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RUTLEDGE – Fans at Tuesday night’s game at The Den were treated to a scoring-fest in the fourth period by Grainger’s Kade Williams and Cherokee’s Will Price.

Williams scored 10 of his 20 points in the last eight minutes of the contest and Price netted 11 of his 21 in the same time frame in the Grizzlies’ 69-47 win. In addition to Williams’ 20 points, twin brother Carter Williams scored 10, Brizen Solomon also finished with 10 points and Drew Branson added 17.

“Kade did a great job of going to the basket, putting his head down and getting to the rim,” Grainger head coach Adam Wolfenbarger said of his freshman guard. “He was fantastic for us. On a couple of them, we were holding our breath but then it goes in. He’s just that type of player.”

“We missed a lot of shots early and I felt like that hurt us defensively because we couldn’t get into anything in transition and that really hurt us,” Cherokee head man Trey Fields said. “Kudos to Grainger as they did good job of running their offense and getting something good and that allowed them to slow us down.”

Colten McLain scored four straight for Cherokee to tie the score early but Kade Williams’ three-pointer put the Grizzlies ahead. After building a 16-11 lead at the end of the first period, Branson hit a basket and Logan Johnson was true from downtown to push the Grainger lead to 11 points. The Chiefs got the game much tighter until Grainger rounded out the first half with six straight points to post a 33-20 advantage at the break.

Cherokee pulled to within 11 once more in the third period but then Branson and Carter Williams went to work, scoring eight straight to push the lead out again. Grainger led 47-29 going to the final period. That was when the fireworks began in earnest between Price and Williams.

Price scored the final nine points for the Chiefs and Williams was responsible for the final five in a row that made the final score 69-47. “We came out offensively to start the second half and weren’t very good but played well defensively and I told my team after the game, I think we have guarded the other team pretty well after the turn of the new year. That’s where we are trying to make a mark,” Wolfenbarger said.

The Grizzlies remain at home Friday as the South Greene Rebels come to town. Cherokee has a week off before they take on Cocke County.