Senior sharpshooter Jackson Greer and his Sale Creek teammates were all smiles after taking down Grace Academy, 64-56, Saturday in the Chatt-Town Classic at Chattanooga State.
Greer's hot hand helped the Panthers notch their first win of the season as he channeled his best Klay Thompson impression, shooting 4-of-5 from 3-point distance and scoring 25 points.
"It was really energetic in the locker room after the game," Greer said. "We have kept our heads up despite it being a tough season. We have not given up, and this is something we can build off of."
Grace's Jack Smith had his way in the paint and scored 28 points - half of the Golden Eagles' total - but the motivated Panthers overcame that.
Greer provided a major jolt of energy as he scored seven straight points to begin an 11-0 run, which he capped with an assist to Blake Nutt for an open trey for a 26-18 lead two minutes before halftime.
Greer, a standout soccer forward who scored 18 goals as a junior and was the district MVP and an all-state selection, tied Saturday's game at 18 with a smooth 3-pointer from the right wing. Shortly after that, he hustled for a coast-to-coast layup and hit a step-in jumper.
"I fouled out of our game against Soddy-Daisy yesterday and wanted to give our team my best performance," said Greer, who has drawn collegiate soccer interest from Bryan, Lee and Tennessee Wesleyan. "My shots were falling and everything felt good coming off my hand. This game meant a lot to us, and we really wanted this win."
Greer scored eight quick points to build a double-digit lead in the third quarter after his fourth and final trey.
Grace Academy cut its deficit to 45-40 as senior Tillman Smith fought through contact for a layup at the start of the fourth quarter.
However, Sale Creek (1-8) turned to Chris Wilson to close out a morale-boosting victory. Wilson scored nine of the Panthers' first 11 points in the fourth quarter as he rose high at the rim to help build a 56-44 lead.
Wilson finished with 14 points while Nutt scored 15.
Cooper Knecht scored nine of his 12 in the second half for the Golden Eagles (4-4).
* Soddy-Daisy 79, Sequatchie County 53
Logan Ricketts spun his way around defenders for a game-high 25 points as the Trojans cruised to their fourth consecutive victory. He scored 19 in the first half.
Soddy-Daisy opened strong both days in the invitational tournament, as it scored the first 11 points Friday against Sale Creek and the first 12 against the Indians. Will Ackerman energized the crowd by swishing a half-court contested shot to give the Trojans (5-6) a 25-3 lead after the first eight minutes.
Seth Coffelt and Tyan Massengale added 15 and 14 points for the winners.
Tyler Boston led Sequatchie County (6-6) with 14, while Michael Cooper scored all of his points with four 3s.
* Howard 63, Northwest Whitfield 60
Calvin James scored 17 points to help the Hustlin' Tigers (7-1) bounce back with a tight victory over the Bruins.
Chris Hall scored all 12 of his points in the second half and was assisted on a nice feed by Jailen Sexton to give Howard a 60-49 lead with 5:25 remaining.
Northwest Whitfield (5-6) cut the margin to 62-60 with Blane Greene's third 3-pointer with less than 40 seconds left but could not score again. Greene led all players with 21 points.
* Cleveland 55, Tyner 54
Kley McGowan gave the undefeated Blue Raiders (11-0) the lead for good with a midrange jumper with 1:48 left to play. Held scoreless in the opening quarter, Belmont signee JaCobi Wood poured in 26 Cleveland points, which included an impressive floating layup through contact and a 3-pointer late for a 50-47 lead. Kobe Smith scored 16 for Tyner (8-2), which also received big buckets from Neiagell Sturkey. He scored nine of his 15 points in the fourth quarter, including a two-handed jam.
Contact Patrick MacCoon at pmaccoon@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @PMacCoon.