SALE CREEK, Tenn. | Grey Todd had himself quite a night here Thursday. And, because of it, Scott High is off to a 2-0 start to the season.
The senior scored 21 points in the Highlanders’ opener against Tennessee Christian, then turned around and recorded a double-double, with 20 points and 11 rebounds, in Scott’s 47-38 win over Marion County.
The first game of the night, against Tennessee Christian, was never close. The Hawks, based in Cleveland, Tenn., were coming off a come-from-behind win over host Sale Creek. But against the Highlanders, the competitive phase of the game was over quickly. Scott raced to an 18-4 lead out of the gate, then cruised to a 72-45 win.
Todd hit three 3-pointers and was 9 of 15 from the field as he rolled up a game-high 21 points. Skye Babb added a pair of 3-pointers and finished with 16 points.
Brady Strunk pulled down a team-high 10 rebounds, while Kayleb Woodward finished with eight boards.
The Highlanders shot 57% as a team, including 53% from 3-point range, but were only 46% from the free throw line, hitting 10 of 22 attempts.
Nine different players finished in the scoring column for Scott High in Rusty Yaden’s debut as head coach at his alma mater.
For the Highlanders, Thursday’s game was the first without Trey Morrow, Luke West and Dalton Prewitt, the trio of guards who guided the program to one of its best stretches of basketball in its history.
SCOTT (72): Todd 21, Babb 16, Garrett 9, Woodward 7, Strunk 6, Lloyd 4, Washam 3, Jeffers 3, Goodman 3.
TN CHRISTIAN (45): Arwine 18, White 5, England 4, D. Vinson 4, T. Vinson 4, Hamby 3, Munoz 3, Johnson 2, Hannah 2.
Scott 47, Marion County 38
Points were hard to come by in the second half of Thursday’s double-header. Perhaps part of it was fatigue; the Highlanders tipped off against Marion County at 9 p.m., less than 15 minutes after putting the finishing touches on a win over Tennessee Christian. Perhaps part of it was Marion County’s zone defense, which attempted to marginalize the Highlanders’ height advantage inside and force outside shots.
Either way, Marion County was successful in holding Scott High in check offensively, but struggled to put its own points on the board in a 47-38 loss.
The game was still much in doubt deep into the fourth quarter, as Highlander fans who made the trip to Sale Creek became increasingly irate at an officiating crew that seemed to delight in blowing whistles and eliciting a reaction. Multiple Highlander buckets were wiped off the board by illegal screen calls that left Scott High fans fuming.
Grey Todd had his second big game of the night, recording a double-double with 20 points and 11 rebounds to guide his team to its second win of the young season. Junior Toby Garrett added 10 points and was 6 of 9 from the free throw line.
Brady Strunk finished with a team-high four steals. Scott Jeffers had three assists.
As a team, the Highlanders shot just 39% from the field and 21% from 3-point range after being much hotter in the first game. They were 54% from the free throw line.
Marion County continued to hang around as the game progressed, at one point closing to within a point midway through the fourth quarter.
An and-one score by Garrett gave the Highlanders a bit of breathing room that they would not relinquish, and Marion County struggled to make shots down the stretch. The Highlanders also ratcheted up their defensive pressure, with Todd and Jeffers effecting several turnovers down the stretch.
SCOTT (47): Todd 20, Garrett 10, Babb 8, Woodward 5, Strunk 2, Jeffers 2.
MARION CO. (38): T. Pickett 13, Hobank 8, Wilson 7, S. Pickett 6, 6, Brady 2, Miller 1, Sayler 1.
