{"id":3930,"date":"2026-02-26T17:20:59","date_gmt":"2026-02-26T22:20:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/smokymtnsports.com\/mensbasketball\/2026\/02\/26\/fulton-leads-from-start-to-finish-defeats-austin-east-for-4th-district-title-in-5-years\/"},"modified":"2026-03-12T02:13:05","modified_gmt":"2026-03-12T06:13:05","slug":"fulton-leads-from-start-to-finish-defeats-austin-east-for-4th-district-title-in-5-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/smokymtnsports.com\/mensbasketball\/2026\/02\/26\/fulton-leads-from-start-to-finish-defeats-austin-east-for-4th-district-title-in-5-years\/","title":{"rendered":"Fulton leads from start to finish, defeats Austin-East for 4th district title in five years"},"content":{"rendered":"

BY BRIAN HAMILTON<\/p>\n

SEYMOUR – Fulton didn’t want the same feeling they had in 2025, when the Falcons lost to Carter in the district championship and had to navigate through the region as a 2-seed before getting a rematch in the region championship. That might indeed happen again in the region this year, with Austin-East, but this season Fulton will enter the regional tournament as the 1-seed after defeating the Roadrunners 58-45 to win its fourth district championship in five years.<\/p>\n

\"Justin

Fulton’s Justin Burris (22) goes up for a layup over a crowd of Austin-East defenders. Photo by Brian Hamilton<\/p><\/div>\n

The Falcons started the game hot and every time Austin-East got close, Fulton had an answer. After building a 20-point lead late in the fourth quarter, Austin-East made a push, ending the game on a 7-0 run, but it was too late for the Roadrunners.<\/p>\n

Fulton’s Nick Steen opened the game with a three-pointer to put the Falcons ahead 3-0. Justin Burris then hit a basket, followed by a steal and layup by Rejuan Womble, as Fulton started the game with a 7-0 run.<\/p>\n

Austin-East finally got on the board when Justin Pruitt hit a three midway through the first quarter to make the score 7-3. Chaz Wood would answer for Fulton, hitting a three to give the Falcons a 10-3 advantage.<\/p>\n

The Roadrunners then went on a 6-0 run, capped by a D’Shawn Fenderson layup to cut the deficit to 10-9 with 2:11 remaining in the first period.<\/p>\n

Steen hit a floater on the other end to to stop the Austin-East run, while Albie Harris sank a three on the next possession to put Fulton in front 15-9 with 1:05 left. Larrione Winton grabbed a steal with the first quarter clock running down and raced the other way for a layup attempt, but it was blocked, sending the Roadrunners to the second quarter down 15-10.<\/p>\n

Julius Young opened the second quarter with a three to cut the Fulton lead to 15-13, but a basket by Womble would stretch the lead back to 17-13.<\/p>\n

The teams traded baskets the next few possessions until a long jumper by Womble and a three-pointer by Steen pushed the Falcons’ lead to 24-19 with 3:36 remaining.<\/p>\n

Fulton clung to a 24-21 lead when a Womble three and a layup by Joe Hairston extended the lead to 29-21 with 1:25 left.<\/p>\n

Fenderson grabbed a rebound and put it up and in to trim the Austin-East deficit to 29-23 with 35 seconds remaining, but Hairston made a layup with six seconds left to send Fulton to the half with a 31-23 lead.<\/p>\n

The Roadrunners opened the third quarter with a 5-0 run to cut the deficit to 31-28, but Steen would finally hit a three to give Fulton its first points of the second half with 4:25 left in the third quarter.<\/p>\n

\"Julius

Austin-East’s Julius Young (12) goes up for a shot while Fulton’s Nick Steen defends. Photo by Brian Hamilton<\/p><\/div>\n

Winton converted an old-fashioned three-point play to pull Austin-East to within 34-31 with just under three minutes remaining. Steen scored on a jumper to extend the Falcons’ lead to 39-33 with under one minute remaining, as Fulton would carry a 41-35 lead into the final stanza.<\/p>\n

Womble opened the quarter with a three-pointer to put Fulton ahead 44-35, followed by a Chaz Wood jumper to stretch the lead to 46-35. A Steen rebound and layup would cap a 9-0 Falcon run, dating back to the third quarter, giving the Falcons a commanding 48-35 lead with under six minutes remaining.<\/p>\n

Big leads can disappear quickly in this rivalry, so Steen nailed a three, followed by a Burris jump shot to stretch the Fulton lead to 16, at 53-37, midway through the fourth quarter. At this point, the Falcons were on a 14-2 run.<\/p>\n

A three by Womble pushed the lead to 20, at 58-38, with just over two minutes remaining. Austin-East would fight back, closing the game on a 7-0 run, but it was too little, too late, as the Falcons went on to win 58-45 and earn their fourth district championship in five years.<\/p>\n

Nick Steen led all scorers with 18 points, while Rejuan Womble added 17. Justin Burris finished with nine points for the Falcons.<\/p>\n

Austin-East was led by eight points from D’Shawn Fenderson and Julius Young, while Larrione Winton finished with six points for the Roadrunners.<\/p>\n

Fulton (19-9) will host Gibbs (3-20) in the region semifinal on Saturday night, while Austin-East (18-12) hosts Anderson County (14-13) on Saturday night.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

BY BRIAN HAMILTON SEYMOUR – Fulton didn’t want the same feeling they had in 2025, when the Falcons lost to Carter in the district championship and had to navigate through the region as a 2-seed before getting a rematch in the region championship. That might indeed happen again in the region this year, with Austin-East, but this season Fulton will enter the regional tournament as the 1-seed after defeating the Roadrunners 58-45 to win its fourth district championship in five years. The Falcons started the game hot and every time Austin-East got close, Fulton had an answer. After building a … <\/p>\n

Read More<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3933,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[629,577,8,614,5,1],"tags":[716,740,605,656,657,745,710,746],"class_list":["post-3930","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-austin","category-basketball-mens","category-featured-stories","category-fulton","category-top-story","category-uncategorized","tag-austin-east","tag-denard-bertram","tag-district-championship","tag-fulton","tag-jody-wright","tag-julius-young","tag-nick-steen","tag-rejuan-womble"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nFulton leads from start to finish, defeats Austin-East for 4th district title in five years - Smoky Mountain Sports - Men's Basketball<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/smokymtnsports.com\/mensbasketball\/2026\/02\/26\/fulton-leads-from-start-to-finish-defeats-austin-east-for-4th-district-title-in-5-years\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Fulton leads from start to finish, defeats Austin-East for 4th district title in five years\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"BY BRIAN HAMILTON SEYMOUR – Fulton didn’t want the same feeling they had in 2025, when the Falcons lost to Carter in the district championship and had to navigate through the region as a 2-seed before getting a rematch in the region championship. 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