Science Hill starts fast to down West Ridge, earn region tournament berth

BLOUNTVILLE — Science Hill came out of the gates firing on all cylinders on Tuesday night, and its reward was a berth in the Region 1-4A Tournament. The Hilltoppers picked up a 54-38 Big East Conference win over West Ridge, spoiling the Wolves' senior night. "I thought we were really good defensively, especially in the first half," 'Toppers head coach Jon Higgins said. "That's been our hallmark for the last three years since I've been here. Not so much this year so we're trying to get back to that groove of being a good defensive team. I thought in the first half of tonight we were really good." Higgins and Science Hill (14-14, 4-3) couldn't have dreamt of a better follow-up to last Friday's home win over Morristown East. The Hilltoppers opened Tuesday night with a 13-0 run to seize control of the game. In the first five minutes of the game, Science Hill made three 3-pointers, including a pair by David Crockett transfer Stephen Hensley. Braxton Dixon scored four points and Brody McGuire knocked down the other triple as part of the spurt. "We believe in all of our guys," Higgins said. "We believe they can go and do what they're supposed to do. That's how we coach them and treat them in practice. So (after the run), we're just trying to focus and keep the ball rolling." However, after the spurt, the Wolves (15-15, 2-6) fought back. Will Holmes made a mid-range jumper at the 2:54 mark of the opening quarter to put West Ridge on the board. The Wolves got back within eight points by the end of the first quarter. The Hilltoppers forced another long field goal drought in the second quarter, though. West Ridge didn't make a basket from the start of the period until 2:45 remained in the period, when Grant Thompson made a layup. Science Hill led 26-13 at halftime and grew its lead to 20 points with a tick over five minutes to go in the third quarter. A rout, much like the first meeting between the two teams, appeared to be on. It didn't ever get to the 30-point margin, though. The Wolves closed the third quarter on a 9-1 run to get back to within a dozen points. They got as close as 11 points in the fourth quarter, but the comeback wasn't in the cards. "I'm very proud of my team," West Ridge head coach John Dyer said. "That was the fourth game in five days. Look who we played – we went to D-B, we went to Daniel Boone, we went to Morristown West, and we come here to play tonight. Our guys had nothing left and we have guys that play 32 minutes a game. So I'm proud of my team for fighting. Made a lot of mistakes. Very physical game." Hensley led a balanced scoring attack for the Hilltoppers with 14 points. Mac Gillert also reached double-figures with 10 points. The victory locks Science Hill into the three-seed in the upcoming District 1-4A Tournament, ensuring the 'Toppers a trip to region. "We knew it was a big game from that perspective," Higgins said. "If you win you're going to be in the region tournament. But, honestly, we came into this game with the approach of trying to play a good basketball game. We haven't played good basketball – we haven't been able to string together good basketball games back-to-back-to-back. "Thought we played a pretty decent game on Friday. We wanted to come out and play a pretty decent game tonight. That was our main focus." Meanwhile, Thompson led all scorers with 21 points. His running mate, Holmes, only tallied five points after dealing with foul trouble. The Wolves are locked into the four-seed for the district tournament, and will play host to Morristown East in the play-in game next weekend. Up Next Science Hill will travel to Kingsport to face Dobyns-Bennett on Friday. West Ridge will visit Elizabethton on Friday.