A better breakthrough victory couldn’t have been scripted for first-year David Crockett coach John Good.His son, sophomore point guard Patrick Good, scored a game-high 21 points as the Pioneers all but eliminated Science Hill’s Big Seven Conference title hopes with a 60-41 victory on Friday at David Crockett.With one conference game remaining, Science Hill (8-3, 18-9) fell in to a second-place tie with Tennessee High (8-3, 18-6) and a game behind Dobyns-Bennett (9-2, 15-8). David Crockett improved to 6-5 in the league and 17-10 overall.Before leaving for Jonesborough in the offseason, John Good played at Science Hill and was an assistant coach there. The Hilltoppers won conference championships each of the past five seasons while Good’s sons Patrick and C.J., a senior last season, helped produce titles.Playing spoiler was sweet, but watching his Pioneers continue to jell was more gratifying for the first-year head coach.“Our kids have played extremely hard and the seniors are in an extremely difficult situation going from one coach to another,” Good said. “And I’ve thrown a lot of things at them. We’ve been close, at times. I’ve told them we play 27- and 28-minute games and it’s a 32-minute game. “Tonight, we weren’t perfect. We made some bad decisions and didn’t hit all of our shots. But the kids played hard, and as long as they play hard we’ll always have an opportunity to win.”The Pioneers had an excellent opportunity to win at Science Hill in the previous meeting this season, but faded late with turnovers and ill-advised shots. But there was no rally in these cold-shooting Hilltoppers, who missed 23 of 24 from 3-point distance. In fact, they were down double digits the entire second half and no closer than 11 points the final 18:35.Patrick Good scored more points than any two Hilltoppers combined. His trey from the left corner beat the third quarter buzzer and gave Crockett a 50-30 lead, all but assuring Pioneers fans that they wouldn’t have to endure another Science Hill rally.“We’ve got a lot of sophomores and it was kind of early in the season,” Patrick Good said. “So we didn’t know how to finish games … because we lost at Dobyns-Bennett and Unicoi and all those games. I guess, as the season goes on, we have to learn from our mistakes and just keep building. …“It feels great. I don’t even know what to say. I’m speechless. This is the first game we really played as a team and I’m just proud of everybody, because they contributed when we needed that rebound, box-out. … And when we got on top we … just didn’t let ‘em go.”The noise generated by a near-capacity crowd might’ve peaked when Good drove in transition to bank in a double-clutch shot high off the glass while drawing a foul. He completed the three-point play for a 59-37 lead with 2:20 left, and Science Hill fans began heading for the exits.“He’s not afraid to take a big shot and he’s not afraid to make a big pass,” John Good said. “He plays with reckless abandon, and sometimes that’s good and sometimes that’s bad. But he likes to get his team involved … and they just feed off each other.”Day scored eight of his 14 points in the second half. Long-armed 6-foot-5 Science Hill transfer Brendan Coleman blocked five shots, altered several others and had a couple of driving assists that created points in the paint. And he played arguably his best game of the season in the teams’ previous meeting.“It’s fun playing against my friends that I’ve played with all my life, basically,” Coleman said.Coleman alleviates some of the ball-handling pressure from Good, and his flashes of versatility included two 16-footers he made off the dribble.“Brendan’s playing more consistent,” John Good said. “Dustin Day showing up and playing big was huge.”Crockett got a lift in the post from 6-foot-5 senior southpaw Tyler Page, who scored eight interior points banking in jump-hooks from just beyond the left block and a turnaround on the right block.Meanwhile, Science Hill was making open jumpers look as difficult as those that were well defended. Thanks to their 3-point woes, the Hilltoppers, a jump-shooting team, shot 23 percent from the field.“To have a chance to win, you’ve got to make shots at some point,” Science Hill coach Ken Cutlip said. “I thought we got the same shots we got one week ago … against Sullivan Central (in a 93-40 Science Hill win).”Cutlip received a technical foul with 1:36 left in the first quarter. He sat the majority of the half’s remainder. Leading scorer Calvin Songster sat most of the first half too with two fouls.Cutlip was quick to credit Patrick Good, Coleman (five points, five blocks) and Dustin Day (14 points).“I thought we were ready to play,” Cutlip said. “Crockett handled the ball extremely well and had kids make tough shots that I thought were contested.”Songster led Science Hill with nine points. Kaden Wampler added eight.The victory spurred much discussion about Crockett’s last win against Science Hill. Two victories that came to mind for various Crockett administrators and former players were ones that apparently occurred in the 1996-97 and ’83-84 seasons.Science Hill hosts Volunteer for Senior Night on Tuesday. Crockett hosts West Greene on Monday.Science Hill (girls) 80David Crockett 37Senior post Gabby Lyon paced four double-digit scorers with 19 points as second-ranked Science Hill remained unbeaten (11-0, 26-0) while winning its 49th straight regular-season league game.Junior wing Keisha Gregory (17), senior point guard Tianna Tarter (15) and senior forward Baylee Head (10) also scored in double figures for the Lady Hilltoppers.The Lady Pioneers (2-9, 4-19) played well for most of the first half. Heather Scalf (13 points) made all three of her 3-pointers in the second quarter, and Science Hill coach Keith Turner took a timeout when Scalf’s second one cut the Lady ‘Toppers’ lead to 28-20 with 5 1/2 minutes left in the first half.Science Hill subsequently concluded the half on a 16-3 run that included six of Lyon’s points.“We play really hard, but down that stretch and at crucial times we just don’t make the right decisions,” Crockett coach Will Conley said. “And then they get on a run. … We played better. I see a lot of positives. There are things that have got to be fixed, but we’re getting better.”Tarter scored 13 of her points in the first half, including nine in the first quarter.“Tianna’s started shooting the ball more and shooting the ball well,” Conley said. “She’s a really good player – a D-I player. You’ve got to account for her at all times. And you’ve got to account for Keisha and Gabby. That’s why they’re so tough.”Lyon scored 13 of her 19 in the first half and rewarded Tarter’s backdoor cut with high-post bounce-pass for a layup.Gregory made two Science Hill’s four treys. Head made the others.Science Hill hosts Volunteer for Senior Night on Tuesday, and West Greene visits Crockett on Monday.---Earlier reportA better breakthrough victory couldn’t have been scripted for first-year David Crockett coach John Good.His son, sophomore point guard Patrick Good, scored a game-high 21 points as the Pioneers all but eliminated Science Hill’s Big Seven Conference title hopes with a 60-41 victory on Friday at David Crockett.John Good played at Science Hill and was an assistant coach there before leaving for Jonesborough in the offseason.The Pioneers had Science Hill on the ropes in the previous meeting this season, but faded at the finish.“We’ve got a lot of sophomores and it was kind of early in the season,” Patrick Good said. “So we didn’t know how to finish games … because we lost at Dobyns-Bennett and Unicoi and all those games. I guess, as the season goes on, we have to learn from our mistakes and just keep building. …“It feels great. I don’t even know what to say. I’m speechless. This is the first game we really played as a team and I’m just proud of everybody, because they contributed when we needed that rebound, box-out … and when we got on top we … just didn’t let ‘em go.”The Pioneers led 31-20 at halftime and stretched it to 50-30 when Good beat the third quarter buzzer with a trey from the left corner. Crockett got a lift in the post from 6-foot-5 senior southpaw Tyler Page, who scored eight interior points banking in jump-hooks from the left block and a turnaround on the right block.“Our kids have played extremely hard and the seniors are in an extremely difficult situation going from one coach to another,” John Good said. “And I’ve thrown a lot of things at them. We’ve been close, at times. I’ve told them we play 27- and 28-minute games and it’s a 32-minute game. “Tonight, we weren’t perfect. We made some bad decisions and didn’t hit all of our shots. But the kids played hard, and as long as they play hard we’ll always have an opportunity to win.”The Hilltoppers, a jump-shooting team, made 1 of 24 from 3-point range and shot 23 percent from the field.“You shoot 23 percent from the field – and they weren’t all threes – to have a chance to win, you’ve got to make shots at some point,” Science Hill coach Ken Cutlip said. “I thought we got the same shots we got one week ago … against Sullivan Central (in a 93-40 Science Hill win).”Cutlip was quick to credit Patrick Good, fellow Science Hill transfer Brendan Coleman (five points, five blocks) and Dustin Day (14 points).“I thought we were ready to play,” Cutlip said. “Crockett handled the ball extremely well and had kids make tough shots that I thought were contested.”Calvin Songster led Science Hill with nine points. Kaden Wampler added eight.Science Hill (girls) 80David Crockett 37Senior post Gabby Lyon paced four double-figure scorers with 19 points as second-ranked Science Hill remained unbeaten (11-0, 27-0).Junior wing Keisha Gregory (17), senior point guard Tianna Tarter (15) and senior forward Baylee Head (10) also scored in double figures for the Lady Hilltoppers.The Lady Pioneers played well for most of the first half. Heather Scalf (13 points) made all three of her 3-pointers in the second quarter, and Science Hill coach Keith Turner took a timeout when Scalf’s second one cut the Lady ‘Toppers’ lead to 28-20 with 5 1/2 minutes left in the first half.Science Hill subsequently concluded the half on a 16-3 run that included six of Lyon’s points.“We play really hard, but down that stretch and at crucial times we just don’t make the right decisions,” Crockett coach Will Conley said. “And then they get on a run. … We played better. I see a lot of positives. There are things that have got to be fixed, but we’re getting better.”Tarter scored 13 of her points in the first half, including nine in the first quarter.“Tianna’s started shooting the ball more and shooting the ball well,” Conley said. “She’s a really good player – a D-I player. You’ve got to account for her at all times. And you’ve got to account for Keisha and Gabby. That’s why they’re so tough.”
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