James Gallman hits a jumper in the laneSenior guard James Gallman scored 21 points Monday night and the Falcons held off visiting Unicoi County 55-49 in a Class AA state sectional for a berth in next week's state tournament in Murfreesboro.
Fulton (27-6) wasn't worried about style points - only about getting back and defending its state title.
Unicoi (26-7) was 4-of-18 from 3-point range and Fulton was 4-of-16.
"I thought their experience down the stretch was the difference," Unicoi coach John English said. "They're a great team. Jody Wright's a great guy and I'd like to see them go win another one (state title). It's a class program."
Pairings for the state will be announced Saturday. The Falcons will play either late March 18 or early March 19.
"Going back to the state, baby!" Gallman yelled as he went into the Falcons' locker room.
Junior wing/guard Robert Boyd scored nine for the Falcons and Jalen Steele and Micah Pitchford had seven each. Steele was 2-of-7 from 3-point range.
Fulton scored the first six points of the third quarter and stretched the lead to 10 after three quarters.
Unicoi got within five of the Falcons' lead three times in the fourth quarter, the last time on Tyler Turner's basket with 2 minutes left.
The Blue Devils then went the next minute, 30 seconds without scoring - committing two turnovers and missing three 3-point shots in that span.
"We just had too many periods when we didn't score," English said. "Fulton did a great job locking us down for extended periods. That was the difference."
Fulton is 12-2 in sectional games, 6-0 at home.
"Being home helps, especially when we hit some rough parts," Wright said. "We made a run there and didn't let them get any closer than five after that."
Robert Boyd attacks the rimBlue Devils season ends in sectional game (Erwin Record)
The season came to an end for the Blue Devils (27-7) in Knoxville 55-49 to defending Class AA state champion Knox Fulton High School (27-6) in a sectional contest.
Unicoi County was paced by Logan Lyle who scored 20 points and grabbed seven rebounds. Cameron Miller — in his final high school game — scored 13 points.
Unicoi County led 12-8 after one quarter, but the Falcons’ strong rebounding turned out to be a deciding factor as Fulton took a 13-12 lead early in the second quarter and never trailed again.
Fulton moves on to the state tournament in Murfreesboro
Courtland Styles battles for a rebound
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