NEWPORT-No surprises were on hand for the beginning as the quarterfinal round of the 2010 Cocke County Elementary Basketball Tournament began on Tuesday night at Cocke County High School.

All three top seeds in Tuesday's quarterfinal round advanced to Friday night's semifinal round. No. 2 girls seed Edgemont received an advantage of playing their quarterfinal affair on Monday night and already advanced to the semifinal round.

No. 1 girls seed Grassy Fork, fresh off of a 16-0 regular season, dispatched Del Rio 53-23 in the only girls contest of the night.

In boys play, No. 1 seed Parrottsville topped No. 9 Northwest 55-24. In Tuesday's first game, No. 2 seed Smoky Mountain, who tied in the regular season standings with Parrottsville, but lost the coin flip, controlled their match-up with No. 7 Del Rio en route to a 61-25 win.

The quarterfinal round continues tonight, as four more slots will be filled leading into Friday's semifinals. In girls play, No. 4 Cosby will play No. 5 Centerview beginning at 5 p.m. and No. 3 Bridgeport will take on No. 6 Smoky Mountain at 7:30 p.m.

In the remaining two boys quarterfinals, No. 4 Bridgeport plays No. 5 Cosby at 6:15 p.m. and No. 3 Edgemont plays No. 6 Grassy Fork at 8:45 p.m.

 

GRASSY GIRLS STAY PERFECT

Off of their best regular season in school history, the Grassy Fork Lady Ravens continued to impress on Tuesday night.

Grassy Fork opened the game by taking a 30-11 halftime advantage with smothering half court defense and an offensive explosion. Dessie Shaffer scored 15 of her game-high 24 points in the first 12 minutes of the game.

The Lady Ravens continued to widen their lead in the third quarter, holding a 46-21 advantage en route to the victory to send them into Friday's semifinal round.

Del Rio was led in scoring by Autumn Stokley, who kept Del Rio in the game with seven of her team's 10 third quarter points.

Grassy Fork (53): Dessie Shaffer 24, Peyton Johnson 10, Wendy McGaha 9, Kate Mae Lanzon 8, Kaitlyn Thompson 2.

Del Rio (23): Autumn Stokely 12, Jaycie Langston 6, Angel Mayes 3, Emily Stinson 1, Kristen Conard 1.

 

TOP-SEEDED PARROTTSVILLE CRUISES

The Parrottsville Parrots were in a hurry to claim their spot in the semifinal round, by exploding to an early lead in the last game of play on Tuesday night against Northwest.

Parrottsville led 21-4 at the end of the first quarter off a successful inside-outside game plan. Forward Jerick Varner had eight points at the end of the first quarter and guard Ike Rouleau, who played through illness, tallied all six of his points in the opening period.

The team later extended their lead to 34-15 at halftime.

Parrottsville added onto their lead in the third quarter, leading 44-18, despite exclusively playing only their reserves.

Northwest was led in scoring by Francisco Torres' 11 points, including eight which came in the opening half.

Parrottsville (55): Jerick Varner 15, DJ Holt 8, Ike Rouleau 6, Tate Messer 6, Seth Lovell 5, Ty Chatman 4, Thomas Shehee 3, Tyler Green 2, Christopher Huff 2, Samuel Hooper 2, Stephen Brown 2.

Northwest (24): Francisco Torres 11, Michael Hembree 5, Kinsler Rea 4, Jacob Nease 3, Bryson James 1.

 

NO. 2 BEARS ROLL

Second-seeded Smoky Mountain was unmerciful in their pounding of Del Rio in the first game of Tuesday's quarterfinal round.

The Bears sped out to a 14-7 lead after a quarter, but turned up the notches over the second quarter as they led 30-14.

Smoky Mountain captured their early lead on a balanced scoring effort as Max Weeks and Jacob Grooms each had eight first half points and Lucas Weeks had seven.

The team continued their defensive pressure on the Trojans in the third quarter by outscoring Del Rio 16-4 in the period to build their lead to 46-18.

Smoky then outscored the Trojans 15-7 over the final six minutes for their final margin of victory.

Del Rio was led in scoring by Hunter Phillips, who scored seven of his team-high 12 points in the second half.

Smoky Mountain (61): Max Weeks 16, Jacob Grooms 10, Lucas Weeks 9, Justin Shelton 8, Cody Valentine 6, Jordan Self 5, Dereck Weeks 3, Jackie Gibson 2, Jonathan Douglas 2.

Del Rio (25): Hunter Phillips 12, Shawn Sells 7, Logan Black 4, Blake Daniels 2.

 

RADIO

WLIK, AM-1270, will be broadcasting both consolation games and both championship games from the Cocke County Elementary Basketball Tournament this Saturday, February 6, at Cocke County High School Gymnasium.

Brian Evans will have the play-by-play beginning with the girl's consolation game at 4 p.m.