East wins regional quarterfinal

BY NATE HUBBARD
Bristol Herald Courier
BLUFF CITY, Tenn. – It’s becoming a worrisome reality for Sullivan East opponents: Cross is getting crafty.

Patriots junior Jordan Cross showed off glimpses of guile to go with his usual athleticism Saturday night, fouling out his defender with two veteran moves in the second half as East pulled away late to beat South Greene 85-58 and reach its first regional semifinal since 1998.

Cross and Rebels junior Kenan Wilhoit had been going mano-a-mano in the third quarter from the point guard position until Cross made like NBA great Reggie Miller with 1.2 seconds remaining in the period, contorting his body to draw contact from Wilhoit on a 3-point attempt.

Wilhoit, who had scored 12 points in the quarter, was whistled for his fourth foul on the play and Cross hit 2-of-3 free throws to give East a 58-45 lead going into the final period.

When Wilhoit returned early in the fourth quarter, it took Cross a little more than a minute to draw contact again and foul out his counterpart.

“I knew when Cross got started ... I had to put him [Wilhoit] on him and by doing that I got him in some foul trouble,” said Rebels coach Terry Hoese. “It was a Catch-22 – either get scored on or try to defend him – and it turned out bad for us.”

Cross, who scored 27 points, including 19 in the second half, said he was well aware of Wilhoit’s foul trouble.

“You always got to know how many fouls that they have,” he said. “We came out, knew he had four, so we went at him.”

The No. 4-seed Rebels (15-12) from District 2 gave the District 1 top-seeded Patriots all they could handle in the first half as East’s biggest lead was a mere three points until late in the second quarter.
But East turned up its defensive intensity as the game went on and the taller, deeper Patriots wore down the Rebels with a 52-point second half.

“The first half we played good defense,” Cross said. “The second half we were just everywhere.”

While Cross had another superlative night, the Patriots had a number of standout performances before a rowdy home crowd.

Senior Chase DePew hit three 3-pointers in the first half while Cross bided his time and senior Trey Gilreath hit three 3-pointers in the second half to help East turn the game into a rout.

DePew finished with 13 points and Gilreath had 11.

“They had more horses than I did,” Hoese said.

Chance Davis had 10 points off the bench for the Patriots and senior forward Zane Campbell scored 11 points on the inside.

“Our depth definitely helped us out,” Campbell said, citing the contributions of Davis and backup guards Preston Dishner and Desmond Greer.

“Eventually I think it wore them down in the fourth quarter.”

South Greene stuck with the Patriots early with crisp passing and accurate shooting, led by T.E. Myers’ 12 first-half points.

Myers and Wilhoit both scored 16 points for the Rebels.

Campbell said South Greene’s strong first half helped spur on the Patriots.

“Coming out here and having someone match our intensity really made us step up and play even harder to a level we really haven’t played at before,” he said. “We really shocked ourselves in the second half.”

The regional quarterfinal win was East’s 27th of the season against just four losses, matching the school record for victories set by the 1972 squad.

East now moves on to a Region 1-AA semifinal at Chuckey-Doak High School scheduled for Tuesday at 6 p.m.

“We’ve just got a group of young men that are hungry and want it,” Dyer said, “and want to just keep going.”

nhubbard@bristolnews.com I (276) 645-2543