Walton, GA vs Lenoir City, TN

[feartheveer]

Walton, Ga. 98

 

Lenoir City 88

 

Walton held on despite finishing the game with three players after 10 were ejected and another fouled out.

 

Walton led 78-61 when a bench-clearing episode that nearly became a brawl forced Walton to play the final 4:21 short-handed.

 

Walton converted both ends of a one-and-one for the foul that started the ugly scene, which included some fans running on the court, then Lenoir City made 11 of 18 technical free throws to get within 80-72.

 

Lenoir City (3-2) wasn't assessed any technicals for the dustup, although head coach Shane Wells was whistled for one earlier in a game that seemed to grow more chippy with each possession despite Walton maintaining a healthy double-digit cushion most of the way.

 

It all came to a head when Walton's Gerald Williams took exception to how he was treated after coming up with a loose ball in a pile-up. Walton coach Joe Goydish didn't think the Lenoir City players unpiled in a timely fashion after the officials whistled a foul.

 

"The referees were blowing the whistle but they were not responding," Goydish said. "That's what (caused) my kid to strike from the bottom, and he did. ... Once that happened, then the fracas happened and then all heck broke loose."

 

While Goydish didn't like the reaction -- "It's unfortunate. We don't condone it. That's not the way we play," he said -- he had a hard time digesting the 18-technical foul shot and 10-ejection discrepancy.

 

Perhaps the officials were "technically" correct. The incident happened near the Lenoir City bench, which was on the opposite sideline and opposite end of the court from Walton's bench.

 

"They just had to stand up and we had to run all the way across because it was by their bench," Goydish said. "I'm sure four or five of theirs stood up and nothing happened."

 

There was a lot of bravado, but it was difficult to detect any real punches being thrown while order was being restored.

 

Still, it looked like the results could be a technical knockout for Walton. The Raiders' 19-point lead was whittled down to eight via the technical free throws, and there was 4:21 left to play a man down.

 

Granted, two of Walton's four players were North Carolina State commitment Ryan Harrow and future Georgia Tech Yellow Jacket Glen Rice Jr., but Rice fouled out with 2:59 left, leaving Walton to nurse an 82-74 lead for three minutes with three players.

 

Not only did the Raiders nurse it, Harrow, a 6-foot junior, and 6-foot-5 seniors Scott Newton and Michael Storey expanded the lead. Harrow had two steals at the top of Walton's 1-2 zone defense and parlayed one into a dunk to cap the improbable 16-14 game-ending run. Newton had a blocked shot from the back of Walton's triangle zone during the 3-on-5 home stretch.

 

Harrow finished with 43 points for the Raiders (2-1), including 16 in the final three-plus minutes. Rice had 20.

 

"They really stunk it up and they played together," Goydish said. "Of course, two of the four are ACC players and the other two are hard-working kids. They said in the huddle, 'Coach, we're not going to lose this game.'

 

"And they made sure. As a matter of fact, they went ahead more."

 

Tyler Hood had 29 points for Lenoir City. Dylan Powers added 22.

[basketball2223]

Walton, Ga. 98

 

Lenoir City 88

 

Walton held on despite finishing the game with three players after 10 were ejected and another fouled out.

 

Walton led 78-61 when a bench-clearing episode that nearly became a brawl forced Walton to play the final 4:21 short-handed.

 

Walton converted both ends of a one-and-one for the foul that started the ugly scene, which included some fans running on the court, then Lenoir City made 11 of 18 technical free throws to get within 80-72.

 

Lenoir City (3-2) wasn't assessed any technicals for the dustup, although head coach Shane Wells was whistled for one earlier in a game that seemed to grow more chippy with each possession despite Walton maintaining a healthy double-digit cushion most of the way.

 

It all came to a head when Walton's Gerald Williams took exception to how he was treated after coming up with a loose ball in a pile-up. Walton coach Joe Goydish didn't think the Lenoir City players unpiled in a timely fashion after the officials whistled a foul.

 

"The referees were blowing the whistle but they were not responding," Goydish said. "That's what (caused) my kid to strike from the bottom, and he did. ... Once that happened, then the fracas happened and then all heck broke loose."

 

While Goydish didn't like the reaction -- "It's unfortunate. We don't condone it. That's not the way we play," he said -- he had a hard time digesting the 18-technical foul shot and 10-ejection discrepancy.

 

Perhaps the officials were "technically" correct. The incident happened near the Lenoir City bench, which was on the opposite sideline and opposite end of the court from Walton's bench.

 

"They just had to stand up and we had to run all the way across because it was by their bench," Goydish said. "I'm sure four or five of theirs stood up and nothing happened."

 

There was a lot of bravado, but it was difficult to detect any real punches being thrown while order was being restored.

 

Still, it looked like the results could be a technical knockout for Walton. The Raiders' 19-point lead was whittled down to eight via the technical free throws, and there was 4:21 left to play a man down.

 

Granted, two of Walton's four players were North Carolina State commitment Ryan Harrow and future Georgia Tech Yellow Jacket Glen Rice Jr., but Rice fouled out with 2:59 left, leaving Walton to nurse an 82-74 lead for three minutes with three players.

 

Not only did the Raiders nurse it, Harrow, a 6-foot junior, and 6-foot-5 seniors Scott Newton and Michael Storey expanded the lead. Harrow had two steals at the top of Walton's 1-2 zone defense and parlayed one into a dunk to cap the improbable 16-14 game-ending run. Newton had a blocked shot from the back of Walton's triangle zone during the 3-on-5 home stretch.

 

Harrow finished with 43 points for the Raiders (2-1), including 16 in the final three-plus minutes. Rice had 20.

 

"They really stunk it up and they played together," Goydish said. "Of course, two of the four are ACC players and the other two are hard-working kids. They said in the huddle, 'Coach, we're not going to lose this game.'

 

"And they made sure. As a matter of fact, they went ahead more."

 

Tyler Hood had 29 points for Lenoir City. Dylan Powers added 22.

 

 

haha wow!!! never have i heard of something like that... and question did one guy shoot all the technical shots or what?

[feartheveer]

haha wow!!! never have i heard of something like that... and question did one guy shoot all the technical shots or what?

 

 

 

I'm not sure, but I would have loved to have seen that game. I wonder where the game was played?

[chill]

That's some crazy stuff.....

[TheFastBreakShow]

The game was in Johnson City at Science Hill as part of the Roundball at the Palace. Its is discussed on the latest edition of The Fast Break Show. More discussion to come on the next episode.

www.thefastbreakshow.com

 

 

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[Norman Dale]

What a wild scene that game must have been!

 

I took special note of it because I attended Walton High School my freshman and sophomore years of high school many years ago. Walton plays in an extremely tough region in Cobb County, Georgia with perennial powerhouses like Wheeler, Marietta, and McEachern, just to name a few. Walton obviously has some big time talent and it will only help Lenoir City playing against a team like that, I would think.

 

Just a side note.... when I was a freshman at Walton many years ago, there was a pretty good senior at our rival Marietta High by the name of Dale Ellis. He had a huge 'fro in high school and could absolutely sky. In fact, in Marietta's home gym in the days before breakaway rims, the rims were so warped by all the dunking that team did that it was really tough to shoot the ball accurately. Ellis really was amazing in high school and it didn't even look like he was trying he was so smooth. I heard he really wanted to go to Georgia to play college hoops but they ended up recruiting Dominique Wilkins and Terry Fair that year and that kind of made Ellis feel like he wasn't a high priority recruit, even though Coach Durham was shocked Ellis went to UT instead. I think it worked out pretty well. Ellis had a great touch around the goal but no one would have guessed after his career at Marietta and at UT that he would have become one of the great three point shooters in NBA history.

 

Oh well, sorry to digress off topic...... I bet Lenoir City felt pretty bad after making only 11 of 18 technical free throws.