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DANDRIDGE—Ella Wampler and Finley Surber completely dominated play around the basket Friday night to lead Morristown East girls to a 52-44 triumph over host Jefferson County.

The two combined for 40 points and 35 rebounds as the Lady Hurricanes moved into second place in the District Two 4A race at 2-1. Both scored 20 points with Wampler grabbing an unreal 22 rebounds and Surber pulling down 13 stray shots as East improved to 9-9 for the season.

Coach Justin Combs’ squad came from behind with an 11-point run in the second quarter and never trailed again in the victory.

Jefferson County, now 9-7 overall and 0-3 in the district, was led by a dozen points from Maddie Richardson but no one else scored more than six.

Even though it shot only 30.9 percent from the floor (13 of 42), East dominated the boards by 50-23. The Lady Hurricanes also hit 21 of 28 free throws including 11 of 16 in the fourth quarter when it played a control the ball and hit your free throws game plan. Wampler and Surber hit seven free throws each.

Playing without starting point guard Harmony Sullivan who will undergo surgery to repair a knee injury in early February, East got an inside presence they hadn’t had all season long in the victory.

Combs said, “Our posts stepped up in a big way tonight. Ella with 20 points and 22 rebounds, you can’t ask a kid to do any more that that and Finley had a great night. Those girls really did the job for us tonight.

“We really needed them to step up,” he continued, “We talked about how we were going to replace Harmony’s numbers. I told the girls we didn’t need one girls to add all of it but for everybody to add a little to their numbers. I thought the girls took that to heart and really stepped up.

“I challenged our bigs at halftime and told them the ball wasn’t falling from outside and we really needed them and they certainly did the job.”

The Lady ‘Canes also played great defense as Hudson Cloninger guarded the Lady Patriots’ high-scoring Madi Hawk and held her to two points in the first half and five for the game. “The girls executed our defensive play nearly flawlessly tonight. I can’t say enough how proud of that I am.

“Hudson was fantastic and Reagan Dalton came on in her place and did a good job when we rested Hudson,” he said. “The rest of the girls executed great and everybody went to the boards. It might have been the first time all year that we won rebounding, second chance points and points in the paint.

“I thought those three things were what gave us a lift tonight when we didn’t shoot it well from the perimeter.” East made only 5 of 16 three-point attempts.

Combs closed, “If I’m not mistaken that’s the first time we’ve beaten Jeff County since 2017 so this was a really big victory for us to come in here and get a win. I’m really proud of our kids for finding a way on the road.”

Surber knocked down a three-pointer to give East a 6-4 lead with 4:56 left in the first period but Brylee Lindsey hit a bucket and Richardson made a three and the Lady Patriots went on to lead 15-10 at the first break.

Jefferson led 16-13 when Wampler converted two straight old-fashioned three-point plays followed by two charity tosses and a three from Surber. Hawk got her only basket of the half for the home team but Hailey Hall hit her only three of the night to give East a 27-18 halftime cushion.

East led by 32-23 when the Lady Patriots came charging back in the third quarter to close within 34-32 on a basket by Richardson with 1:52 left in the quarter.

Wampler made a free throw and Hall added two more before Richardson’s three cut it to 37-35 at the last rest stop.

A free throw and rebound basket by Wampler were the first points of the fourth quarter before the home team pulled within 42-39 on a bucket by Adalyn Arnston with 4:23 remaining.

However, East went to its ball-control offence and pulled steadily away in the final three minutes.

Jefferson County coach Bo Lewis agreed with Combs on the reason for East’s victory. “Their post play really just ate us alive all night long. Not only did they kill us in scoring, they killed us on the boards, too. We didn’t rebound from start to finish.. They killed us in the paint.

“We missed some opportunities but we went through some stretches with either bad decision making or taking quick shots,” he said. “We just have to clean that stuff up going into the tournament.”

Lewis closed, “East played a heck of a game. They executed their plan tonight and we didn’t.”

The Lady Patriots connected on 17 of 54 from the floor for 31.5 percent. The home team made 4 of 27 from behind the arc.