Jr. Cyclones pull stunner in tourney opener
Published 12:43 am Tuesday, January 28, 2020
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders Jr. Cyclone Eli Blevins goes up for a running jump shot. Blevins five points in the fourth quarter propelled TAD to the upset of Sevier in the Area 1 tournament played at Sevier.
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders Mason Ball eyes the basket as he looks to complete a three-point play that carried the Jr. Cyclones to an upset win over Sevier.
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders Luke Whaley of T.A. Dugger puts up an outside jumper in the Jr. Cyclones game against Sevier.
BY IVAN SANDERS
STAR SPORTS EDITOR
KINGSPORT – There is an old saying in sports that it doesn’t matter what happened in the last matchup or even the last two or three matchups that will determine the outcome of the current game.
Especially when it comes to tournament time.
A prime example of that played out during the TMSAA East Tennessee Area 1-AAA boys tournament at John Sevier Middle in Kingsport on Saturday.
During the regular season, the third-seed Sevier team had beaten the sixth-seed T.A. Dugger team twice by a margin of 20 points or more in each meeting.
However, in a game that meant one team being done and one advancing for an opportunity to play in the sectionals, the Jr. Cyclones dug in against the home team and responded with a big 51-49 win.
The victory advanced the Jr. Cyclones to one of two semifinal games that were played on Monday against Greeneville.
With their backs against the wall in the second half trailing by 10 and 11 points in the half, the Jr. Cyclones just wouldn’t send up the surrender flag.
Trailing 43-32 heading into the final six minutes of play, Eli Blevins acting like a jumper cable to a dead battery hit five points quickly to shave the lead to 43-37.
And even though Sevier managed to hit a few more points, the Jr. Cyclone defense continued to play stellar and by boxing out on the defensive boards was able to continue pulling closer and closer.
Mason Ball showed up big in the final quarter scoring seven points but none bigger than the ones he scored with four seconds remaining when he converted a layup and drew a foul to give TAD a 50-49 edge.
Ball calmly stepped to the charity stripe and nailed the foul shot to make it a two-point lead, 51-49.
The Warriors were unable to put up a shot at the basket as time ran out to set off a wild celebration on the Jr. Cyclone bench.
Ball had 18 points in the win to show the way for TAD while adding eight rebounds.
Will Churchill also contributed hugely to the win with 11 points and six boards.
Blevins (5 points, 4 rebounds), Luke Whaley (5 points, 5 assists), Zackery Bates (3 points), Zion Reddick (2 points), and Jeriah Griffin (2 points, 4 rebounds, and 3 steals) closed out the scoring for TAD.
