Fulton holds on for win and another trip to state
By Steve Williams
Going into the Class 3A Sectional round a week ago, Jody Wright, Fulton High’s veteran boys basketball coach, expected a battle against Unicoi County.
“It kind of went exactly like I thought it was going to go,” said Wright. “We knew they had so many weapons offensively and could score. And they showed that.”
The Blue Devils from Erwin in upper East Tennessee unveiled their offense early in the game and took a 10-point lead in the first period.
Fulton fans had seen enough to make them hold their breath in the game’s closing seconds as Unicoi County, down by three points, launched two 3-point shots.
Both were off the mark, however, and the young Fulton team notched a 49-46 win to extend the school’s streak of consecutive state tournament berths to four.
“I’m really proud of our effort,” said Coach Wright. “The second and fourth quarters we held them to six points each quarter, but of course we gave up 18 and 16 points in the first and third.
“We beat a good basketball team and we were fortunate to win. But this time of the year, they don’t give style points. It’s win ugly or pretty; it really doesn’t matter. You just want to win.”
Fulton (18-16) will play Fayette-Ware (27-5) in the TSSAA Class 3A state quarterfinals Thursday at 2:15 (CDT) at MTSU’s Murphy Center in Murfreesboro.
Sophomore Nick Steen (18 points) and senior Derrick Smith (17) led the Falcons’ win over Unicoi County, which finished with a 21-14 record. Thirteen of Steen’s points came in the first half and nine of Smith’s points came in the final period. Senior Travis Ballenger and junior Rejaun Womble chipped in six points apiece.
Jackson Simmons scored a game-high 21 points for Unicoi County. His total included five 3-pointers, including three in the opening period. Garrett Sellers contributed 12 points and two treys. Kaden Cutlip added nine points.
Both teams had a couple of long runs in the game.
The Blue Devils had a 13-2 run in the first period and the Falcons countered that with a 14-0 run.
In the second half, Unicoi County had a 14-2 run to end the third period with a 40-34 lead. But then a 14-0 run by Fulton in the final period gave the Falcons a 48-40 lead with 2:27 remaining.
Three-point shots by Simmons and Cutlip pulled Unicoi County within two points (48-46) at 1:04. Ballenger missed a free throw but hit a big one to give the Falcons a three-point advantage with 58 seconds left.
But after a timeout by Unicoi County with 44.4 second to go, the Blue Devils couldn’t hit the big shot they needed to tie the score.
“Two great shots at the end and two shots I think we are going to make most of the time – just didn’t go for us,” said Unicoi County Coach Jordan Simmons, outside his team’s locker room after the game.
“Number 10 (Steen) around the basket kind of had his way with us a little bit,” added Simmons. “That’s something we take a lot of pride in, but we didn’t answer the call tonight and they made us pay for it.”
