The Newport Plain Talk

SEVIERVILLE-Hours of hard work on the practice court, a tough regular season schedule and a busy post season paid off for the Newport Grammar Warriors and Lady Warriors. Both teams found themselves in the championship games Thursday night at the Area 3 (TMSAA Regional) Tournament at Sevierville Middle School.

Both the Warriors and Lady Warriors deserved to be there after both being seeded seventh and last, and both having to fight through two elimination rounds and the semifinals, not to mention playing in their conference tournament in White Pine at the same time.

It was a grind, but the Warriors and Lady Warriors were up to the task, and Regional championship trophies were just one win away.

The Warriors were up against the home standing Sevierville Middle Cubs, the tournament's top seed in the title tilt. And, although things weren't looking up for the Warriors mid-way through the third quarter, they dug deep, and surprised the Cubs down the stretch for a scintillating 38-31 victory.

The Lady Warriors faced off against the top-seeded Seymour Lady Eagles, a team that had dispatched the Lady Warriors by 30 points earlier in the season. Although the Lady Warriors held the upper hand early, a fresher Lady Eagle squad had more in the end, defeating the Lady Warriors 41-31.

WARRIORS FIND GAME

The Warriors advanced to the title game the hard way. As the seventh, and bottom seed, the Warriors defeated Pigeon Forge, No. 6, in a play-in game on January 28, and then proceeded to work their way through the brackets with victories over No. 3 New Center this past Monday, and No. 2 Northview in the semifinals on Tuesday.

On Thursday night, however, after three games in two days, the Warriors were faced with a monumental task. They would have to face the tournament's top seed, Sevierville Middle, on the Cubs home court, and in front of a very large and loud Cubs' contingent.

In the first half, the Warriors stayed close, but were never really in sync. One good offensive play would be followed by a turnover. The result left the Cubs with a 13-10 first quarter lead, and a four-point advantage at the half, 22-18.

The Cubs out-scored the Warriors 9-4 in the third quarter for a 31-22 lead heading into the final six minutes of play. But, before the third quarter ended, the Warriors were stepping up their game.

"I took a time out there in the third quarter," said Warriors' head coach Brian Valentine, "and I told the guys to just settle down and run our offense. But the eighth graders were really fired up on the bench. They simply challenged themselves and said they were not going to lose this game. What happened after that was pretty incredible."

The Warriors came out of the time out and looked like a different team. They were on their game offensively, and, more importantly, defensively. The Warriors had trimmed a 15-point Cubs' lead to nine heading into the final six minutes and then completely shut down the Cubs' defense. As a matter of fact, the Warriors held the Cubs scoreless in the fourth quarter.

While their defense was working wonders, the Warriors offense began to click. In just three minutes, the Warriors had wiped out the Cubs' nine-point lead. With three minutes remaining, the Warriors were in front by one, and the Newport Grammar faithful were beside themselves.

The rest of the way are what dreams are made of as the Warrior kept up the defensive pressure, and went on to a well-earned seven-point victory, 38-31.

Dylan Dockery had a game-high 17 points to lead the Warriors while Hunter Suggs added 8, Sam Gunn 6, Cole Sams 4, D.J. Haney 2 and Bryan Valentine 1.

LADY WARRIORS SUCCOMB

The Lady Warriors were in the same boat as the Warriors, the tournament's bottom seed at No. 7, and having to win an extra game to make it to the championship game.

The Lady Warriors started the tournament by beating No. 6 New Center in the play-in game on January 28, then defeated No. 3 Pigeon Forge this past Monday night, and No. 2 Sevierville in the semifinals Tuesday on the Lady Cubs home court.

That left the Lady Warriors with a well-deserved shot at the tournament's top seed, Seymour, in the title tilt on Thursday night.

The championship game was brutal. Both teams were fighting tooth-and-nail, and it was very physical from the opening tip. The Lady Warriors, however, were up to the task early, trying to prove they belonged in the tournament's championship.

The Lady Warriors held the upper hand early, leading 11-7 at the end of the first quarter. But, the Lady Eagles' tenacious half-court defense began to pay dividends over the second six minutes as they held the Lady Warriors to five second-quarter points, and raced into the lead by three, 19-16, at the half.

The Lady Warriors were still working hard, but were never quite able to get their offense in sync, and the Lady Eagles pushed their lead to six, 26-20, heading into the final six minutes.

"I think we may have been a little tired," said Lady Warriors head coach Brian Valentine. "We had played three really tough teams to get to the championship, not to mention a semifinal at our conference tournament in White Pine on Tuesday. But hats off to Seymour. They were really playing us physical and their defense really kept us off balance. We just couldn't get into a flow offensively."

Although the Lady Warriors kept pounding to the final buzzer, it wasn't enough as the Lady Eagles came away with the 10-point victory, 41-31, and the tournament title.

Kaitlyn Martin had 10 points to lead the Lady Warriors while Stone Trentham had 8, McKenzie Gregg 6, Mika Wester 3, and, Allison Ball and Kinsley Ford scoring 2 points each.

At the completion of the Area 3 tournament on Thursday night, coach Valentine should have been a bit tired himself. After all, he pulls double duty as head coach of both the Warriors and Lady Warriors.

"I couldn't do this without excellent assistant coaches," said coach Valentine. "I'm really blessed to have Darrell (Lane) on the girl's side and Tim (Dockery) on the boy's side. Both do much of the hard work in practices. It's because of Darrell and Tim's hard work that we've had so much success this season with both teams."

And when all was said and done, high praise for both the Warriors and Lady Warriors.

"Both teams are special to me for different reasons," said coach Valentine. "These boys have been together for a long time and have a great work ethic. They practice hard and play hard. And, the way they took it upon themselves to not lose that championship game is special. The girl's work just as hard as the boys if not harder. This is a talented group that's always giving you 110-percent."

No rest for the weary, however. By advancing to the championship games, the Warriors and Lady Warriors both qualified for the TSMAA Sectional, the state championship for middle schools, which got underway on Saturday, also at Sevierville Middle School.

On Saturday, as a No. 1 seed, the Warriors were taking on Sullivan North in the opening round while the Lady Warriors, a No. 2 seed, was facing off against Blountville. Both games were being played after press time, so we'll let you know how they did on our web site, www.newportplaintalk.com.

Subscribe to The Newport Plain Talk by clicking SUBSCRIBE. Sign up for Breaking News emails from The Newport Plain Talk by clicking EMAIL ALERTS and inputting your email address next to "Add Me" near the top right corner.