Rivalry returns after 7 years
Behind its star guards, Irish boys slip past Webb at KCHS
KNOXVILLE — It was a game that lived up to its hype: rival teams, now in the same region, hardly a mile apart, resuming play after a seven-year layoff.
A packed-house, raucous crowd.
Pride and an important first win in the region at stake.
In a gritty, tough, hard-fought game that wasn’t decided until the last minute, Knoxville Catholic High School’s boys’ basketball team outlasted Webb School of Knoxville at home, 62-56. The Irish improved to 15-3 (1-0 in Division-II Class 2A, East Region).
“This is exactly what I expected it to be,” Irish head coach Mike Hutchens said. “Catholic and Webb, both teams have great records, great teams, and it’s gonna go down to the last 30 seconds. I’m so happy that kids on both sides got to do that tonight.”
“We weren’t our best, but they had a lot to do with it,” Spartans head coach Ricky Norris. “We gave up way too many easy baskets for them in transition, and you just can’t do that against a really good team. I’m really proud of how they fought.”
Webb (15-2, 0-1) built an 18-12 lead with two minutes left in the first, but Catholic ran off six straight to tie the game at 18 after one.
Five straight by junior guard Blue Cain — a three-point play and layup with a second left — gave the Irish a three-point lead at half, 30-27.
In the third, Catholic senior guard BJ Edwards — a UT signee — scored eight, but the Irish lead was only five, 48-43. The fourth quarter would decide it.
Down five, 50-45, Webb got layups from Luke Lentz and Devin Mixon to cut the deficit to one with 6:07 left.
But Catholic came right back with consecutive three-point plays by Cain and Edwards. The closest Webb would get after that would be four, with only eight seconds left.
Edwards led all scorers with 23 while Cain added 18. Lentz scored 16 for the Spartans, while Jaylon Green got 13. Markeis Barrett chipped in 11.
“Very big win,” Edwards said. “They gave us a good game. Big crowd, we were ready. When the game was getting crunch-time, I felt like I had to take over.”
“We’re trying to get the ball in his hands there at the end,” Huchens said of Edwards. “He’s gonna come through nine times out of ten. Against their press I think we had one turnover. We handled that part real well.”
Stay tuned for the rematch: Friday, Jan. 28, at Webb.
