The Grizzlies came out hot, and the Cyclones came out slow.

Elizabethton, however, found its momentum in the second half to top Grainger, 48-41, in the Region 1-AA opening round inside J.L. Treadway Gymnasium.

“Great effort,” said Elizabethton head coach Lucas Honeycutt. “In the region tournament, sometimes, you get a little nerves there especially when you are the favorite.

“I thought our kids came out, I wouldn’t say flat, but they (Grainger) came out tough and knocked down some shots—I don’t think they missed for a while,” added Honeycutt. “Our kids had a lot of grit.”

The win sends the Cyclones to the region semifinals against Johnson County to be played today at 4:30 p.m. inside Happy Valley High School. A win over the Longhorns, who topped Chuckey-Doak, 62-47 in Mountain City Monday evening, will earn Elizabethton a Class AA State Sectional game along with a region championship appearance.

The Grizzlies quickly took a 5-0 lead in the first quarter as Grainger’s Luke Jones drained a 3-pointer following a layup from teammate Jeb Hurst. A pair up of buckets from Elizabethton’s Eric Wilson allowed the Cyclones to cut  Grainger’s lead to 9-8 before the Grizzlies took an 11-10 lead into the second quarter.

The Grizzlies connected on three treys from three different players in the second quarter to keep a small lead over the Cyclones. After Grainger took a 21-15 lead late in the half, Elizabethton’s Evan Perkins knocked down a 3-pointer that was followed up by a pair of foul shots from EHS’s Nico Ashley to send the teams to locker rooms with Grainger holding a small 21-20 lead.

At the top of the third, the Grizzlies jumped out 28-21 before Ashley made a trey to make it a four-point game. The Cyclones tied things up 30-30 after Wilson hit back-to-back 3-pointers, the second of which came after Elizabethton’s Parker Hughes made one of his two blocks before connecting with Wilson on an assist. Ashley hit a foul shot to give EHS a 31-30 lead. Following a bucket from Wilson, the teams went into the fourth tied at 33-33.

The Cyclones opened the fourth with a bucket from Carter Everett before the Grizzlies made a free throw to make it 35-34 Elizabethton. On the Cyclones’ following possession, Elizabethton caught the Grizzlies sleeping as Wilson, from the top of the key and over the Grizzlies’ heads, found Nico Ashley streaking down the baseline from the right side unnoticed for a back door alley-oop which Ashley slammed home with no problem.  Ashley’s dunk lit a fire in his team and Elizabethton fans as the gym exploded with cheers.

“That was amazing,” said Ashley about the alley-oop play. “We practice it a lot. We have been trying to find who can throw it the best, and we found that he (Eric Wilson) could. It just felt amazing.

“That was my sixth time dunking it, and it felt just as amazing as the first time,” added Ashley.

Hughes followed up Ashley’s slam with a bucket to stake the Cyclones to a 39-34 lead. After the Grizzlies cut EHS’s lead to three points, Cyclones freshman Jake Roberts hit a 3-ball to jump E-Town out to a 42-36 lead. A 3-point play from Cyclones Bryson Rollins would give EHS a five-point lead down the stretch as EHS held on for a win.

Wilson led the Cyclones with 16 points while Ashley had 10. Everett (6), Rollins (5), Roberts (5), Hughes (3), and Perkins (3) all made the scorebook.

For Grainger, Hurst led with 15 points.