View from 315A

On Wednesday night, I joined JTL, his wife JiL, and MPW at Bearden High School for the final game of that night’s Rocky Top Basketball League. We all wanted to see the marquee match up of Tyler Smith’s HT Group team against Scotty Hopson’s Ray’s ESG squad. With the league’s shortened schedule, it was to be the only meeting between the two during the summer.

The game was phenomenal and the glorified pickup game became hotly contested in the second half. ETSU standout Courtney Pigram sent the game into overtime with an amazing fall away 36-foot three-point basket contested by two defenders with no time remaining on the clock. In overtime, he hit another three-point basket to win the game, 131-128 for the HT Group. Pigram finished with 45 points. He was 17-of-29 from the floor, and 11-of-12 beyond the 3-point arc including 3-of-3 in overtime.

The most intriguing aspect of the game, pitted Tennessee’s two incoming point guards against each other. Junior college transfer Bobby Maze completely outclassed freshman Daniel West. Maze scored a game-high 47 while continually talking trash to his rival. Maze hit 17 of 29 shots from the floor and 11-of-16 from the foul line. Maze, one of the few players who plays defense in the league, even got a five-second call on West. He also drove the lane and hit a bucket (and subsequent foul shot) over two defenders with less than ten seconds remaining in regulation that would have won the game for his team if not for Pigram’s heroics. Maze scored all eight of his team’s point in overtime. Though overmatched by his thug-like teammate, West did, however, play far better on Wednesday than Monday finishing with 15 points.

Despite being overshadowed, Smith and Hopson did entertain with some fantastic dunks. Smith finished with 29 points on 14-of-21 shooting and 12 rebounds while Hopson scored 33 on 13-of-29 shooting (6-of-7 at the free throw line) adding 13 rebounds. Hopson’s two high scoring outings could still be classified as quiet. Hopson also eased my fears that he will follow in the footsteps of the similarly built and hyped Vincent Yarbrough, a highly touted McDonald’s All-American who underwhelmed due to poor work ethic by diving for a loose ball in the hotly contested second half.

South-Doyle High School graduate and Coastal Carolina junior to-be Logan Johnson was also impressive with 23 points on an array of dunks and jump shots.

In the most important stats of the game, Steven Pearl drew his first charge 17:21 into the first half. He had two convincing (to me) flops while guarding Tyler Smith at the 5:56 and 14:04 marks of the second half but no fouls were called. Yes, amazingly, Pearl went a half without getting a charge called.

In other Rocky Top League news: Emmanuel Negedu, the nation’s highest-rated unsignedplayer announced his commitment to the Vols on Tuesday, selecting Tennessee over Georgia Tech, Indiana and Memphis...Wayne Chism childishly sat during the second half of his game after being criticized by teammates for his lack of hustle...The News-Sentinel team played without incoming UT freshman Phillip Jurick, who is out with an undisclosed foot injury. ... UT center Brian Williams did not show up as he had a strain in the weight room that needed to heal. . ... Incoming UT freshman Renaldo Woolridge isn't enrolling until the second term of summer school (July 7) and likely will not play in the league despite being on the News-Sentinel roster....The P.A. announcer is still the most obnoxious person in Knoxville.

Rocky Top League summaries for June 18.

News Sentinel 104 (52, 52) , Toyota of Knoxville 96 (50, 46)
Toyota of Knoxville (104): Wayne Chism 9, Dane Bradshaw 7; Tony White Jr. 14; Jared Stevens 9; Rashard Lee 28; Tanner Wild 2; Kirill Yakovlev 2; Isiah Brown 21; Carlton Hill 3; Andy Tipton 9.
News Sentinel (96): Jalen Steele 22; Damon Johnson 11; Raul Placras 13; Cameron Sharp 4; Chauncey Thompson 3; Keith Bauer 7; Ron Slay 30; Jeremy Saffore 6.

Richardson Construction 122 (60, 62), First Tennessee 118 (52, 66)
Richardson Construction (122): Adam Plavich 6; Skylar McBee 16; Andy Hill 3; Terrence Oglesby 35; Josh Tabb 28; Michael Blue 19; Bobby Guyton 4; John Mueller 11.
First Tennessee (118): Dustin Brown 3; Justin Walker 8; Eryk Watson 9; John Higgins 14; Jordan Johnson 4; Chris Carney 2; Cameron Tatum 42; Boo Jackson 30; Ben Bosse 4; Marko Costic 2.

HT Group 131 (66, 54, 11), Ray’s ESG 128 (57, 63, 8)
HT Group (131): Courtney Pigram 45; Tyler Smith 29; Daniel West 15; Cole Rose 4; Ryan Walden 2; Michael Jenkins 23; Kyle Huckins 2; Greg Hamlin 11.
Ray’s ESG (128): Mario McClurie 2; Alex Bowers 4; Logan Johnson 23; James Gallman 3; Steven Pearl 7; Bobby Maze 47; Scotty Hopson 33; Ben Williamson 9.