The Fulton Falcons (26-6) defeated the Carter Hornets 62-47 on Thursday to lock up their 3rd Regional title in a row. Their reward is to host the Unicoi County Blue Devils (26-6) in a Substate matchup Monday night at 7 PM. The Blue Devils were defeated by the Union County Patriots 64-59 in the Region 1AA Finals. Unicoi County will be led by guard Cameron Mills who scored 30 in the Regional finals vs Union County. This will be the third time that the Falcons and the Blue Devils have met in the Substate. Fulton won the last meeting 51-39 in 2007. Falcon fans are urged to show up in mass and show up in white for a Fan White Out.
All Region: Courtland Styles, James Gallman, Robert Boyd and MVP Jalen Steele
Congratulations to Jalen Steele for being named the Region Tourney MVP
Fulton Turn Up the Heat; Falcons Win 3rd Regional Title in a Row (Knox NewSentinel)
Unicoi County put up quite a fight, but Union’s big three was
just a little too strong. Guards Jacob Muncey, Tyler Smith and Tyler
Vittetoe combined for 54 points as Union County held off the Blue Devils 64-59
in the Region 1-AA championship game at Chuckey-Doak Middle School on Thursday night.
It was the first-ever region title for Union County. The Patriots won
a region championship in 1994 when the school was called Horace Maynard.
Unicoi, which was seeking its second straight region title, fell to 26-6 on
the season. But the Blue Devils are still in the hunt for a state tournament
berth as they will travel to take on defending Class AA state champion Knox
Fulton in a sectional game Monday at 7 p.m.
Fulton (27-6) knocked off Strawberry Plains Carter 62-47 for the Region 2-AA title. Union County (27-6) will play host to Carter on Monday.
Despite the success of Muncey (25 points), Vittetoe (15 points) and Smith (14 points), the Blue Devils came to life late in the third quarter. A 10-0 run that carried over into the fourth quarter gave Unicoi a 46-41 lead and a lion’s share of the momentum. However, the Patriots called timeout and Vittetoe drained a long 3-pointer to get Union back on track.
“That was the biggest shot of the game,” said Blue Devils head coach John English. “He hit that three from about 23 feet. That really got them back in it.
“We just didn’t execute. We had too many
turnovers.”
Unicoi County struggled to take care of the basketball for three
quarters, turning it over 20 times. The Blue Devils did better in the fourth
quarter with only one turnover, but English said damage was already done.
“Some of those early turnovers kept us from having space, especially in the
first half,” said English.
Muncey really hurt the Blue Devils in the fourth
quarter. With his team trailing 50-46, Muncey scored 14 points in a span of 4:18
— from 5:01 to 42.6 seconds — to help the Patriots build a 62-56 advantage.
“It’s my senior year, and it was the fourth quarter of the region
championship game,” said Muncey. “You just have to step up.”
Muncey said the players didn’t panic when Unicoi went on the 10-0 run that was aided by a three-point play from Cameron Miller that may have occurred after the
third-quarter buzzer sounded.
“We just kept our heads on straight,” said
Muncey, who was chosen as the tournament’s most valuable player. “We didn’t
panic. If we had gotten caught up in their crowd, it might have slipped away.”
English said Union deserves credit for earning the win.
“Sometimes matchups are not good,” said English. “Those three guards are really tough to handle. They are long and athletic and they got to the rim way too easy.”
Unicoi had one last chance when Logan Lyle nailed a 3-pointer with 33.8
seconds left to make it 62-59. However, Union made a couple of free throws and
Unicoi couldn’t get another basket to fall.
Miller did just about all he could to get the Blue Devils over the hump. He totaled 30 points on 11-of-23 shooting from the field. Miller was 7 of 7 from the free throw line.
“He did have a good game,” said English. “But we had other guys struggle tonight who had been playing well.
“In a championship game, you can’t have that many turnovers and miss that many layups.” Lyle finished with 16 points and nine rebounds while D.W. Whitson chipped in with eight points.
English said he reminded his team about what is still ahead.
“We’re disappointed that we didn’t win a region championship,” said English. “But the biggest thing is we have 32 minutes left for our ultimate goal. We have to go on the road and beat the defending state champions.”
No comments:
Post a Comment