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The University High Buccaneers were hitting shot left and right shooting 47 percent from the field in a 71-29 win over Providence from late Friday night.

Kaleb Meredith netted 28 points while Marshall Fleenor had 16 as the Buccaneers made quick work of the Knights on Friday night.

The Buccaneers nailed seven 3-pointers in the game and had 25 points in the third quarter to pull away.

UH had 22 points off turnovers and 41 total rebounds. Seven different players got a bucket for the Bucs.

KINGSPORT — Cole Layne scored 22 points as Sullivan South held off David Crockett 63-58 in non-conference basketball action on Tuesday night.

Gavin Parker had 14 points, which included four shots from 3-point range. Gannon Chase and Chase Bowery each finished with nine points for the Rebels.

Mack Hensley and Ayden Begley scored 15 points apiece to lead the Pioneers. Donta Hackler also finished in double digits with 13 points.

Asheville School 61, University High 53

The Blues had three players in double figures — Major Eason with 14 points, Titus Murrison with 12 and Chris Hemphill with 11 to defeat the Bucs.

Kaleb Meredith had a game-high 21 points for University High, which also got 14 points from Marshall Fleenor.

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University High and David Crockett rolled to easy wins Tuesday on the opening night of the 29th annual Hardee's Classic basketball tournament at David Crockett High School.

The Bucs pulled away to an 81-63 victory over five-time Hardee's champion Unicoi County in the first game of the tournament. After its record-setting season on the football field, Crockett romped to an 81-44 win against Claiborne.

In other quarterfinals, Volunteer beat Sullivan South on a last-second shot while Daniel Boone's game with South-Doyle had extended into double overtime at press time.

In the tournament opener, Kaleb Meredith led five University High players in double-digits with 20 points. Marshall Fleenor ended with 17 points, followed by Jake Hubbard with 13 and Colin Daniel and Mason Broome with 11 each.

"It feels good to win over that kind of program, which has had so much success in this tournament," Penley said. "One of the things I'm most proud to see is to have five guys in double figures. That shows how our guys shared the basketball. I thought our defense really picked up in the second half, too."

Ahead by just three points at the half, the Bucs outscored the Blue Devils 20-2 over the first six and a half minutes of the third quarter and never looked back.

Brock Thompson was Unicoi County's leading scorer with 20 points. Brett Lingerfelt tallied 17 and Gavin Casey netted 14.

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Following article printed in the Johnson City Press:

University High stuns Crockett, will face Boone in Hardee's final
Jeff Birchfield • Updated Nov 23, 2018 at 11:40 PM
jbirchfield@johnsoncitypress.com

Kaleb Meredith and Colin Daniel combined to score 50 points as University High rallied from a six-point deficit late in the fourth quarter deficit to stun host David Crockett 62-61 in the first semifinal Friday night at the 29th annual Hardee's Classic basketball tournament.

The Bucs will meet Daniel Boone, a 58-50 winner over Volunteer, in tonight's final scheduled for 8. Crockett will face the Falcons in a third-place game at 6:30 p.m.

Daniel was sent to the free-throw line with 2.6 seconds left and made a pair of winning free throws. Crockett's Dawson Wagner came back with a last-second heave from three-quarters court, which bounced around and off the rim at the buzzer.

Daniel, who scored 18 of 20 points from 3-point range, explained he was confident going to the charity stripe with the game on the line.

"I wasn't thinking about anything but making them," Daniel said. "I knew I was going to make them both. It was a good team win. I couldn't be happier."

Meredith, who finished with a game-high 30 points, was equally effective penetrating with the basketball as shooting outside.

"You just get hot sometimes and start feeling it," Meredith said. "I had a couple of shots not fall in the first quarter, so I took it in and got a few layups. That got me rolling and then, you just have to have the mindset that nobody can guard you."

Still, it looked bleak for University High as Crockett pulled out to a 59-54 lead with 2:04 remaining. However, the Pioneers didn't execute down the stretch, forcing some quick shots and giving up an offensive rebound on a missed free throw, which led to Daniel's opportunity.

"The shots weren't falling and we made some bad decisions," Crockett coach John Good said. "When the shots aren't falling, you have to value the basketball. We're a young team and I encourage them to shoot, but we didn't do it at the right time."

Donta Hackler and Ayden Begley each scored 11 points for Crockett. Wagner added nine points.

Meredith scored the last seven points of the third quarter for University High to give the Bucs a 49-47 lead heading into the final period. Mason Broome grabbed eight rebounds and Marshall Fleenor had eight points and six rebounds for UH.

"This will give our kids a lot of confidence because we have that much respect for Coach Good and his program," University High coach Justin Penley said. "We were down a couple of buckets late, but we kept fighting and kept fighting. Colin stepped up, made the free throws with two seconds left and we were able to get it done tonight."

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Following article printed in the Johnson City Press:

Boone defeats University High to win Hardee's Classic
Jeff Birchfield • Nov 24, 2018 at 10:36 PM
jbirchfield@johnsoncitypress.com

With a combination of lock-down defense and Chad Heglar's hot hand, Daniel Boone won its first-ever Hardee's Classic championship on Saturday night.

The Trailblazers held University High to 21 first-half points and rolled to a 62-46 win in the championship game of the 29th annual basketball tournament at David Crockett High School.

With host Crockett beating Volunteer earlier in the evening, Washington County schools finished 1-2-3 in the tournament.

Tournament MVP Heglar led the way, hitting 11 of 13 shots from the field for 27 points to go with 11 rebounds and two blocked shots. He had scoring totals of 51 and 17 in the first two games for an average of 31.6 points over three games.

"This is the first time for Boone to get to the championship game, so we had to capitalize," Heglar said. "We slowed it down. When their big man was coming up, we would always 'iso,' and we played our style of basketball. We have a lot of depth on this team this year."

That depth included Judah Hilton with eight points and Derek Percell with seven, while Boone coach Chris Brown also talked about the defensive contributions of Zac Saul, Cade Norris and others.

The 'Blazers never let the Bucs get on track, going up by 16 in the second quarter before leading 32-21 at the half. It was 50-31 at the end of three quarters and the lead was up to 58-36 midway through the fourth.

Boone won the rebounding battle 41-23 and employed a defensive strategy focused on closing the gaps and cutting off the passing lanes.

"We focused on really getting after them," Brown said. "We had to get in passing lanes and be real active with our hands and feet. Defensively, I thought it was our best performance of the year. We wanted to be aggressive, take away their driving lanes and get them off the 3-point line. We talk about wanting to impose our style on people and once we got up, I thought we controlled the game tonight."

Kaleb Meredith scored 14 points and Colin Daniel had 13 to lead the Bucs. Jake Hubbard and Marshall Fleenor each finished with seven points. University High had advanced to the title game by beating a pair of five-time Hardee's champions, David Crockett and Unicoi County, earlier in the tournament.

"We learned a lot about ourselves last night and tonight didn't go our way," University High coach Justin Penley said. "We had good shots. We just didn't knock them down. That's just the game of basketball. It happens that way sometimes. But it was a good tournament overall and we get in these types of tournaments to challenge the kids."

A sizzling start was followed by a strong second quarter.

Yes, it was a good opening act for University High's 2018-19 basketball season.

The Buccaneers rolled past Washburn, invoking the mercy rule in a 67-33 whipping Friday night at Brooks Gym.

"You always want to get that first one, and get it out of the way," said Bucs' head coach Justin Penley. "I was really happy with the way our kids came out and competed, especially early on."

In the girls game, University High held off Washburn in overtime, winning 48-43.

DOMINANT

Kaleb Meredith did damage everywhere. He dropped an 18-spot in the points category, knocked down a pair of trey balls, grabbed four o-boards and three d-boards for 11 total rebounds, and even added an assist, steal and a block.

Meredith was part of the mix that allowed UH to build a 22-7 lead after one quarter.

Marshall Fleenor — with 13 points, six rebounds and a pair of 3-pointers — was part of a night where the Bucs seemed to be having fun.

"We want our kids to enjoy their time in high school," said Penley. "A lot of times that comes from winning, so we've got to put the work in every day when we practice so we can have fun in the games."

Jake Hubbard finished with nine points and six rebounds while Charlie Vargo totaled nine points and four rebounds.

UH led 41-15 at halftime and added 10 more points to its lead by the end of the third quarter.

GIRLS

UH held a 12-point fourth-quarter lead, but it didn't last.

Getting nice efforts from Sarah Bailey (20 points) and Tori Coffman (15), Washburn got a late bucket to tie and UH missed a chance to get off a last-second shot in regulation.

Courtney Henley and Calli Newberry each hit a pair of free throws in overtime, and Delaney Trosin added her only bucket of the game. UH outscored Washburn 6-1 in the extra period.

Henley led UH with 15 points. Sarah Fisher hit a trio of treys and finished with 13 points.

Coaches' picks

1. Cloudland

2. University High

3. North Greene

4. Hampton

5. Sullivan North

6. Unaka

There's firepower on the mountain according to the Watauga Valley Conference basketball coaches.

Cloudland is the preseason favorite after returning a number of high scorers including Robert Leeper and Josh Blair, its top two from a year ago. They are two of nine seniors on probably the deepest team, regardless of classification, in Northeast Tennessee.

Other seniors include Jordan Coffey, Josh Stevens, KJ Arnold, Malachi Benfield, Thomas Hicks, Dillon Johnson and Israel Boone. But, like the information, wait there's more — the junior class includes Conner Birchfield, Logan Barnett, Hunter Shell and Hayden Shell. Throw in a couple of talented sophomores, Elijah Blair and Bentley Gilbert, and the biggest challenge for coach Gary Harrison is getting everyone playing time.

"There's going to be some competition. I don't know when I will settle on a starting five," Harrison said. "We have a lot of tools, a lot of people who can score. We have all the pieces. We just have to mesh together and sacrifice for each other. If we do that, the sky is the limit for us."

UNIVERSITY HIGH

The Bucs are loaded with their own offensive firepower, boasting a number of players capable of scoring. Like Cloudland, the Bucs were picked ahead of a North Greene team that made the state tournament last season.

A starting five likely consists of Marshall Fleenor (5-9, Jr.) at the point with Colin Daniel (6-0, Sr.) and Kaleb Meredith (6-0, So.) at the wings. Charlie Vargo (6-1, Sr.), who can play both inside or on the perimeter, and Jake Hubbard (6-1, Sr.) are at the posts. Mason Broome (6-1, Jr.) could also start depending on matchups.

Coach Justin Penley pointed out the Bucs are giving up a little size in the post, but are big at the guards with Vargo and Meredith. He added that Hubbard, whom he calls "country strong," will contend underneath, no matter the size of the opponent. He also sees some depth.

"Jake may give up some size, but he's got a knack at the five to be able to create space and get his shot away," Penley said. "Overall, I feel like we're going to be deep with some kids coming off the bench in pivotal roles. I like our team, like our kids and I'm excited to get going."

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