BOYS BB: Union 61 Sullivan East (TN) 43 - FINAL
- Thread starter pizzzzza
- Start date
At the half, Bears lead Sullivan East 29-16.
Garrison and Gibson both hit big shots from behind the arc.
The Bears were led in the 1st half by Noah Garrison with 14 points, Wes Slagle had 7 points, while Austin Gibson added 6 . James Mitchell had 2 points.
Garrison and Gibson both hit big shots from behind the arc.
The Bears were led in the 1st half by Noah Garrison with 14 points, Wes Slagle had 7 points, while Austin Gibson added 6 . James Mitchell had 2 points.
Last edited:
FCA HOOPS: Union takes win over Sullivan East
BLUFF CITY, Tenn. – It never really matters how late Union High School gets a start on its season, because the Bears always seem to open their schedule in impressive fashion.
They did it again Friday night, waltzing to a 61-43 win over host Sullivan East in the nightcap of the FCA Classic at the Dyer Dome.
It was the third straight year that Union has beaten the more-seasoned Patriots in East’s holiday-season boys tournament.
“Union played great and we couldn’t make a shot and we got our heads down and we didn’t play like we can,” said longtime East coach John Dyer. “The bottom line is Union played really well and we just had one of those nights.”
Union’s season opener came not quite two weeks after the Bears’ football campaign ended in heartbreak with a state semifinal loss in Week 14. It’s a scenario that veteran coach Zack Moore has come to expect in the football-crazy town of Big Stone Gap.
“It was our first game and a lot of these guys have only practiced maybe five or six times,” Moore said. “I think we left some points on the floor offensively, but I told them we were going to show up, play hard and see what happens.
“So it’s just one game of a long season – we know we’ve got a lot of things to work on.”
One thing that worked very well for the Bears was the 3-point shot, of which they made 10 of 16.
Fellow guards Noah Harrison and Austin Gibson both hit four 3s, including two apiece as Union broke free from a 14-14 tie after one quarter to a gain a 26-14 advantage with 5:09 left in the second period.
Harrison finished with 17 points and Gibson added 14 to back the 25-point, game-high effort of 6-foot-5 junior star Wes Slagle, who hit a pair of 3s himself against East’s zone defense.
“The 3 got us the lead and it kept us in front the rest of the way,” Moore said. “And we got most of those shots by getting it inside and then kicking it out to an open man.
“Although Wes didn’t have his best game because he got into a little foul trouble in the first half, he’s a tough, tough matchup because he can take a big guy outside and hit a 3 or put it on the floor, or he can take a smaller guy inside because he has an assortment of good inside moves.”
Moore was quite pleased with his man-to-man defense, which forced East into a 6-of-32 effort from beyond the arc.
“We talked that they shoot a lot of 3s and there will be a lot of long rebounds,” Moore said. “They average making 11 3s a game and we cut that in half, and I thought we did a good job chasing down those long rebounds.”
East made one run in the third quarter, getting to within 34-25 behind strong post play by Dayne Davis, but Harrison and Slagle combined for three 3s in just over a minute to keep the Bears in control.
“My guards really shot it well tonight,” Moore said.
Marcus Johnson scored 12 points to lead East (7-5), which got 11 from Adam Davison.
- Johnny Wilson | Sports Correspondent
- Dec 16, 2017
BLUFF CITY, Tenn. – It never really matters how late Union High School gets a start on its season, because the Bears always seem to open their schedule in impressive fashion.
They did it again Friday night, waltzing to a 61-43 win over host Sullivan East in the nightcap of the FCA Classic at the Dyer Dome.
It was the third straight year that Union has beaten the more-seasoned Patriots in East’s holiday-season boys tournament.
“Union played great and we couldn’t make a shot and we got our heads down and we didn’t play like we can,” said longtime East coach John Dyer. “The bottom line is Union played really well and we just had one of those nights.”
Union’s season opener came not quite two weeks after the Bears’ football campaign ended in heartbreak with a state semifinal loss in Week 14. It’s a scenario that veteran coach Zack Moore has come to expect in the football-crazy town of Big Stone Gap.
“It was our first game and a lot of these guys have only practiced maybe five or six times,” Moore said. “I think we left some points on the floor offensively, but I told them we were going to show up, play hard and see what happens.
“So it’s just one game of a long season – we know we’ve got a lot of things to work on.”
One thing that worked very well for the Bears was the 3-point shot, of which they made 10 of 16.
Fellow guards Noah Harrison and Austin Gibson both hit four 3s, including two apiece as Union broke free from a 14-14 tie after one quarter to a gain a 26-14 advantage with 5:09 left in the second period.
Harrison finished with 17 points and Gibson added 14 to back the 25-point, game-high effort of 6-foot-5 junior star Wes Slagle, who hit a pair of 3s himself against East’s zone defense.
“The 3 got us the lead and it kept us in front the rest of the way,” Moore said. “And we got most of those shots by getting it inside and then kicking it out to an open man.
“Although Wes didn’t have his best game because he got into a little foul trouble in the first half, he’s a tough, tough matchup because he can take a big guy outside and hit a 3 or put it on the floor, or he can take a smaller guy inside because he has an assortment of good inside moves.”
Moore was quite pleased with his man-to-man defense, which forced East into a 6-of-32 effort from beyond the arc.
“We talked that they shoot a lot of 3s and there will be a lot of long rebounds,” Moore said. “They average making 11 3s a game and we cut that in half, and I thought we did a good job chasing down those long rebounds.”
East made one run in the third quarter, getting to within 34-25 behind strong post play by Dayne Davis, but Harrison and Slagle combined for three 3s in just over a minute to keep the Bears in control.
“My guards really shot it well tonight,” Moore said.
Marcus Johnson scored 12 points to lead East (7-5), which got 11 from Adam Davison.
Similar threads
