Face do or die match-up in first round of district tourney
After dropping a 56-55 non-region tilt at Claiborne County last Tuesday, the Seymour Eagles (3-7, 12-14) wrapped up the regular season with a resounding 65-40 win over county rival Sevier County Thursday night in the regular season finale at Seymour High School. The Eagles knocked off the Rutledge pioneers, 58-54, in a non-district contest on Monday night. The Eagles entered district tournament play against the Gibbs Eagles (4-6, 13-13) Monday afternoon in a first round elimination game at Alcoa High School, the site of both the district and region tournament. If Seymour could get by Gibbs on Monday, they would automatically receive a spot in next weeks region tourney. If they lose to Gibbs, their season is over. “We have to get by Gibbs,” Seymour Coach Randy Moore said Monday morning before his team made the trip to Alcoa High School. “It’s do or die. If we win we go to the region, if we lose we stay home.” Seymour lost to Gibbs 50-38 at home in January, but evened the series with a 73-67 win in a Valentines Day shootout at Gibbs High School two weeks ago. Seymour guards, Thomas Floyd and Blake Carr were named to the Region 3-2A all-district team last week at a pre-tournament coaches meeting. Moore felt that the selection of his two guards was justified because of, among other things, their intense work ethic. “They’re two of the hardest workers that I’ve ever had,” said Moore. “They work just as hard in practice as they do in games, and anyone that has ever seen us play knows how hard they work in games. It’s a deserving honor for both young men.” Floyd and Carr, both 11th graders, put an exclamation mark on their award-winning regular seasons last week against Claiborne County and Sevier County. Floyd connected on three treys on his way to a game high 18-points and Carr was successful on four long balls on his way to a 25-point effort. It wouldn’t be enough to carry the Eagles to victory however, as the home standing Blue Devils outscored Seymour in every quarter except the first to erase a 28-24 halftime deficit to pick up the one-point win. Seymour got off to a nice start and led 15-7 after the first horn. Claiborne County picked up the pieces, outscoring the Eagles 17-13 in the second stanza, 14-12 in the third, and 18-15 in the final eight minutes to pick up the win The Eagles’ loss to Claiborne County was sandwiched between wins over Rutledge on Monday night and Sevier County on Thursday. Against the Pioneers from Rutledge, the Eagles used an overtime period to escape with the 58-54 home win. Seymour was led in scoring by Floyd with 21 and Carr with 11. Before a full-house and a vocal student section taking part in senior night during Thursday’s match-up with Sevier County, the Eagles jumped out to a 16-14 lead at the end of one following a Floyd baseline trey with 25 seconds left in the quarter. After Sevier County tied the score with a lay-up in the first minute of the second period, Seymour made a 21-5 run to lead 35-21 at the intermission. Floyd drained three long treys in less than 30 seconds to help Seymour extend the lead with less than one minute left in the half. Adam Gossett hit a 23-footer at the third quarter buzzer to help put the Eagles up 50-33 headed into the fourth. Seymour kept bombing away and led 65-35 with 2:56 left when Moore pulled all five players, including seniors Josh French and Gossett, out of the game to a round of applause from the biggest crowd of the season. A group of reserves took the court and played the final two minutes, getting in on the 65-40 senior night victory to give Seymour some momentum heading into the district tourney. Seymour scoring: Blake Carr 14; Danny Driedon 3; Thomas Floyd 26; Josh French 13; Adam Gossett 6; Josh Harmon 3. Sevier County scoring: Matt Bluhm 6; Brett Book 5; Brad Daniels 23; Brian Furst 1; Aaron Miller 2; Jeremy Parton 3.
User Comments - Be the first to comment!
Add Your Comment!