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SEVIERVILLE—Defending champion Morristown East advanced to the District 2-4A Tournament championship with a hard-earned 40-28 victory over Jefferson County Thursday night at Sevier County.

The Hurricanes, who are the top-seed in the tournament, overcame a very deliberate offense by the Patriots with a big third quarter rally and went on to their 17th win against 13 losses and snapped a three-game losing streak in the process.

With the victory, the ‘Canes will face host Sevier County on Saturday for the championship, the same pairing as last year’s finals. The Smoky Bears defeated Morristown West, 57-43, in the other first-round game on Thursday.

The win also assured Coach Alden Collins’ club of a home game in the first round of the Region One Tournament late next week. The Patriots will face Morristown West in Saturday’s consolation game.

Kyle Cloninger fired in 18 points to lead East while Carter Gilliam hit two really big baskets and finished with a dozen points. Keegan Mink scored seven and raked off 10 rebounds.

The Patriots came out in a ball-control offense that saw them run the clock on most possessions, usually driving to the basket. They took only 13 shots in the first half and led 17-15 at halftime.

However, East scored the first eight points of the third quarter and never trailed again.

Talan Higgins scored 11 for Jefferson County which fell to 11-20 for the season. Kohl Bonura and Brody Carr added six points each.

Patriots’ coach Andy Hill said, “We just tried to do anything to get them off their rhythm and try to frustrate them some and I thought we were able to do that. They’re extremely hard to guard and if you give them a lot of opportunities, they’re going to knock down shots. They are really good in transition and we wanted to limit their chances to do that.

“I thought our kids did a great job of doing what we asked,” Hill added. “Sometimes the ball just doesn’t bounce your way and that happened a couple of times tonight that really hurt us. They got the tap out and then a big three at the end of the half and another loose ball they wound up getting an easy bucket on.”

Hill added, “Those things are going to happen during the course of a game, especially when you’re playing a quality opponent. But overall, I couldn’t have asked any more of our kids than they gave us tonight.”

The coach said Mink was a big problem for his team. “He’s the kind of player that does a great job on the glass at both ends. He’s a kid that never watches a play or takes a play off. He does a great job setting screens and makes tough passes for them and takes advantage of opportunities to score.

“Kyle’s a great player and you can try all kinds of defense to slow him down but good luck with that. He wound up hitting free throws down the stretch when we were trying to come back.”

East’s Collins said, “It was the kind of game where you have to play declined defense and efficient offense. I thought we played tight in the first quarter and didn’t think we got good looks on offense.

“I thought Jefferson County did a great job of executing their game plan but Carter came back and hit the big three to get us within two at halftime and that was a big time three.

“Kyle got some breaks there early in the third quarter and once we got the lead we were rejuvenated,” the coach added.

He had kind words for Isaac Greene who didn’t score but played well on defense. “I thought Isaac was phenomenal the whole night, just doing what Isaac does. He made it hard for them to just sit out there and hold the ball. He did a great job because it takes a lot of energy to guard for two or three minutes on every possession.

“Keagan played well and he’s a guy that has to do a good job of getting to the bucket for us. He had a couple of big buckets in the fourth quarter.”

Collins said, “This was very much a tournament-style game. It was one that every possession matters. It was a tough one to win but was a great win for us.”

Indeed it was a tough one to win. The Hurricanes led 7-5 after a very slow-paced opening quarter.

East shoved its lead out to 12-7 before the Patriots scored 10 straight points as freshman Brody Carr scored six. It was 17-12 when Gilliam barely beat the buzzer with at three at the end of the quarter.

Mink hit a free throw early in the third stanza and Cloninger’s basket gave East the lead for good. Gilliam knocked down another triple a half-minute later and Cloninger made two charity tosses with 3:57 left as the East lead grew to 23-17.

Higgins buried a three-pointer for the Patriots but Billy Hubbard answered with triple for the ‘Canes and Cloninger’s free throw after a technical foul gave East a 27-20 lead at the final rest stop.

After Higgins scored twice for the Patriots, Mink’s bucket made it 31-24. Cloninger then dove for a loose ball and while still on the floor somehow passed to Gilliam for a layup on the other end.

That made it a three-point game and East didn’t take another shot from the floor, making 5 of 7 in the final 1:12.

East wound up hitting 12 of 34 from the floor for 35.3 percent including 5 of 14 from behind the arc. Jefferson County attempted just 24 shots and hit 11 for 45.8. The Patriots were 2 for 9 on three-point tries.

The ‘Canes wound up making 11 of 15 at the free throw line to Jefferson County’s 4 of 7.

With Mink leading the way East had a 24-21 rebounding edge.