BY BRIAN HAMILTON
GATLINBURG – The Highlanders used 29 second-half points from senior Jayden Barton to take down Northview Academy 82-68 on senior day in Gatlinburg. The win felt like retribution for a 65-59 loss in Kodak one week after Gatlinburg-Pittman got its football players back following the state championship game.
“First and foremost, I’m thankful for Northview being willing to reschedule it,” Gatlinburg-Pittman head coach Rashid Moore said of the game’s rescheduling due to inclement weather. “They could have gotten out of it if they didn’t intentionally make it a point to play. It was one that we had circled, obviously. Those games are tough, because they’re non-district and you don’t want to lose focus on what you have to do in the district, but at the end of the day, we needed to get that one back.”
Gatlinburg-Pittman’s Quinn Coykendall (24) blocks a shot by Northview’s Madden Hamilton during the Highlanders’ win Saturday. Photo by Brian Hamilton
The senior saw limited minutes in the first-half due to foul trouble, but found a rhythm in the second-half, dropping 12 in the third quarter and another 17 in the fourth.
Gatlinburg-Pittman jumped out to an early 7-3 lead midway through the first quarter, but Ben Pickel hit a layup for Northview Academy to trim the deficit to 7-5 with 1:58 left.
Craig Huskey would be whistled for a charging call on the other end, which was followed by another Pickel layup with just under one minute left, making the score 7-7 after one quarter.
A steal and dunk by Jayden Barton gave Gatlinburg-Pittman a 9-7 lead early in the second quarter. The Highlanders led 17-13 midway through the second quarter, but Jaylen Stolz would hit a layup to trim the Cougars’ deficit to 17-15. Inaki Palomares drained a three to answer and stretch the GP lead 20-15.
Palomares hit another three with 2:24 left in the first half to give Gatlinburg-Pittman a 25-19 lead, but Pickel would answer with a basket to make the score 25-21.
A layup by Aiden Sansevero would trim the Northview deficit to 27-25, but a three-pointer by Roger Matute extended the GP lead to 31-25. Quinn Coykendall drained a three with 10 seconds left in the half to give Gatlinburg-Pittman a 35-27 lead at the half.
The Highlanders held an eight-point halftime lead despite leading-scorer Jayden Barton being limited to three-points after being on the bench in foul trouble.
Madden Hamilton hit a layup to open the second half, but Malachi Palmer hit a layup to make the score 37-29. Sansevero answered with a basket to trim the Cougars’ deficit to 37-31 with 6:43 left in the third quarter.
Gatlinburg-Pittman led 46-37 midway through the third quarter, but Northview would go on a 7-0 run, capped by a conventional three-point play by Hamilton, trimming the Cougars’ deficit to 46-44 with 2:40 left in the third.
Northview’s Ben Pickel (1) attempts an open three during the Cougars’ 82-68 loss to GP. Photo by Brian Hamilton
Barton answered with a basket to end the Northview run, sending Gatlinburg on a 12-3 run when Barton sank a three with eight seconds left in the third. Pickel would respond with a three at the buzzer for Northview, as Gatlinburg-Pittman led 58-50 heading into the fourth quarter.
The Highlanders started to pull away in the fourth quarter, as a Barton basket made the score 64-50 with just under six minutes left in the period. Northview would answer, however, as Stolz converted a three-point play to cut the deficit to 64-55 with 5:45 left.
A Barton three-pointer extended the GP lead to 69-55 midway through the quarter, and a three-point play by Palmer pushed the lead to 76-62 with 1:38 remaining. The senior standout scored 17 points in the fourth quarter to propel the Highlanders to an 82-68 win.
“It was definitely a sloppy game,” Moore said. “The way the game flowed, not only the way we played, but just the flow of the game, I’ll just leave it at that. The flow of the game was weird and they definitely kept fighting back and did a great job of responding every time we tried to deliver a knockout blow. Jayden got going at the end and was able to stretch it on out, but it was definitely a back-and-forth battle, for sure. We had to earn it.”
Jayden Barton led all scorers with 32 points, with 29 coming in the second half. Craig Huskey finished with 14 points on 6-of-7 shooting and seven rebounds, while Malachi Palmer added 13 points for the Highlanders.
“For Jayden to not play well in the first half, only having three points, and then have Craig and Inaki (Palomares) be able to carry us in the first-half, and for us to get all our guys back in the second half, and finish that one up, is a big deal,” said Moore. “We had an eight point lead at halftime without Jayden on the floor.”
Ben Pickel and Aiden Sansevero led Northview Academy with 17 points apiece, while Jaylen Stolz finished with 15.
Gatlinburg-Pittman (18-4, 6-0 Class 2A District 2) will host Claiborne (3-15, 1-3 Class 2A District 2) on Tuesday before traveling to New Tazewell on Saturday. Both games with the Bulldogs were postponed due to winter weather during the last two weeks.
Northview Academy (8-15, 2-6 Class 3A District 3) will travel to Austin-East (14-10, 6-1 Class 3A District 3) on Tuesday, February 10.