BY BRIAN HAMILTON
GATLINBURG – When most folks were looking for a region championship game to attend Thursday night, it was hard to look past the matchup between Gatlinburg-Pittman and Unicoi County. This matchup featured two Class 2A Mr. Basketball finalists, in Jayden Barton from GP and Jackson Simmons from Unicoi.
The game lived up to its billing, as Simmons started the game hot, scoring the first nine points for the Blue Devils. The Highlanders would push back and hold a second quarter lead before Unicoi opened the third quarter with a 13-1 run. At that point Barton took the game over, going on a 15-0 solo scoring run and almost single-handedly willing the Highlanders to a 75-65 win.
It was Gatlinburg-Pittman’s first region championship since 2000.
Jayden Barton (22) hits a three while being fouled by a Unicoi County defender. The Mr. Basketball candidate finished the night with 42 points. Photo by Brian Hamilton
“I was a freshman in high school (at McMinn-Central),” Gatlinburg-Pittman head coach Rashid Moore lamented about the year 2000. “They had a good team that year, but it’s been too long. We were very intentional about getting it done tonight. The guys knew exactly how much it meant to the school and how much it would mean to them in the future. I’m not going to lie, it’s been a stressful three days, but we’ve had this one circled and I’m proud of the guys.”
Barton finished the game with 42 points, while Simmons had 32.
“I was super hyped coming in,” Barton said of the matchup. “Usually, I have a target on my head, but he has a target on his head too, so it was just fun battling against him.”
Jackson Simmons got things going in the contest, hitting a jumper to put Unicoi County ahead 2-0 early on. Simmons would hit another pull up jumper followed by a three-pointer, as the Mr. Basketball candidate was off to a hot start, scoring the Blue Devils’ first seven points.
Craig Huskey would score Gatlinburg-Pittman’s first field goal on a layup to trim the deficit to 7-3. The Highlanders’ Mr. Basketball candidate Jayden Barton came down and hit a pull up jumper on the fast break to make the score 7-5 with just over five minutes left in the first quarter.
Simmons hit another jumper on Unicoi’s next trip down, giving the Blue Devils a 9-5 lead and earning him his eighth and ninth points. Barton would hit a pair of free throws on the other end to make the score 9-7.
A.J. Thomas would come of the bench and drain a long three-pointer for Unicoi to push the lead to 12-7 midway through the first quarter. The Highlanders would tie the game at 12-12 on a triple by Inaki Palomares with 2:27 left.
Another three by Thomas stretched the Unicoi lead to 15-12, but Quinn Coykendall hit a shot with eight seconds left to make the score 15-14.
Simmons missed a three at the first quarter buzzer, as the Blue Devils would carry a 15-14 advantage into the second quarter.
Malachi Palmer hit a jumper to open the second quarter, giving the Gatlinburg-Pittman its first lead of the game, at 16-15. Thomas would answer that with a jumper from the baseline to put Unicoi back in front 17-16.
Gatlinburg-Pittman’s Jayden Barton (22) flies past a Unicoi defender for two of his game-high 42 points. Photo by Brian Hamilton
A pair of three-pointers by Gatlinburg-Pittman would make the score 22-17 with 4:47 to go. The Highlanders would go ahead 27-19 after a floater and three-pointer by Coykendall with just over three minutes remaining in the half.
Barton hit a three, followed by a long two-point basket to stretch the Highlanders’ lead to 32-21 with just under one minute left. Gatlinburg-Pittman would take a 32-25 lead to the half, as Barton missed a three at the first half horn.
Carter Simmons opened the second half with finger roll to trim the Unicoi deficit to 33-27. A pair of Jackson Simmons jumpers would pull the Blue Devils to within 33-31 with 5:12 left in the third quarter.
Unicoi County would take its first lead since 17-16 when Jackson Simmons nailed a three to put the Blue Devils ahead 34-33. After a layup by Avery Hatcher and another basket by Simmons, Gatlinburg-Pittman found itself down 38-33 and in the midst of a 13-1 run by Unicoi.
Coykendall finally stopped the bleeding for Gatlinburg-Pittman when the senior sank a three to make the score 38-36. A layup by Roger Matute would tie the score at 38-38.
Unicoi County led 42-38 with under two minutes to go in the third quarter when Jayden Barton began to take over the game.
The senior hit a floater, followed by a three-pointer to give Gatlinburg-Pittman a 43-42 lead with 1:08 remaining. Jackson Simmons was called for charging on the next possession and Barton continued the onslaught, hitting a driving layup and a three to give the Highlanders a 48-42 advantage after three quarters.
Barton opened the third quarter with a fadeaway and a three to give Gatlinburg-Pittman a 53-42 lead. At that point, Barton was on a 15-0 run by himself.
“They went on a run and I just thought in my head that I had to take over,” Barton said. “If I didn’t do that, we might not have won that game. I knew I had to take over.”
Gatlinburg-Pittman head coach Rashid Moore holds up the net after leading the Highlanders to their first region title since 2000. Photo by Brian Hamilton
Carter Simmons would end the drought for Unicoi by converting a traditional three-point play to trim the deficit to 53-45, but Barton was fouled while shooting a three-pointer on the other end. He sank all three free throws to increase the GP lead to 56-45.
Unicoi County answered by scoring two straight baskets to make the score 56-49 with 5:19 left. The Blue Devils had it down to a two possession game, but Palomares nailed a three to stretch the lead back to 62-53 with 3:17 remaining.
Jackson Simmons hit a basket to make the score 62-55, but Malachi Palmer scored a basket and was fouled, getting the and one to stretch the lead to 65-55 with under three minutes left.
Gatlinburg-Pittman would keep the lead close to double digits the rest of the game, as the Highlanders came away with a 75-65 win and their first regional championship since 2000.
Jayden Barton finished with a game high 42 points, while Quinn Coykendall finished with 10. Inaki Palomares added nine for the Highlanders.
Jackson Simmons led Unicoi County with 32 points, while Carter Simmons scored 13. A.J. Thomas added eight points for the Blue Devils.
“You really can’t (prepare for him),” Moore said of the Mr. Basketball finalist Simmons. “I just watched countless hours of film and had several different game plans that I did not know would work or not, but our guys did a good job of executing. We doubled him most of the night and he still had 32. He’s a good player. If we wouldn’t have doubled him, he might would’ve had 50.”
Gatlinburg-Pittman (25-4) will face another tough task in the sectional on Monday night against Tellico Plains (26-5) and superstar senior Rylan Woods.