Kicking it off in style… Jr. Cyclones take three-overtime thriller over Unicoi Co.
Published 11:21 pm Wednesday, October 30, 2019
- File Photo/Ivan Sanders T.A. Dugger's Jeriah Griffin takes the basketball toward the bucket in the Cloudland jamboree. Griffin totaled eight points and eight rebounds in the Jr. Cyclones thrilling 51-50 three overtime victory over Unicoi County during the Blountville Middle School Tip-off Tournament.
FROM STAFF REPORTS
BLOUNTVILLE – As is the case with many local middle school teams, the T.A. Dugger Jr. Cyclones took their turn on the hardwood and in a surprising early-season showdown had to go three overtimes before downing the Unicoi County Jr. Blue Devils by a 51-50 final.
When regulation time ended, both teams were knotted at 32-32 before engaging in the three extra sessions as each team scored three in the first OT period and 10 in the second sessions.
The Jr. Cyclones finally managed to push to the win by outscoring the Jr. Blue Devils 6-5 in the third overtime period to take the tight win.
Luke Whaley led the charge for the Jr. Cyclones by burying 16 points on the night and recording a double-double with 12 rebounds. Whaley also dished out four assists and had five steals.
Jeriah Griffin and Eli Blevins complimented Whaley with eight points apiece. Griffin added eight boards, six steals, and five assists while Blevins had six rebounds as well.
Zach Bates owned the board for the Jr. Cyclones cleaning the glass for 10 rebounds in the game and added seven points including 4-of-4 from the charity stripe.
Carter Nagy (6), Jon Espinoza (2), Zion Reddick (2), Joshua Hayes (1), and Andrew Blevins (1) closed out the scoring for TAD.
