BY BRIAN HAMILTON
KNOXVILLE – Devyn Martin dunked the first two points of the game. Then he dunked the next two. The senior standout dunked frequently on Monday night, totaling five slams in the contest. Morristown West had no answer for Knox West’s size, as Martin and fellow senior Kevin Jack were able to have their way in the frontcourt and on the glass, as the Rebels came away with a 74-53 win.
The win was a huge morale builder for West after having over one week off to bask in its last minute defeat in the Sevierville Winterfest Shootout final against Lipscomb Academy.
“We needed to get back on our feet, for sure,” West head coach Tommy Eggleston said after the game. “We harped on execution, because we didn’t feel like we did that down the stretch in the Lipscomb game.”
T.S. Walthall (4) going up for a layup before being blocked by Devyn Martin (13). Photo by Brian Hamilton
Martin scored the first points of the game on a baseline dunk to put Knox West in front 2-0. The senior followed that with another emphatic dunk for a 4-0 lead. The Rebels built an early 8-0 lead on a layup by Kevin Jack with 5:38 left in the first quarter.
Morristown West finally got on the board when Bereket Evans scored on a layup to make the score 8-2 with 4:48 left in the opening period. A three Juan Gallardo would cut the Rebels’ lead in half, at 10-5, with just under four minutes left in the quarter.
Another Martin dunk, followed by a layup, gave Knox West a 14-5 lead with just over two minutes remaining, as the Rebels would take a 19-11 lead into the second quarter.
West led 22-13 when Martin made a layup to extend the lead to 24-13 with just over six minutes left in the second quarter. A floater by Evans would cut the deficit to 25-15, which started an 8-0 Trojan run to pull to within 25-21 with 2:14 left until halftime.
Morristown West would trim the deficit to 27-24 when Martin made a basket to make the score 29-24 with 34 seconds left in the half. Garrett Burch then drained a three-pointer at the buzzer, sucking the air out of the Trojan run and giving West a 32-24 halftime advantage.
“I felt like we came out with a flurry,” Eggleston said. “Devyn had three or four dunks to start the game and then I felt like we kind of backed off a little bit defensively and made some decisions that we shouldn’t have made. Those guys knew they could play with us, so they came right at us for the rest of the half, for sure.”
The third quarter was all West, as the Rebels outscored Morristown West 25-15 in the quarter and 30-15 since the score was 27-24 late in the second quarter. The Rebels led 57-39 heading into the fourth quarter.
Julian Sexton opened the fourth quarter with a basket to trim the Rebels’ lead to 59-41, but Martin would hit a floater, stretching the lead back to 20, at 61-41.
Morristown West’s Bereket Evans (1) delivers through contact while West’s Garrett Burch (4) defends. Photo by Brian Hamilton
A corner three by Burch would stretch the West lead to 64-41 with just under five minutes remaining. The Rebels’ largest lead of the game came at 29, when Liam Purnell drained a three to make the score 74-45 with 1:25 left in the game. Morristown West ended the game on a 9-0 run, but it was much too little, too late, at that point.
West would come away with a resounding 74-53 win over Morristown West.
“I thought that was a really good basketball team and probably the best team we’ve played all year,” Morristown West head coach Joe Dobyns said. “We knew that coming in and nothing really surprised us about that. I think early on, we might have been shellshocked and a little in awe at their size and speed, but once we settled in from that, I felt like we responded pretty well in the second quarter and got back in the game, but they came out in the third quarter and kept coming and that allowed them to extend that lead.”
Devyn Martin led all scorers with 29 points, while Kevin Jack finished with 14. Jack Keith added 10 for the Rebels.
“We’re getting that out of Devyn every night and we count on that, but it’s up to everyone else to do what they’re supposed to do and when our guys knock down shots, it loosens things up even more for Devyn,” Eggleston said. “Devyn is definitely being the guy we need him to be. He’s our leader in the middle and he plays hard and he plays well. He takes away the middle for a lot of teams. I really felt like Kevin turned the game for us. Devyn did his thing that he does every night, but I felt like Kevin, they were not going to stop him. The biggest thing was that they had no answer for him. When he got the ball, it was two points. He had some big rebounds for us and he just can’t get knocked off his spot.”
Bereket Evans led Morristown West with 16 points, while Juan Gallardo added 11.
Knox West (11-3) will host Austin-East (6-10) on Wednesday, January 8. Morristown West (8-9) will visit arch-rival Morristown East (4-13) on Friday, January 10.