

NEWPORT-Not many would have envisioned this scenario one-year earlier.

That still does not ease the heartbreak felt by the Cocke County High

Lady Red.

 

Cocke County (17-11) took Greeneville (27-3), the state's top-ranked

team in Class AAA, to the wire on Friday night in the District 2-AAA

semifinals at Cocke County High School.

 

The Lady Red had three scoring chances, facing a one-point deficit in

the game's final 20 seconds, but was unable to capitalize on any of

the scoring opportunities. Those missed opportunities resulted in an

emotional, heartbreaking 46-45 loss for the Lady Red.

 

The performance comes one-year removed from a disastrous 2-29 Lady Red

campaign and almost one calendar year after Greeneville thumped Cocke

County 72-42 in the tournament semifinals.

 

The result sends Greeneville to Monday's tournament finals and Cocke

County to the consolation round against Jefferson County. Cocke County

also will have to travel on the road in the opening round of the

Region 1-AAA tournament.

 

Morristown West advanced to the tournament finals with a 56-46 win

over Jefferson County.

 

"I just think the girls accepted the challenge and played their hearts

out," an emotional Cocke County Lady Red head coach Patrick O'Neil

said after the loss. "I am awful proud of each and every girl on our

ball club; they went out and played their hearts out tonight. In the

second half, I challenged the girls to play their hearts out and

that's what they did."

 

Everyone answered O'Neil's challenge, especially Cocke County freshman

point guard Morgan Buda. Buda, as if much doubt remained, proved she

belonged among the ranks of elite point guards in the area with a

phenomenal 22-point performance on a 9-of-10 shooting night from the

field. Buda also pulled down five rebounds while running the Lady Red

offense to perfection.

 

"Morgan showed a lot of courage tonight," O'Neil said. "Morgan is

going to have a great basketball career and I'm extremely proud of the

way she led her team tonight."

 

Buda's demeanor showed that she refused to let her team lose as she

knocked down big shot after big shot, as she was as determined as the

rest of the her teammates to knock off the number one team on Friday

night.

 

"I knew it was going to be a dogfight and I told my team the last

three days it was going to be a dogfight," Greeneville head coach

Stacia Crumbley said. "They [Cocke County] had a purpose tonight to

come out and beat Greeneville High School and I'm not sure we had a

purpose behind what we did tonight.

 

"We got fortunate and we pulled it out and they [the team] need to

feel fortunate."

 

The Greeneville win came in front of a packed Cocke County gymnasium,

featuring a loud boisterous student section and a largely pro-Lady Red

crowd, that rivaled that of a home sub-state atmosphere.

 

"This has been the hardest environment since I've been at Greeneville

High School the past two years to play in," Crumbley said. "That's one

positive thing to take from this victory tonight, is that this is

probably the hardest environment we have seen and will see the rest of

this year."

 

The compliments did not stop there from a relieved Crumbley.

 

"I think he [Patrick O'Neil] has done a great job this year, I know we

both got co-coach [iMAC Co-Coach of the Year], but I honestly believe

that he should have been the lone coach of the year," Crumbley said.

"To go from two wins to what he's done this year, that's pretty cool.

 

"Coach O'Neil has a bright future with those kids, they've worked hard

and they truly believe they can come out and play with people,"

Crumbley offered. "That's half the battle just believing that you have

enough guts and enough talent to go out and face somebody and believe

that you can win it, if you can do that then things will work for

you."

 

There was no believing they had the guts or talent; Cocke County knew

they had the guts and talent capable enough of tackling the top-ranked

Class AAA squad, despite having their doubters and detractors.

 

And the Lady Red played just to that level, earning a ton of respect

and admiration around the conference for their battle against the

top-ranked team in the state as well as their heartfelt and energetic

style of play.

 

Cocke County trailed 10-6 after a period, but Buda showed inclinations

of taking over the game from the get-go. Buda, who controlled the

game's tempo all night long by running the basketball, scored all six

of Cocke County's points in the period.

 

Buda missed a good portion of the second period after taking a forearm

to the throat, but no problem for Cocke County. Alex Suggs, Jerrica

Lane and Courtney Lewis kept up the good offensive work for the Lady

Red.

 

Suggs connected on a three-point play, while Lane scored five points

and Lewis scored seven. The 5-foot-9 sophomore was a monster on the

boards in the opening half and used great work on the offensive glass

to get offensive production.

 

While Greeneville's offensive noisemakers of Nicole Dickson and Ashley

Deans were largely quiet in the first half, as an effective Cocke

County zone defense kept the ball out of their hands, the Lady Devils

still made good on big, timely baskets. Devan McIntyre came through

for her team and made true on two three-point baskets in the half as

she led her team with 13 points and Morgan Lamons hit a buzzer-beating

three-point goal at the end of the first quarter.

 

Dickson swished a 19-footer off an inbounds as time expired at the end

of the first half that cut Cocke County's lead to 24-20 at halftime.

 

The Lady Red's offensive output in the opening half almost equaled

their output in the two regular season tilts with Greeneville in the

regular season. The feat was surprising with Greeneville's stingy

defense allowing only 34 points per game against impressive

competition this season.

 

"Defensively I felt like we had a real let down tonight, defense is

what we are, we're not an offensive team and everybody in the state of

Tennessee knows that," Crumbley said. "We're a defensive team and we

didn't have any purpose behind our defense tonight."

 

Crumbley's team got that message at halftime as they held the Lady Red

to only seven third quarter points, all from the hot-hand of Buda.

 

Greeneville turned up the defensive intensity and played more

aggressively in the second half, in what turned into a very physical

contest. Despite Greeneville's aggressiveness, the Lady Devils were

only whistled for one third quarter foul. Cocke County found itself in

foul trouble with Nikki Bryant and Shannon Depew picking up quick

consecutive fouls in succession in the period.

 

Greeneville's deadly Dickson-Deans combination scored all 13 third

quarter points. Both Lady Devil post players were knocking down

successful jumpers instead of relying on the inside game.

 

Greeneville turned a 33-31 lead at the end of three quarters into a

six-point lead as Rachel Collins dominated the inside, but Cocke

County did not quit. A basket by Buda off of the lone Greeneville

second-half turnover trimmed the lead to one with two minutes

remaining, setting the stage for heroics by both teams.

 

McIntyre drained her third three-point basket of the night at the 1:49

mark in front of a loud Cocke County student section to widen the lead

back to four points.

 

"Devan has a lot of big three-pointers for us this year," Crumbley

said. "Unfortunately I thought Buda had a lot of big three-pointers

tonight and kept them in the game."

 

Buda answered and kept her team in the game with a heavily contested

28-footer that banked trimming the margin to 45-44.

 

Cocke County put Dickson on the line with 46.7 to play, but the

sophomore missed both free-throws. Depew was bumped and fouled by

Dickson on the next possession with 16.4 seconds to play, fouling the

sophomore out of the contest.

 

Depew missed the front-end of the bonus situation forcing Cocke County

to foul Whitney Carter with 9.8 seconds remaining. Carter missed both

free throws and Buda corralled the rebound and drove cross court. At

the last second, driving through the paint, Buda hit a wide-open Lane

with a pass. Lane's shot was no good, but the rebound went out off

Greeneville with three-tenths of a second remaining.

 

An inbounds pass to Lewis resulted in Lewis being taken to the court

hard as the buzzer sounded, resulting in a no-call that ruffled the

feathers of the pro-Cocke County crowd on hand.

 

The result also sees both coaches take different approaches on how

they approach their teams the next few days.

 

"I think it may end up being great for us, because sometimes you

forget what it feels like to be in a situation (of a close game) like

that," Crumbley said. Her team has won 14 consecutive games, dating

back to a 29-point loss to the second-ranked Class AAA team, Wilson

Central, on December 29. Greeneville has won its contests by an

average of 15.6 points over the span of their 14-game win streak.

 

Meanwhile, O'Neil looks to regroup his squad from the devastating,

heartbreaking loss.

 

"We will get together as a group and talk about it a little bit, reset

some goals and objectives and go from there," O'Neil said.

 

O'Neil has to re-group his squad for Monday's important consolation

game with Jefferson County (6 p.m., 1270-WLIK). A win over the

Patriots gives Cocke County third place and pits them against the

runner-up of District 1-AAA in the Region Tournament.

 

Greeneville (45): Devan McIntyre 13, Nicole Dickson 12, Ashley Deans

11, Rachel Collins 6, Morgan Lamons 3.

 

Cocke County (44): Morgan Buda 22, Courtney Lewis 11, Jerrica Lane 5,

Alex Suggs 3, Shannon Depew 3.

 

GHS: 15/40 FG (37.5%), 10/14 FT (71.4%), 5/13 3-PT FG (38.5%), 23 RBS, 8 TO

CCHS: 17/37 FG (45.9%), 6/10 FT (60%), 4/13 3-PT FG (30.7%), 26 RBS, 13 TO

 

Up Next

Cocke County returns to action on Monday in the District 2-AAA

consolation round against Jefferson County. Third place is on the line

in this 6 p.m. meeting on Monday.

Greeneville and Morristown West will battle for the District 2-AAA

championship at 7:30 p.m.

[DZbettin]

Lady Devils Escape Ambush, Edge Cocke County

By EUAL SHELTON

Sports Writer

 

NEWPORT — Number-one seed Greeneville escaped an upset of major proportions in the the semifinal round of the District 2-AAA tournament at Cocke County Friday night.

 

Perhaps using the Lady Devils’ lofty No. 1-state ranking for motivation, the Cocke County girls, propelled by the sensational play of point guard Morgan Buda, carried the fight to the Lady Devils through most of three quarters before dropping a 45-44 decision.

 

Greeneville, 27-3 and riding a 15-game winning streak, advances to Monday night’s championship round against Morristown West, a 56-46 winner over Jefferson County in the first semifinal contest of the evening.

 

The Greeneville (29-2) boys will see tournament play for the first time this evening at 7:30 when they take on Morristown East (11-15) in the semifinal round.

 

Morristown West (11-15) will go up against Cherokee (15-12) in the 6:00 contest.

 

The win by the Lady Devils Friday night was big in that it ensures that they will get to return to the friendly confines of Hal Henard gym for the first round of the Region 1 tournament Friday, February 23, at 7:00.

 

The Lady Red carried the fight to the heavily favored Lady Devils throughout the opening half with the quick moving 5-6 Buda leading the attack and went to the intermission break holding a 24-20 lead.

 

Greeneville’s inside combination of Ashley Deans and Nicole Dickson scored only seven points between them in the first two quarters as the Cocke County zone defense effectively kept the Lady Devils inside combination from getting the ball at their favorite scoring positions.

 

Devan McInyre scored eight in the opening half that included a pair of 3-pointers to keep Greeneville within striking distance.

 

Greeneville eliminated the turnovers in the third that plagued them throughout the opening half and had more intensity in running their offensive sets.

 

Dickson scored seven in the period with Deans adding six for all the Lady Devils points, and the defense shut down everyone for CCHS except Buda, who scored seven for the Lady Red.

 

GHS gained a 33-31 edge on a pair of free throws by Dickson just before the quarter ended.

 

Deans scored the first basket to begin the final period and seconds later McIntyre added a pair of free throws for a six point (37-31) cushion for the Lady Devils with 6:18 remaining in the contest.

 

After Shannon DePew and Buda scored for the Lady Red, Greeneville’s Rachel Collins got a pair of baskets off good assists from Dickson and the Lady Devils were in control of a 42-37 lead with 3:55 remaining.

 

A Greeneville turnover led to a run-out basket by Buda but the Lady Devils’ McIntyre nailed a 3-pointer to give GHS a 45-41 edge with 1:49 remaining.

 

Buda would not throw in the towell, firing in a 3-pointer with 1:05 left to cut the margin to 45-44.

 

Greeneville had the opportunity to put the game out of reach twice in the final minute after being fouled while running their spread offense in an attempt to run out the clock or make CCHS foul for possession.

 

Dickson missed twice at the line with 46.7 seconds left but Cocke County missed a field goal attempt and the Lady Reds’ DePew missed at the line with GHS controlling the rebound.

 

Whitney Carter was fouled with 9.8 seconds but GHS was unable to cash in at the line and Cocke County got off another shot, but this time Buda came up short of the mark and the Lady Devils escaped the upset.

 

Greeneville scoring was spread equally over three players with McIntyre leading with 13 that included three 3-pointers, Dickson adding 12 to go with eight rebounds, seven of those the second half, and Deans netting 11and four boards.

 

The super quick Buda came up with 22 points for the game, hitting on nine of 10 from the floor that included two 3-pointers and two of two at the line and snared five rebounds and ran the offense for 17-11 Cocke County.

 

Cocke County (44): Suggs 1-2 2-2 3, Morgan Buda 9-10 2-2 22, Lane 2-7 0-0 5, Courtney Lewis 4-11 2-3 11, DePew 1-3 1-4 3, Bryant 0-3 0-0 0.Totals 17-36 6-8 44.

 

Greeneville (45): Ashley Deans 3-7 5-6 11, Nicole Dickson 4-11 3-6 12, Carter 0-3 0-2 0, Lamons 1-3 0-0 3, Devan McIntyre 3-6 4-4 13, Collins 2-4 2-2 6. 13-44 14-20 45.

 

3-Point Goals: CCHS Buda 2, Lane, Lamons. GHS (5) McIntyre 3, Dickson, Lamons.

 

Score by Quarter: CCHS 6 18 7 13--44 GHS 10 10 13 12--45

 

Does the Sun just hate Crumbley or what? lol

[statman3]

You are right statman. I watched Casey Ryans play a half dozen times this year and she already has some skills that should make her a contributor next year. If I remember correctly, RC had a decent point guard or two, one of them being Price I think.

Price is a great shooter and ball handler, but we will have to wait an extra year. She's the younger sister of Ashlee and only a 7th grader.

Edited February 18, 2007 by statman3

[barb]

Does the Sun just hate Crumbley or what? lol

I think we are lucky they cover girl's bball at all at the Sun.

[DZbettin]

I think we are lucky they cover girl's bball at all at the Sun.

 

Dang that's just lazy though. Drive all that way from Greeneville and not even talk to the coach after a game like that.

[DZbettin]

You would think the season is over as quiet as everyone has been the past two days. Have all the rooster faithful jumped off a bridge?

[GREENEDEVILMOM]

You would think the season is over as quiet as everyone has been the past two days. Have all the rooster faithful jumped off a bridge?

I think they are plotting their revenge against Mr. Clean...

[robpride]

hmmm not likely the rooster faithful are jumping! im betting their conspiring for a region run!

Edited February 19, 2007 by robpride

[PTSportsWriter]

Whats the thoughts on Tomorrow?

 

I like Cocke County (aka Lady Red, Roosters, et al) to take the consolation game. But can the Lady Red avoid a let down factor? Not only was that an emotional loss, it was a hard game to play.

 

Championship game goes to Greeneville. West just appears to have nothing offensively.

[Digger20]

I am going with CCHS tomorrow night. I think they can overcome the loss!

[SPREADGUN]

You would think the season is over as quiet as everyone has been the past two days. Have all the rooster faithful jumped off a bridge?

 

WISHFUL THINKING PATRIOT-BOY!!!!!!

[PTSportsWriter]

WISHFUL THINKING PATRIOT-BOY!!!!!!