tigers escape after fourth-quarter rally

When all was said and done, a back-and-forth battle between county rivals Seymour and Pigeon Forge went the way of the Tigers Tuesday night at Seymour High School as the visitors strung together an all-out fourth-quarter blitz to collect a comeback 55-53 win in a high school basketball thriller.

After the Eagles (1-6, 0-1) erased a 29-22 Pigeon Forge halftime lead with a fierce third-quarter rally that left Seymour with a 42-34 advantage going into the final eight minutes, Pigeon Forge (4-6, 1-0) mounted a run of its own to escape with the exciting two-point victory.

Offensively, Seymour used the combination of Carlton Logue and Zach Pace to counter a balanced Pigeon Forge effort. The Tigers had seven different players with at least six points each register in the visitor’s scorebook.

The Tigers were paced by Grant Nichols’ 14 points and Aaron Guinn’s nine points.

Seymour was led by the junior Logue, who finished with a trio of treys and a game-high total of 16 points. Pace, a 6-foot-4 senior, chipped in 15 points for the Eagles.

Seymour relied more on Logue and Pace’s scoring prowess with the absence of senior point guard/floor leader Jeffrey Harmon, who watched the game from the end of the home team’s bench wearing street clothes and nursing an injured ankle.

Seymour’s Greg Korlin added nine points, while Chad Headrick chipped in five points and Andy Whisler added four points.

The Eagles, losers of five consecutive games after their season-opening win over Berean Christian, will host District 3-AA foe Carter on Friday. Pigeon Forge, which lost at Carter by 10 points last week, will travel to county rival Gatlinburg-Pittman Friday.

Eight of Pigeon Forge’s first 10 games this season have been on the road. The Tigers will not play their next home game until they host Seymour in a Friday, January 4 rematch.