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Morristown West hasn’t been known as a basketball power in recent years but this year, Coach Joe Dobyns’ club is taking steps to reverse that trend.

The Trojans shared the Region 1-4A regular season championship with Kingsport Dobyns-Bennett and will face the Indians for the tournament championship on Tuesday after a 65-48 victory over West Ridge on Saturday night at Isenberg-Siler Gym.

Dobyns-Bennett slipped past its biggest rival, Johnson City Science Hill, 52-50, in Saturday’s other semifinal.

West used red-hot shooting and a huge third quarter to take control and went on to its 20th win against 10 losses.

It is the first time the Trojans have won 20 games since 2019 and they will be playing for their first district tournament title this century, having last won the prize in 1999. They will also host the first round of the Region 1 Tournament when they’ll face either Sevier County or William Blount.

West was locked in a 26-26 halftime with the Wolves but used some torrid shooting in the third canto to score 27 points and take a commanding lead.

The Trojans gunned in all five of their three-point attempts in the third and the Wolves didn’t get closer than 10 in the final stanza.

For the night West connected on 26 of 39 from the floor for a blazing 66.7 percent, including 8 of 13 from behind the arc.

Julian Sexton pumped in 17 points to lead the balanced Trojans attack. Jamere Williams added a dozen, Anderson Noe chipped in 10 and Will DesGroseilliers and Jake Bunch both had nine.

West Ridge, now 16-17, got 13 points from Grant Thompson, 12 from Jackson Light and 10 from Ronnie Smith. Leading scorer Will Holmes scored only seven.

Dobyns was happy with the victory. “We had a great second half tonight. It’s been that way every time we’ve played them. Close in the first half and then we’ve been able to get going enough to get a win.

“They shoot the ball very well and that makes it tough,” he said. “I thought our defense really picked it up in the second half. The boys did a good job of taking away from of their driving angles and also making sure we were on their shooters.”

Dobyns also said, “This is a big opportunity for us. I was anxious to see how the boys responded to that and I thought they responded very well, especially in the second half. I was very proud of them.

“These boys have worked and sacrificed to get to 20 wins for the first time in a long while and I’m proud to see them get an opportunity to win a district championship. I’m very happy for them.”

The coach was asked about the way his team shared the basketball and he said, “We’re a team that likes to do that. They know they can’t win a game by themselves and everybody seems happy no matter who gets the points. That’s big.”

West Ridge coach John Dyer said his team played well defensively in the first half but didn’t take advantage of that on offense. “Morristown West came out and played like the championship team they are in the third quarter.”

Thompson hit a three to put the Wolves ahead 14-11 late in the first quarter and they led 16-15 at the first stop. An 8-5 burst gave West Ridge a 24-20 margin with 3:34 left in the half but closed the period with a 6-2 run to reach the halftime tie.

West started the third on a 13-2 run and after the Wolves scored five, reeled off a 14-3 spurt to take control at 53-36.

Sexton had eight and Bunch five in the third-quarter push.

It was 53-38 after three quarters and West Ridge chopped the lead to 10 with five straight to open the final eight minutes. But Bunch and Williams hit baskets and Sexton added a free throw to shove the lead back to 15 before closing the game on a 7-0 run.

West Ridge shot only 39.6 percent on 19 of 48 and finished 7 of 28 from long range.

The Trojans had a 24-22 rebounding edge as Bunch had five and Williams four. Smith grabbed five stray shots for the losers.

Dobyns-Bennett 52, Science Hill 50

The Hilltoppers exploded out of the gate to grab a 14-2 lead midway of the first quarter but didn’t accomplish much offensively the rest of the game.

Dobyns-Bennett started chipping away at the margin and had it down to 14-9 after the opening quarter.

The Indians led 22-19 at halftime and extended the margin to 34-25 going to the final eight minutes when a three pushed the advantage to a dozen.

But Science Hill’s offense finally came alive again as Stephen Hensley scored 12 and Jabril Fain eight as the ‘Toppers rallied within one but failed to cash in five times when it was a one-possession game in the final minutes.

Kaden Cutlip finally hit four straight free throws as the Indians, who made 11 of 12 at the stripe in the fourth quarter, held on for the victory.

Elijah Thomas had 16 and Carter Atwood 12 for Dobyns-Bennett while Hensley netted 21 and Fain 14 for the ‘Toppers.