Region 1 Notes: Elizabethton is Back, and Grainger’s Great Guard

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Prep Hoops staff is taking a closer look inside Tennessee high school basketball programs. Our next team feature is Elizabethton High fittingly of Elizabethton, TN. In addition, this piece will look at Grainger High also of Region 1-3A.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Head Coach:</strong> Lucas Honeycutt</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>E-Town is coming off of a 9-19 (0-8) season. Before that they won nine games in a 9-15 (1-7) whatever season. Considering the start to 2024-2025 campaign the Fighting Cyclones of Elizabethton are now back to form. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"align":"center"} --> <p class="has-text-align-center"><span style="text-decoration: underline"><strong>Elizabethton Stats</strong></span></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>State Tournament Championship Record:</strong>&nbsp;7-4<br><strong>Appearances (5):</strong>&nbsp;2003, 1983, 1953, 1952, 1944<br><strong>Team Runner-up (1):</strong>&nbsp;1944<br></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Elizabethton High Roster</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Starters*</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:table {"hasFixedLayout":false} --> <figure class="wp-block-table"><table><tbody><tr><td>#</td><td>Name</td><td>Class</td><td>Position</td><td>Height</td></tr><tr><td>0</td><td>Evan Chambers</td><td></td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>1</td><td>Hudson Pate*</td><td>Jr.</td><td>G</td><td>5'10"</td></tr><tr><td>10</td><td>Zach Wallin*</td><td>Jr.</td><td>G</td><td>6'0"</td></tr><tr><td>12</td><td>Andrew Barnett*</td><td>Sr.</td><td>G</td><td>5'9"</td></tr><tr><td>15</td><td>[player_tooltip player_id='2695218' first='Justin' last='Whitehead']*</td><td>Jr.</td><td>G</td><td>6'0"</td></tr><tr><td>24</td><td>[player_tooltip player_id='2358726' first='Harrison' last='Hobbs']</td><td>Fr.</td><td>F</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>42</td><td>Nathan Bailey</td><td></td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>44</td><td>Justin Wallin</td><td></td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>50</td><td>Hudson Smith</td><td></td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>52</td><td>Jackson Buckles*</td><td>Jr.</td><td>F</td><td>6'5"</td></tr></tbody></table></figure> <!-- /wp:table --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Grainger High Roster</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Starters*</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:table {"hasFixedLayout":false} --> <figure class="wp-block-table"><table><tbody><tr><td>#</td><td>Name</td><td>Class</td><td>Position</td></tr><tr><td>1</td><td>[player_tooltip player_id='1772114' first='Carter' last='Williams']</td><td>Jr.</td><td>PG</td></tr><tr><td>3</td><td>Coy Morgan</td><td>Jr.</td><td>F</td></tr><tr><td>10</td><td>Grant Jarnagin</td><td>Sr.</td><td>F</td></tr><tr><td>13</td><td>Parker Creswell</td><td>Fr.</td><td>G</td></tr><tr><td>14</td><td>[player_tooltip player_id='1628117' first='Kade' last='Williams']*</td><td>Jr.</td><td>G</td></tr><tr><td>20</td><td>Konner Kincaid*</td><td>Sr.</td><td>G</td></tr><tr><td>21</td><td>Landon Foster*</td><td>Sr.</td><td>F</td></tr><tr><td>23</td><td>Brizen Solomon*</td><td>Sr.</td><td>F</td></tr><tr><td>24</td><td>Ivan Stratton*</td><td>Sr.</td><td>SG</td></tr><tr><td>33</td><td>Carver Turley</td><td>So.</td><td>PG</td></tr><tr><td>35</td><td>Luke Davis</td><td>Jr.</td><td>PF</td></tr><tr><td>51</td><td>Jackson Trent</td><td>So.</td><td>F</td></tr></tbody></table></figure> <!-- /wp:table --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline">District 1-3A Teams</span><br>David Crockett<br>Elizabethton<br>Unicoi County<br>Tennessee<br>Sullivan East</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline">District 2-3A Teams</span><br>Volunteer<br>Greeneville<br>Cherokee<br>Grainger<br>Claiborne</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":3} --> <h3 class="wp-block-heading">Elizabethton vs. Happy Valley (12/14)</h3> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Junior<strong> [player_tooltip player_id='2695218' first='Justin' last='Whitehead']</strong> smoothly buried two three-pointers in the first two minutes as Elizabethton opened up quickly, 8-2. When the team ran some action for him, Whitehead came screaming off a screen and curled into the lane finishing an acrobatic left-handed layup. The agility shown by Whitehead was impressive. He moved like an athlete capable of playing a few sports, not just a basketball specialist. Very clean hips.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Jackson Buckles</strong> played with wonderfully soft hands. In the second quarter, EHS ran a flawless high-low and fed Buckles as he rolled off setting a screen. He caught softly while dancing to the rim. Happy Valley lacked any meaningful size, so Buckles was able to get a high percentage shot off often.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":3} --> <h3 class="wp-block-heading">Elizabethton vs. Johnson County (12/6)</h3> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2695218' first='Justin' last='Whitehead']</strong> went big in a blowout win over Johnson County, 85-49. Justin scored 33 points to lead all scorers while teammate <strong>Zack Wallin</strong> dropped 21 points. Starting guard <strong>Hudson Pate</strong> helped with ten points. Whitehead made seven three-pointers in the game!</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":3} --> <h3 class="wp-block-heading">Grainger vs. South Greene (12/6)</h3> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1628117' first='Kade' last='Williams']</strong> buried an early three-pointer to stun the hosting South Greene Rebels' crowd. Williams is a quick-release guy, so his shot can look hurried to the uninitiated. Grainger came out in a 2-3 and asked for Williams to be one of the two deterrents up hight. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":3} --> <h3 class="wp-block-heading">2024-25 Boys' Basketball Division I Class 3A Region 1 Standings</h3> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:table --> <figure class="wp-block-table"><table class="has-fixed-layout"><thead><tr><th>Rank</th><th>Team</th><th colspan="2">Region</th><th colspan="2">Overall</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>1</td><td>David Crockett</td><td></td><td></td><td>8-2</td><td>80.0%</td></tr><tr><td>2</td><td>Tennessee</td><td></td><td></td><td>8-2</td><td>80.0%</td></tr><tr><td>3</td><td>Elizabethton</td><td></td><td></td><td>7-2</td><td>77.8%</td></tr><tr><td>4</td><td>Volunteer</td><td></td><td></td><td>5-6</td><td>45.5%</td></tr><tr><td>5</td><td>Unicoi County</td><td></td><td></td><td>4-3</td><td>57.1%</td></tr><tr><td>6</td><td>Greeneville</td><td></td><td></td><td>3-5</td><td>37.5%</td></tr><tr><td>7</td><td>Sullivan East</td><td></td><td></td><td>3-6</td><td>33.3%</td></tr><tr><td>8</td><td>Cherokee</td><td></td><td></td><td>2-6</td><td>25.0%</td></tr><tr><td>9</td><td>Grainger</td><td></td><td></td><td>2-7</td><td>22.2%</td></tr><tr><td>10</td><td>Claiborne</td><td></td><td></td><td>0-6</td><td>0.0%</td></tr></tbody></table></figure> <!-- /wp:table -->