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Owensby hot third-quarter sparks Rebels

Maryville’s Julian Douglass connects from the perimeter during Friday’s win at William Blount,.

By Stefan Cooper
Editor
Blount Press Row

His three at the third-quarter buzzer broke the clock. No, really.

The scorer’s table at William Blount eventually fixed the stuck horn, allowing play to resume, but the damage of Eli Owensby’s big third quarter was already done. No. 2 Maryville rode the momentum of the frame out to a 75-60 win at Marvin Boring Gymnasium on Friday.

The Rebels (20-3), ranked fourth in the latest Tennessee Sports Writers Association/USA Today Network poll but second in the CoachT.com computer poll, which leans more on strength of schedule, had four players deliver strong nights, paced by senior guard Jonathan Woodlee’s game-best 25 points.

Owensby finished just back with 20, with a couple buckets from deep, matched by big man Julian Douglass, who pumped in 16. Center Luke Sigmund dropped 14 to help the Rebels overcome a torrid start from the Governors.

Maryville, which hadn’t played in two weeks due to weather postponements, opened sluggish.

“We looked like we hadn’t played in two weeks. Our energy wasn’t very good, and (the Governors) came out hot,” Maryville coach Wes Lambert said.

Tyson Dorsey went for 17 for William Blount, Lucas Myers swishing 13 in a contest the Governors led, 19-15, after a quarter. At the half, they were still there, down 32-21, Jack Freeman heating up on the way to an 11-point night.

A pair of Jaxon Dabrowski bombs to open the game had carried William Blount a long way. Owensby, with 10 of his 20 in the third, helped make sure it went no further.

“It was kind of flow of the game,” Owensby said. “I had a slow start. I thought, ‘If we’re going to get this thing going, I’m going to have to step up and bring the energy.'”

The barrage sparked Maryville to a 23-14 advantage in the quarter and a 55-45 lead to start the fourth.

“To give them credit, (the Rebels) started attacking downhill more,” William Blount coach Kevin Windle said. “We got a little cold but picked it back up and made a little run, but it was a little bit too late.”

The Rebels have a big district matchup at Sevier County this evening as a loaded, Class 4A postseason field begins to solidify.

Bartlett (21-4) tops the latest TSWA/USA Today rankings, with Bearden (27-1), Germantown Houston (15-5) and Maryville rounding out what would be a dream state tournament final four. So would a CoachT top four of Bartlett, Maryville, Bearden and Brentwood.

A deep dive has Bartlett and its five-star roster as heavy favorites when all is said and done. The Panthers ran away from the Rebels, 65-32, at the Battle of Nashville over the Christmas holidays.

It would take some doing to close that gap, but there’s a reason polls and rankings, even previous meetings, only count for so much. Just ask Hampden-Sydney; the Rebels need inquire only as far as the team bench.

The 2000 Maryville College Scots shocked the basketball world and delivered one of the biggest wins in school history when they knocked off the Tigers on former Rebel Matt Ennen’s shot at the buzzer in an NCAA Tournament round of 32 game — at Hampden-Sydney.

The Tigers, the tournament’s No. 1 seed, were the previous year’s runners up and returned four starters.

The Maryville College coach in that game is current Maryville High assistant coach Randy Lambert.

It can be done.