BY BRIAN HAMILTON
SEVIERVILLE – Sevier County came into Tuesday night’s senior night looking to bounce back from a 57-37 district loss to Maryville on Monday night. Both teams battled throughout the first half, but the Smoky Bears outscored the Fighting Cocks 40-17 in the second half. Sevier County trailed 3-0 in the first minute, but would lead the rest of the way, bouncing back with a resounding 74-39 win.
“We had chances last night, but I felt like we just didn’t play with the intensity that we needed to,” Sevier County head coach Ken Wright said about the Maryville loss. “We just didn’t show up in the fourth quarter. We just went out there and went through the motions and didn’t play hard and that’s what happens. You can’t do that against a good team, and Maryville, they’ve got a great team.”
On Tuesday night, it was Cocke County going through the motions in the fourth quarter, as the Fighting Cocks saw a 12-point halftime deficit balloon to 22 after the third quarter and finding themselves on the wrong side of a 35-point rout.
Sevier County’s Parker Newman goes up for a layup during the Smoky Bears’ 74-39 win over Cocke County. Photo by Brian Hamilton
“I think we came out after halftime and really took control of the game,” Wright said after the game. “We came out of the locker room and jumped it up to 22 (after the third quarter) and then went on a 10-0 run. Our defense turned into offense, as we got a lot of steals tonight. We harassed them pretty good and that’s what we’ve gotta do. We got back to our running game. Transition is a big part of how we want to play and I thought we transitioned really well.”
The Fighting Cocks drew first blood with a three-pointer, but a pair of baskets by Mason Ward and Nick Dougherty would put Sevier County in front 4-3. The Smoky Bears would embark on a 6-0 run to take a 6-3 advantage with just over five minutes left in the first quarter.
Sevier County led 12-6 when Waylon Fox hit a floater to cut the deficit to four with 3:08 left. Owen Brooks would answer with a layup off a steal to make the score 14-8, which was followed by a steal and layup by Ward, which put the Smoky Bears ahead 16-8 with 1:20 to go.
Jaxson Perry made a layup with 28 seconds left to stretch the lead to 18-8, but Devin Caldwell drained a three to cut the Cocke County deficit to 18-11 at the end of the first quarter.
The Smoky Bears opened the second quarter on a 9-4 run to pull ahead 27-15, but a three by Jackson Williams would thwart the run, making the score 27-18 with 3:15 left in the first half.
A three-pointer by Gavin Harmon pushed the lead to 30-18, but Zach Williams hit a three to cut the Cocke County lead to 30-20 with just over a minute until halftime. A layup by Jackson Williams cut the deficit to single digits, at 31-22.
Harmon sank a three at the halftime buzzer, which gave Sevier County a 34-22 lead at intermission.
Dougherty opened the third quarter with a dunk, which was followed by a layup by Parker Newman, which gave the Smoky Bears a 38-22 lead. Eli Roberts answered with a basket to end a 7-0 Sevier County run, which dated back to the first half.
Sevier County took a 40-24 lead when Owen Brooks was fouled while shooting a three-pointer, and the senior converted 2-of-3 foul shots. Newman made a layup, followed by an easy bucket by Dougherty, which stretched the lead to 46-28 midway through the quarter.
Brooks hit a three with 38 seconds left in the third quarter to make the score 54-32, as the Smoky Bears outscored Cocke County 21-11 in the period to take a 55-33 lead heading into the final stanza.
A layup by Jaxson Perry pushed the lead to 59-33 one minute into the fourth quarter. Sevier County extended the lead to 30 when Brayden Stinnett made a layup with 4:22 to go. A basket by Daniel Tarwater, followed by a three-pointer by Griffin Gann would stretch the lead to 72-37 with under two minutes remaining, as the Smoky Bears went on to win 74-39 on senior night.
Owen Brooks led all scorers with 20 points, while Gavin Harmon finished with 13. Parker Newman added 11 for Sevier County.
Zach Williams led the Fighting Cocks with 13 points, while Jackson Williams finished with 11.
Sevier County (13-7, 3-2 Class 4A District 2) will play its second of four games within seven days on Thursday, when the Smoky Bears travel to Morristown West (17-9, 6-1 Class 4A District 1).
Cocke County (8-19, 1-8 Class 3A District 3) will travel to Seymour (16-7, 5-2 District 3) on Thursday for a district bout.