Tennessee High Falls To Morristown West In Regional Finals

KINGSPORT, Tenn. – Shots fell short or drew iron. Passes were stolen before they were received. Confidence wavered and waned. And while the Tennessee High Vikings started Wednesday evening’s contest against the Morristown West Trojans playing with rhythm and poise, they closed the game waiting for it to end.

The Trojans downed the Vikings, 57-28, in the 1-AAA regional finals at the Buck Van Huss Dome. The loss marked only the second time in Tennessee High’s last 19 games the Vikings had walked off the court in defeat.

“You gotta let this one go,” Tennessee High coach Barry Wade said. “That’s what we [were] talking about during the trophy presentation.”

Despite the loss, the Vikings still have life in the postseason. Tennessee High will travel to Bearden High School to face the Bulldogs at 7 p.m. Saturday in Sweet 16 sub-state action. Morristown West will host Powell at 7 Saturday night.

“I’m really proud of this group,” Trojans coach Johnny Galyon said. “A regional championship’s a pretty big honor.”

Wade said Wednesday’s contest was about pride. The Vikings had never advanced to sectionals prior to this season, and the 2009 campaign has already been a special one for Tennessee High.

“It’s just great,” Wade said. “I tried to tell them this week in practice, we won’t play in any tougher place than Cocke County [last] Friday night. And we’re probably not going to play many better teams than this here. So we’re excited about getting to go and we just hope everything works out.”

Kimberly Wood scored a team-high nine points to lead Tennessee High (27-4), while Sarah Baker added six. Vikings senior guard Danielle Montgomery, who has signed a letter of intent with the University of Massachusetts, was held to two points.

Sidney Goins scored a game-high 21 points and Taylor Hall added 14 for the Trojans (30-1), who have won 19 straight games. Goins was named the tournament’s most valuable player, while Hall, Kelly Smith and Brittany Watson earned all-tournament selections.

“It’s amazing,” Goins said. “We want to go so far and we’ve worked so hard this year.”

Wood, Montgomery and Blakeley Burleson were selected to the all-tournament team for the Vikings.

Tennessee High initially attacked and pushed the tempo, and the Vikings showed no signs of being intimidated by the one-loss Trojans.

Tennessee High then jumped out to a 9-5 lead following a short-range floater converted by Montgomery from the left wing,

“Give them credit,” Galyon said. “They’re a pretty good basketball team and Barry does an outstanding job with them.”

But the Vikings’ command and poise slowly slipped away.

Morristown West pummeled Tennessee High on the perimeter, as the Trojans shot holes in the Vikings’ 2-3 zone defense. Morristown West utilized crisp passing to burn Tennessee High in rotation, and the Trojans sank what they sent up.

A 3-pointer from the left wing by Hall gave the Trojans an 18-11 advantage with 5 minutes, 46 seconds left in the second quarter and capped a 13-2 West run.

“They’re just a hard matchup for us,” Wade said. “We knew that coming in. We knew that we would almost have to play perfect.”

The Trojans then slowed the game down in the final minutes of the first half. Morristown West limited its passes, held the ball as long as possible and drew the Vikings out of their soft zone. And as soon as Tennessee High committed, the Trojans attacked.

A 10-foot jumper swished by Allison Jones – sent into the air after Morristown West held the ball for more than a minute – made it 26-16 Trojans with 45 seconds left in the second quarter.

“We’ve just got too many shooters,” Galyon said.

Morristown West then came out burning in the third quarter. The Trojans outscored the Vikings 14-7 in the period and 31-12 after the break. Tennessee High was held to nine points or less in all four quarters.

“They spread you out a little bit,” Wade said. “And when they spread you out, then they can just attack you inside.

“I think they’ve got a great chance. I’ve been going to the state tournament for five years, and I’m not sure I’ve seen anybody that causes as many matchup problems.”

Morristown West has not lost since Dec. 30, when the Trojans fell to South Greene, 50-49.

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MORRISTOWN WEST (57) – Fanney 4, Taylor Hall 14, Jones 6, Watson 3, Smith 9, Sidney Goins 21, May 0, Berquist 0, Lyons 0, L. Hall 0. Totals 21 9-15 57.
TENNESSEE HIGH (28) – Burleson 4, Vance 0, Grinnell 0, Montgomery 2, Wysor 2, Wood 9, Keen 0, Thornsberry 5, Baker 6, Huneycutt 0. Totals 12 4-8 28.
Morristown West 13 13 14 17—57
Tennessee High 9 7 7 5—28
3-point goals – MW 6 (Smith 3, Goins 2, Hall); TH 0.