Greeneville has been a pioneer in terms of winning state championships in Northeast Tennessee.
And on Saturday in Murfreesboro, the Greene Devils’ title haul came full circle.
In dramatic fashion — a perfectly placed, NBA-range 3-point swish from the clutch hands of Connor DeBusk with under 15 seconds left in the game — was the deciding blow in a 47-46 win over Jackson South Side for the TSSAA Class AA championship.
Greeneville became the first Class AA team this side of Knoxville to win a boys state basketball title — yet another instance of the school proving that Knoxville, Chattanooga, Nashville and Memphis aren’t the only places with the secret password that unlocks the gold-ball trophy case.
It started in 2009, when coach Caine Ballard’s first football team made it to the state title game. It was a contest the Greene Devils could have won. The door was propped open.
In 2010, a determined bunch of Greene Devils kicked the door down with such a force it resulted in a 48-point blowout for the championship. That was the first major title, but many more were to come. Football won again in 2011, 2017 and 2018.
Greeneville soccer got ahold of the notion that state titles weren’t a thing of myth. Once that riddle was solved the floodgates opened with three titles for the boys (2017-19) and four for the girls (2015-16, 2019-20).
Perhaps inspired by others, the softball team proved it could be done by winning in 2015. Dual wrestling also figured out the formula, conquering the state in 2013. Cross country won three team titles, one for the girls (2010) and two for the boys (2011-12). Boys track captured a team title in 2014.
Then in 2018, Greeneville’s baseball team went the distance.
That left boys and girls basketball seeking a title, and coach Brad Woolsey’s bunch delivered the goods.
Woolsey deserves a ton of credit for this championship. He has long been an underrated coach, but his skillful work in Saturday’s championship game went a long way toward getting Greeneville to the winner’s circle.
Navigating massive foul trouble, and a stirring second-half comeback by South Side that twice earned the lead, Woolsey kept moving the chess pieces until DeBusk let the basketball deliver checkmate on South Side’s dreams.
In the postgame television interview, Woolsey pulled down his face mask for a brief moment to reveal a smile that DeBusk — a product of Greeneville basketball royalty along with dad Doug, brother Dylan and uncle Frankie — had hit the game’s biggest shot.
Greeneville can surely share the moniker of “Title Town” with its northern cousin Green Bay in Wisconsin.
But what should not be lost in the shuffle is area boys basketball teams should be encouraged. It has been 17 years since Unaka won the Class A crown in 2004, and 1995 was the last Class AAA title, claimed by Science Hill.
Elizabethton football learned — as coach Shawn Witten said — how to do it from the Greene Devils and currently stands as the two-time defending state champion in 4A.
In any Northeast Tennessee sport, it can be done. All it takes is a good mix of talent, hard work,and a big old basket full of belief.
GAMES OF THE WEEK
Baseball
Tuesday — Daniel Boone at Dobyns-Bennett
Thursday — Sullivan East at Dobyns-Bennett
Friday — Farragut at D-B, Hardin Valley at Science Hill
Saturday — Farragut at Science Hill
It’s a serious week of work for Dobyns-Bennett and Science Hill. The games against Farragut and Hardin Valley involve two of the better teams in the Knoxville area.
Farragut was ranked No. 24 in the nation in the MaxPreps preseason poll, and the Admirals opened the season by winning four games in the Grand Slam Classic — including wins over 2019 state tournament team Summit and Division II Class A state runner-up Christ Presbyterian Academy.
Hardin Valley also is 4-0.
Softball
Tuesday — Tennessee High at David Crockett
Thursday — D-B at Tennessee High, Crockett at Science Hill
Friday-Saturday — NFS tourney in Erwin
Crockett is off to a strong start but gets its two biggest Big 7 tests of the early season this week.
Soccer
Tuesday — Dobyns-Bennett at Tennessee High
Thursday-Saturday — Jon Metcalf Highland Cup at Dobyns-Bennett
Dobyns-Bennett will line up against Baylor, Morristown West and Jefferson County in its own three-day tournament.
EAST TENNESSEE CLASSIC
Science Hill emerged from the weekend softball tournament at Winged Deer Park with an enhanced résumé.
The Hilltoppers (6-1) buzzed through the event without a loss, beating Carter, Division II The King’s Academy and Sullivan Central before stopping Daniel Boone in the semifinals and handling David Crockett by a score of 6-0 in the championship game.
For the tournament, Science Hill hit .361 and scored 39 runs. Seven players had three or more RBIs with Brynne Goines and Zoey Cooper each collecting five.
“The girls played really well and unselfish as a team,” said coach Jerry Higgins.
Sejal Neas, Bree Presnell and Cooper combined for 32 strikeouts with only two walks and gave up just eight runs, with seven coming against King’s Academy.
“They did that against some really good hitting teams,” Higgins said. “We played pretty good defensively for the most part, but have a few areas to clean up. All in all, it was a good weekend for us.”
