University School Basketball News

University School Basketball News - Our Bucs have been keeping the courts hot over break.  The following articles were printed in the Johnson City Press:

 High school roundup:: David Crockett rolls to big win over University High
Jeff Birchfield
January 4, 2022
 

David Crockett wasn’t fooling around this time.

The Pioneers scored the first eight points of the game and rolled to a 74-38 win over University High in Tuesday evening boys basketball action at Pioneer Gym.

Crockett led 38-16 at the half in a far cry from the teams’ first meeting, when the Pioneers had to rally from an 18-point deficit to overcome the Bucs.

Dawson Wagner had 14 first-half points and 31 overall to lead Crockett. He hit six shots from 3-point range.

“I thought we ran the ball well,” David Crockett coach Cody Connell said. “Some nights you aren’t shooting, but you can always run the floor and defend. We were pushing the ball in transition. We saw the guy with the hot hand in Dawson and we got the ball to him.”

 
Seth Britton contributed 11 points and Clint Pierce added eight in the victory. University High was led by A.J. Murphy with 10 points. Jackson Noland came off the bench to score eight.

.... 

====================================================================================================================================================

 Science Hill defeats Kentucky squad in Daytona tournament
Jeff Birchfield
Dec 28, 2021

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Keynan Cutlip and Jamar Livingston combined for 34 points as Science Hill defeated Martin County, Kentucky 56-40 on day two of the Daytona Beach Sunshine Classic at Seabreeze High School.

...

University High 70, Palmetto Christian, S.C. 40
CHARLESTON, S.C. — John Carter scored 12 points in the first quarter and went on to finish with a game-high 28. A.J. Murphy added 12 as the Bucs rolled over the Eagles.

...

====================================================================================================================================================

 High school roundup: David Crockett picks up road win over Twin Springs
Staff reports
Dec 18, 2021

NICKELSVILLE, Va. — Dawson Wagner came through with an all-around effort as David Crockett captured a 63-55 win at Twin Springs on Saturday.

Wagner paced the Pioneers with 16 points, six assists and four rebounds. Ethan Barnett scored 13 and Jacob Ayers was next in line with a dozen. Gavin Pearce ended with eight points and Gage Peterson pulled down 12 rebounds.

Twin Springs leaders were Connor Lane, who went over 1,000 points for his career, and Bradley Owens with 17 points each. Ryan Horne hit double figures with 11.

Jellico 65, University High 61
Gracin Gerber helped the visiting Blue Devils have the winning formula with 18 points. Chase Shelby offered up 15 points and Garrett McNealy finished with 14.

 
John Carter posted a game-high 21 points for University High. A.J. Murphy scored 12 and Hank Stott finished with 10 for the Bucs.

Providence Academy 71, ACTS 16
The Knights dominated action, leading to a continuous running clock in the second half.

Andrew Lawrence led the way with 17 points, three assists and three steals. Sam McAllister scored 12 points, followed by Jayme Peay with 10 points.

James Reese accounted for eight points, six assists, six steals and four rebounds.

Sullivan East 89, South Greene 60
ROGERSVILLE — Dylan Bartley, the 2020-21 Johnson City Press/Kingsport Times News Northeast Tennessee player of the year, scored 31 points in the Patriots’ conquest of the Rebels.

Logan Murray added 15 points to the mix and Ashton Davison came through with eight.

Clint Lamb led the Rebel charge with 14 points. Luke Myers provided a dozen points with nine coming from Cooper Kelly and eight courtesy of T.J. Buckner.

King’s Academy 68, Cherokee 35
ROGERSVILLE — Damjam Simun scored 20 points as the Lions defeated the host Chiefs in the Big H BBQ Christmas Bash. Harrison Rollins added 11 points and 10 rebounds in victory.

Cherokee, which was short-handed by the flu and injuries, was led by Colin Ryan with 12 points and six rebounds. Colten McLain netted nine points.

GIRLS

Farragut 61, Science Hill 45
KNOXVILLE — Ace Strickland poured in 25 points as the Lady Admirals downed the Lady ’Toppers. Carly Vining and Ashlyn Sheridan contributed nine points each to the Farragut total.

Katherine Patton was Science Hill’s leading scorer with 11 points. She was trailed by Colleen Coughlin and Lexi Green with nine each.

Volunteer 70, Hancock County 20
ROGERSVILLE — The Lady Falcons limited the Lady Indians to six points in the second half for a blowout win.

 
Kendra Huff had the big offensive output with 25 points. Jacie Begley and Veda Barton each scored 12 points.

Cassi Dalton had five to lead Hancock County.

Jellico 52, University High 34
Catie Leonard paced the Lady Bucs with 14 points and teammate Anna Wells finished with 10.

===================================================================================================================================

 NICU beginning hasn't kept UH's Weems from flourishing
Douglas Fritz
Dec 15, 2021

Fifteen seconds.

That’s how long Larry Weems had to hold his son, Brady, before the newborn baby was whisked away by medical personnel.

And for the weeks following that brief connection, Larry and his family faced the same questions and concerns every parent goes through with a premature birth.

And while some of the neonatal intensive care unit stories are heartbreaking, Brady’s journey is a picture of encouragement. Brady is not only a healthy 15-year-old, he’s a basketball player at University High. And a pretty good one.

He’s also a good student, with an impressive attitude. Brady expressed to his dad he wasn’t sure about agreeing to a newspaper story because he didn’t want to draw attention away from his team or teammates.

 
“I love my teammates,” Brady said. “I love playing at University High and I love the coaching staff. It’s not about me. It’s about my teammates and trying to have a good team.”

But Brady said he wanted to be an encouragement to others who have gone through similar challenges.

“I always felt like a normal kid physically,” said Brady, who is a 5-foot-7 freshman guard for the Buccaneers. “I never thought of myself as different. I never think of myself as being premature.”

DECEMBER 2006
Larry and Brady’s mother, Lauren, were hopeful of a full-term pregnancy after getting past a scare in the summer of that year. But Brady was born on Dec. 9, about seven weeks premature. He weighed five pounds, but actually lost weight during his month-long stay in the NICU.

Larry was coaching the Elizabethton’s girls basketball team, trying to negotiate time at the hospital while keeping his team together.

“I remember we couldn’t stay the night at the hospital,” Larry said. “We could only go at certain times. We couldn’t take him home.”

One Sunday after church, Larry and Lauren arrived at the hospital just as they were wheeling Brady’s incubator down the hall. Brady was being checked for encephalitis.

“It seemed like it was something every other day,” Larry said of the tests on Brady. “Check for this, check for that.

“I know some people that were in there when Brady was in there. This is the down side. One child has had some lifelong problems. There was a kid in there that weighed 14 ounces and looked like a baby squirrel. I don’t know what happened to that child. I remember asking a nurse if that child had any chance of living, and she said actually he does.”

 
FINALLY HOME
The challenges didn’t stop once they got Brady home. One day, Larry was watching him and he noticed Brady was turning blue.

“I picked him up and he came back to color,” Larry said.

As it turned out, Brady simply had reflux. Larry had to build him a ramp to put in his crib, so Brady could sleep at a slightly upright angle to prevent reflux.

Then there was the heart monitor, which Brady had to wear for the first year of his life.

“That thing would go off in the middle of the night and we would think he had stopped breathing,” Larry said. “But every time it was just a lead coming off, thank the Lord.”

MORE OBSTACLES
Brady hit a low spell when he was two years old.

“He had a chest cold and it got worse,” Larry said. “We eventually took him to the Johnson City Medical Center. He was in the ICU for 12 days with viral pneumonia.”

It was during this time where Larry got a vivid picture of how things can go the other way.

“Another kid the same age as Brady went into an ICU room beside Brady, and he didn’t come out,” Larry said. “And it was touch and go for Brady. Then he needed physical therapy to learn how to walk again. The first two years were just brutal.”

TURNING AROUND
Larry said Brady began to do much better after those early struggles. Brady took a liking to a Fisher Price basketball goal his dad got for him.

“He would shoot on that thing for hours and hours,” Larry said. “He just liked basketball. We started playing one on one. I lowered the goal to seven feet so he wouldn’t shoot from his hip.”

Eventually Brady got good enough to compete with dad. They played a best-of-seven series and Brady was up 19-0 in game seven. But Larry scored 21 straight.

 
Brady didn’t take the loss too well, but he’s still getting better.

“Playing one-on-one with my dad made me love basketball even more,” Brady said.

These days, he sees significant minutes for UH despite being in his first year of varsity basketball. He’s a sharp shooter who also enjoys playing on the defensive end of the court.

OTHER INTERESTS
Brady also plays tennis, which is the main reason he wound up at University High instead of a transition from Ridgeview Elementary to Daniel Boone.

“UH has a co-op with Unicoi County for tennis,” Larry said. “That’s one reason he didn’t go to Boone, because Boone doesn’t have a tennis program.”

Brady also plays piano, guitar and takes his grades seriously, currently carrying a 4.0 GPA.

But basketball stays at the top of his list.

“It’s definitely my passion,” Brady said. “I love basketball. I really like tennis, but if I had to play one of them, it would be basketball.”

A HOPE
Larry said he wanted to encourage people who are going through the same challenges faced by Brady.

“There were some bleak times,” he said. “Pray about it. Brady came out unscathed. And we’ve run into people he’s played against in AAU ball, and they said their kid was premature, too. With today’s technology the chances are pretty good they can live a normal life. Brady is a functioning normal kid, and there is hope.”

Brady said he hopes others who have been through things like him won’t be overcome with discouragement.

“I just say keep pushing,” Brady said. “Don’t give up. Keep fighting every day and keep working at it. And work hard. You have to work hard at it.”

 
Larry hasn’t coached at the high school level in 15 years, and he said he has learned a lot in that time.

“At the time I thought it was the most important thing in the world,” Larry said. “Now that I’ve pulled away from it, I realize more than ever it’s a game. Have fun, compete, shake hands, go home and get your homework done. That’s where it’s at. It’s not just about sports.”

==============================================================================================================================================================

 High school roundup:: Johnson County overtakes Elizabethton in second OT
Jeff Birchfield
Dec 14, 2021
 

ELIZABETHTON — Preston Greer poured in 44 points to lead Johnson County to a 101-85 double overtime win at Elizabethton on Tuesday night.

Zack Parsons added 25 in the Longhorns’ triumph. Nathan Ball scored 15 points and Dalton Robinson totaled 11.

Jake Roberts was Elizabethton’s top producer with 20 points. Seth Carter and Kaleb Hambrick each scored 13 and Dalton Mitchell finished with 10.

Chuckey-Doak 76, University High 58
Cadin Tullock scored 19 points as Chuckey-Doak defeated University High at Brooks Gym.

Christian Demy added a dozen points for the Black Knights, who received 10 points each from Roberto Vasquez and Isaiah Treadway.

 
Hank Stott led University High’s efforts with 13 points. John Carter scored 11 for the Bucs with A.J. Murphy coming through with 10 and Joseph Armstrong recording eight.

...

GIRLS

..

Chuckey-Doak 64, University High 24
Down by 15 points at the half, the Lady Bucs suffered a tough loss when guard Vanya Ortiz went down with an ankle injury.

In her absence, UH was outscored 14-0 in the third quarter. Hayleigh Hensley led the Lady Knights with 13 points. Bre Roberts scored nine points and Hayleigh Taylor finished with eight.

Catie Leonard was University High’s leading scorer with eight and Ortiz finished with six.

 .....