BRISTOL, Tenn. – Tre’ Webb didn’t know what day it was. Webb said he woke up Friday morning, looked at his cell phone and expected to see Thursday pop up. Instead, he saw Friday.
Thursday would have meant the Tennessee High Vikings boys basketball team had two more days of practice. Two more days of waiting and preparing to take on the Cocke County Fighting Cocks (15-10) at 7 tonight in the first round of the 1-AAA regionals at Viking Hall.
But Friday, it was. So Webb, a 6-foot-4 senior wing for the Vikings (22-10), rolled out of bed, got his day going and got his mind ready. Then he – like all of his Tennessee High teammates – began focusing on one thing: basketball.
Webb said his early-morning mixup illustrated how much he and the Vikings are in the zone. Days are flying by, and all that matters is the round, bouncing ball.
“I’m not trying to take anything for granted right now,” Webb said. “You don’t want to take anything for granted, because it could be done as soon as it starts.”
The Vikings have no intention of ending anything Saturday night other than the Fighting Cocks’ season. Webb said he loved the idea of playing a regional playoff game on Tennessee High’s home court.
And the Vikings’ starting five – which relies on four seniors and a junior who have grown up playing and learning the game together – knows that a home-court victory will prolong a season that has been touched by and surrounded with magic.
“It doesn’t get any better than playing here,” Webb said. “Everybody’s looking forward to it.”
Tennessee High is rolling after upsetting Dobyns-Bennett, 55-50, in the 1-AAA district semifinals. The Vikings have won five of their last six contests and 13 of their last 16. Propelled by the all-for-one play of senior starters Webb, Corey Young, Mason Canty and Denzel Gilmore and junior Taylor Harmon, Tennessee High holds the No. 2 seed in Region 1. A defeat of Cocke County would match the Vikings against the winner of Sullivan South-Morristown East in the 1-AAA regional semifinals.
“The kids have worked really hard,” Tennessee High coach Roby Witcher said. “We played one of the tougher schedules around. And I just think it’s a great testament to these kids’ resiliency, in order to hang in there and do what we’ve done this year.
“If we win this one, [we’re] one game away from the sub-state. … These seniors deserve this.”
btsmith@bristolnews.com | (276) 645-2569
Who: Cocke County Fighting Cocks (15-10) at Tennessee High Vikings (22-10)
What: Region 1-AAA boys basketball game
When: 7, tonight
Where: Viking Hall in Bristol, Tenn.
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