Cobb-led Upperman, Bearden, Olympia start strong at The Classic

BRISTOL, Tenn. — Ty Cobb reset the Upperman boys basketball scoring record Friday afternoon. That might not be the only record he owns before the new year. In Friday's opening game of Classic at Tennessee High, Cobb gunned in 48 points to help the defending 3A state champion Bees take down Greeneville 74-60. The reigning Class 3A Mr. Basketball winner, Cobb missed only two of his 18 shots while finishing just four points shy of The Classic's single-game scoring mark — a 52-point outing by Sullivan North's Kenny Lawson in 1994. It was the most points scored in a game at the tournament since 2000, when David Harrison dropped 49 on Class AA state semifinalist Greeneville. Oh, and Cobb surpassed 2,000 career points during the contest. "All my points and stuff, all that's credit to my teammates. They get me open and get me the ball," said Cobb, who made all four of his 3-point attempts and all 12 free throws and even dunked once. "Coming into this tournament, we've heard this whole time it's going to be good competition, so we tried to prepare ourselves the best we can with practice, reps, getting shots up and everything like that." Evidently, it's paid off for the Bees (12-2), who led throughout after ending the first quarter with a 15-0 run. Taren Claridy's layup had given the Greene Devils (0-13) a 9-7 lead, before Cobb ignited the run with three straight field goals. Upperman led 22-9 after one quarter. Greeneville still showed signs of life. Parker Quillen's 3-pointer cut the deficit to 46-40. But after Cobb hit from deep for a 57-45 lead entering the fourth quarter, Greeneville couldn't get closer than 10 points. Zy Neal, a freshman, led the rebuilding Greene Devils with 18 points on 7-of-15 shooting with six assists. He and Yordan Mills both had five rebounds. "Zy played really well today. He's a competitor," Greeneville coach Brad Woolsey said. "He's coachable. He wants to be a good teammate, and I think he's got really good skill and the ability to come through in a big game and really performed. That was good to see." Neal even got the opportunity to guard Cobb starting in the second quarter. Cobb got his points, but Neal didn't shy away from the challenge. "Start of the second quarter, coach asked if I could guard (Cobb) and I said yes," Neal said. "I just tried my best. Probably the most difficult part was keeping him from getting downhill." Colton Johnson added 14 points and seven rebounds for Upperman, along with a team-high four assists. Joseph Maynard had seven points, six rebounds and three assists. Quillen scored 12 for the Greene Devils, going 4-of-6 from deep. Claridy scored nine points, and William Woolsey eight. Bearden 79, University High 28 Sean Capshaw scored 18 points to lead a balanced effort for the Bulldogs (15-0), who got 11 players in the scoring column. He shot 4-of-5 from behind the 3-point line and 7-of-9 overall while matching Carson Asbaty with a team-high four steals. "Since I played (in The Classic) last year I've got the experience," Capshaw said. "As a team, we go in with a great mindset, not being scared and always focused. We might start slow, but we're always focused." Starting slow wasn't an issue Friday, as Bearden led 26-10 after one quarter and 48-14 at the half. Asbaty was second in scoring with 14 points, going 7-of-8 from the field, and his 11 rebounds gave him a double-double. Porter Dickson scored 10 points on 4-of-5 shooting, 2-of-3 from deep. Brendan Murphy fired in eight points with three steals. Jansen West led the Buccaneers (0-10), shooting 3-of-4 from deep (5-of-10 overall) to end with 13 points. Gavin Olsen and Mason Francis (four points, two assists) both grabbed a team-high three rebounds. Olympia (Fla.) 84, Fairdale (Ky.) 65 Olympia lives by a simple motto — no space, no comfort. And the Titans (10-2) showed Friday they have the length to live by it. Bishop Wenze Jr. shot 11-of-14, several of which were dunks, to score 23 points. After this showing, don't be surprised to see Wenze Jr. enter the dunk contest. "I'm going to talk to his mom and she's going to make it happen," Olympia coach Justin Shipp joked, while praising the Titans for their 19 assists. "That might be a season high for us … I loved our energy. Loved how fast we played." C.J. Nunnally Jr. made 8-of-9 shots including his lone 3-pointer and dished out five assists, ending with 19 points. "Every day we work on pushing the ball and fast tempo, because that's when we play our best," Nunnally Jr. said. "Play for your teammates and that's going to open it up for everybody." James Nowells Jr. added 12 points with a pair of 3s, and Torrence Moore (5-of-9) scored 11 while dishing out a team-high six assists. Kwasi Appiah scored eight and matched Nowells Jr. with a team-high six boards. Kamari Roberts and Michael Ray Stinnett both had 14 points to lead Fairdale (3-5), the latter grabbing seven rebounds.