Junior guard Jakobi Gillespie (3) and Greeneville took on Bolivar Central in a TSSAA Class AA state quarterfinal at Murphy Center in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, on Wednesday, March 17, 2021. The Greene Devils won 61-58. (Photo by Danny Parker)
By JESSE SMITHEY
MURFREESBORO — Greeneville boys’ basketball coach Brad Woolsey felt pretty confident in his scout of Bolivar, the Greene Devils’ first-round opponent Wednesday in the Class AA state tournament.
Since winning a sectional game over Fulton on March 8, Woolsey had more than a week to put out feelers and requests for info on the Tigers.
He got his hands on a handful of game films and noticed one common factor about Bolivar.
“They could shoot. And they were maybe a little bit streaky on their shooting,” Woolsey said.
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Boy, were they.
Despite leading by as many as 12 in the fourth quarter, Greeneville withstood a palpable comeback by Bolivar that nearly turned the Murphy Center upside down and then advanced with a 61-58 victory.
Greeneville junior Reid Satterfield hit a 3-pointer with 1 minute, 19 seconds to play that broke a 56-all tie, and Jakobi Gillespie iced the win with a couple free throws with 8 seconds remaining.
Gillespie, a junior guard and Mr. Basketball finalist, finished with 28 points and 12 rebounds. Satterfield wound up with 15 points and six boards.
The Greene Devils (29-6) ran their win streak to 15 in a row and will face Upperman (27-5) at 2:30 p.m. Central time on Friday in the state semifinals.
That opportunity, though, nearly slipped from Greeneville’s fingers because of one Bolivar player — senior Jaquan Lax.
His 3 with 4:02 left made Greeneville’s lead 56-48.
His 3 with 3:06 left made Greeneville’s lead 56-51.
His layup cut it to 56-53 at the 2:20 mark.
And his deep NBA-length 3 with 2:03 to play tied the game at 56-all. He finished with 18 points for the Tigers (22-7), and morphed the Murphy Center into a cauldron of noise.
“They’re as quick as we are. And we knew they could shoot it,” said Woolsey. “But I don’t know if we believed they would shoot it as well as they did in the second half.”
Greeneville didn’t get to play in the 2020 state tournament, as it was cancelled because of Covid. But the Greene Devils showed the steely nerve of a veteran team that had been there.
After a timeout following Lax’s game-tying shot, the Greene Devils calmly ran their offense, milking some 40 seconds off the clock — unintentionally, per Woolsey — until they had the right shot.
And that right shot was a 3 by Satterfield in the corner.
Splash.
Lax finally missed on the other end, Greeneville got the rebound and final control.
“They did a good job of not turning it over,” Woolsey said of the possession with Satterfield’s 3. “And Reid hits a huge shot. Huge mentally for us, because we had been taking it on the chin, taking it on the chin.
“And he came through and knocked that down. That was big.”
Connor Debusk proved extremely valuable for Woolsey, as well. The senior point guard played 28 of 32 minutes, scored eight points and had just one turnover against a highly active and speedy Bolivar defense.
That Bolivar press got turned up in the fourth quarter, and Debusk didn’t wilt.
“I’m really proud of the guys for gutting it out,” said Woolsey. “(Bolivar) got hot at the end there, when they were shooting from, literally, 10-15 feet behind the 3-point line and making two or three of them.
“Guys did a good job of executing the press stuff there at the end and getting the win.”