As November is off and running, high school basketball is now in season. All five local teams would get their season underway with a mix of both success and tough sledding as expected in week one.
Starting with Greeneville, the Lady Devils lost five seniors from last year’s state tournament and will look for a mix of upperclassmen, freshmen, and transfers to lead the next wave. The Lady Devils opened the season against a tough Gatlinburg-Pittman team on Thursday and would battle throughout before going cold in the second half losing to the Lady Highlanders 66-47. The Lady Devils will face another state title contender in David Crockett on Friday night.
The Greeneville boys’ basketball team is a bit short-handed without the football players still in pursuit of a state title and would run into another high-powered team in Gatlinburg-Pittman and would fall 80-60. The Greene Devils will play two games on Saturday in the Tri-Cities.
Led by superstar scorer Jason Britton, North Greene has played in some tight early season games including two close losses to Jellico (78-75) and Tennessee High (56-50). North Greene also blew out Cedar View Christian and would suffer a big loss to powerhouse Dobyns-Bennett.
The Lady Huskies would open the season with a small roster, but a strong post-game led by Hannah Miller and Haley Bailey. North Greene would pick up wins over Happy Valley and Jellico to open their season and will play in the Pizza Plus Thanksgiving Classic next week.
Both the Chuckey-Doak basketball teams have high expectations this season. The Lady Knights will play a tough schedule, both in region play and out of conference this year and their season started with a big loss to Northview Academy 74-18. Led by four-year starter Christian Derry, the Black Knights are looking for a big run this season, but would start off on the wrong foot with a 66-58 loss to Northview. Both teams will take part in the Hardee’s Classic at Sullivan East High School during Thanksgiving week.
South Greene returns some key players to both the boys’ and girls’ teams for the 23-24 season. The Lady Rebels have started 3-0 with wins over Tennessee High, Lakeway Christian, and Cosby to begin the season and are prepping for Thanksgiving tournament play. The Rebels would also begin the season with a win defeating Cosby 72-62 and will play alongside other county teams in the Hardee’s Classic next week.
Finally, the new-look West Greene Lady Buffaloes enter the 23-24 season with many new faces after graduating eight players last season. The Lady Buffs would open the season with a 28-24 victory over University High and will play a tough Clairborne team on Friday night. The boys’ basketball teams also have some new faces and are looking for new scorers and would come up short against a state tournament team from last year in University High 78-39.
Radio Greeneville basketball coverage is also underway with coverage of Greeneville basketball throughout the season on 99.5 FM WGRV and online at wgrv.com and coverage of Greene County basketball on both 103.1 FM WIKQ and 95.5 FM WSMG including tournament coverage during Thanksgiving and Christmas.
