It wasn’t a true Cinderella story, but the Cyclones made it their own. After starting the tournament as the #4 seed, Elizabethton left as Region 1-AA champs.
The Cyclones jumped out early and held on for a 62-54 victory over Greeneville to capture the regional crown in addition to a Monday home substate game.
EHS will host CAK on Monday in sectional action.
Bo Pless, Michael Robinson and Eric Wilson came out of the gate firing for the Cyclones as EHS built up a 12-point lead before a Greeneville 3-pointer cut the Elizabethton lead to 16-7 at the end of the first quarter.
Jalen Smith, Alex Norwood and Robinson helped Elizabethton maintain the lead with baskets early in the second period. The teams traded points for most of the quarter as the Cyclones took a 26-18 advantage into the half.
Pless opened the third quarter with a trey, but Greeneville slowly cut the lead as the Green Devils pulled within three points heading to the final quarter. The start of the final quarter saw Norwood and Pless hit early shots and Robinson added a 3-point play to push the lead back to seven points. Greeneville, however, closed the gap back to two points with 5:06 to play on a Nic Lollar jumper.
Elizabethton, however, had one last run in them. Robinson scored five straight points before Norwood knocked down a jumpshot to push the lead to nine points. Greeneville cut the lead to four points in the final minutes, but shots from Norwood and Robinson secured the title for EHS.
Robinson led the way with 25 points. Pless and Norwood had 13 and 10 points, respectively. Wilson added eight points.
Lollar led Greenville with 17 points.
