Blue Devils' run ends at Chattanooga Prep

CHATTANOOGA — Unicoi County's visit on Monday night to the Scenic City was a nightmarish view filled with 13 dunks from No. 1-ranked Chattanooga Prep in an 82-58 defeat in the Class 2A sectional. The win puts the Sentinels (19-11) back in the state tournament for a fourth straight year. Prep will attempt to win its third straight state title, having won the last two Class 1A tournaments. Unicoi County's Jackson Simmons gave it all he had, scoring a game-high 33 points and finishing out his career with 2,823 points. He finished out as Northeast Tennessee's fourth all-time leading scorer for the boys. Cade Peterson was also in double-figures for Unicoi, netting 12. "I'm just so thankful for the coaches and teammates I've had," an emotional Simmons said. "I could've gone some other places, but I wouldn't have wanted to be anywhere else." But it was fellow Mr. Basketball finalist Derrick Roberson — winner of the last two state tournament MVPs — that's got the last laugh, scoring 30. Teammate Reid Conley also had a solid outing, netting 28. Tavion Foster also contributed 15. The Sentinels shot an eye-popping 72% from the field (36-for-50) and forced 17 Blue Devil turnovers. "That was a good ball club we played tonight and they looked like a college team out there," Unicoi coach Brandon Broyles said. "If you let them get in the open floor and in transition, they're very hard to contain and a tough animal to stop. "(Conley) killed us tonight, beating us off the dribble and beating our help-side defense." The Devils (25-10) got the full dosage of the full-court press from the outset and could never solve it. Simmons would get the ball on the inbound, dribble into a double-team of Roberson and Conley then throw an ill-advised, cross-court pass to a sprinting Chattanooga Prep defender. "The length really bothered us," Broyles said. "They're all about 6-foot-2 and in the back, there's a 6-foot-9 kid and a 6-foot-7 kid." The recent run for the Blue Devils is a special one, having gone to the sectional three out of four years and going to the state tournament in 2023 for the first time since 1986. Simmons and plenty of others built a foundation that will carry into the next generation of players. "I told them in the locker room that they have nothing to be ashamed of and we've had a great year," Broyles said. "Coach (Jordan) Simmons did a great job with these kids the last three years and I just had to stay out of the way this year. They are a great group of kids and the seniors had a great run."