East Tennessee State’s women’s basketball team has been rewriting portions of the record book as of late under first-year head coach Brenda Mock Brown.
In a recent road win over Southern Conference foe Furman, former Gate City standout Sarah Thompson starred with a career-high 12 points, including three straight 3-pointers that put the Buccaneers out front in the third quarter.
“That was really exciting,” Thompson said. “Coming out of a timeout, I had hit one already and my team was really trying to get me the ball. They were looking for me, which really helped me.”
The Bucs (15-6, 2-3 SoCon) have already set the program record for most nonconference wins in a season (13) and are right in the thick of the conference race.
Thompson, a sophomore, says team chemistry has played a major role in the turnaround.
“You can see how good the chemistry is on the court,” Thompson said. “We love each other, and we’re all backing each other up. We’re one big family, and we continue to back each other up no matter the result.”
Last season’s team was 6-22 and went through a tumultuous offseason that included the dismissal of coach Simon Harris. Though times were tough, Thompson stuck with ETSU and has begun to see the fruits of her labor pay dividends.
“At first, it was definitely hard because we didn’t know what was going to happen, and whenever we found out, it was really hard,” she said. “Once we got Coach Mock, we knew that she was the best fit. It’s crazy to see how different and how quickly she’s turned it around. We’re all invested now.”
Thompson comes off the bench for the Bucs and averages 3.6 points along with 2.4 rebounds in about 15 minutes of action per game.
She’s gotten to play in some different venues, most notably in the season opener at defending national champion South Carolina.
“It’s really awesome to play bigger teams and a great experience,” Thompson said. “I never thought that we’d play the defending national champions, and it was really cool to see the environment. Those were some of the best players in the country that we played against.”
LOG JAM
To absolutely no one’s surprise, the Mountain 7 girls race has taken a right turn into the wall.
On Tuesday, Union’s Grace McKinney hit a game-winning shot with two seconds left to give the Lady Bears a one-point triumph over defending Class 2 state champion Wise Central.
With Gate City’s nail-biting win over Ridgeview, the Lady Devils vaulted into the lead as the season continued to wind down.
Kelly Houseright’s crew is now in the catbird’s seat, and a win on Friday against the Lady Warriors at the Devil’s Den would go a long way in determining the league title.
A win by Robin Dotson’s Central crew would send things into even more of a frenzy.
The boys side is pretty straightforward for Abingdon — keep winning and good things will happen. The Falcons have a one-game lead on both Ridgeview and Gate City with three road district games left against Lee High, John Battle and Ridgeview.
Both Cumberland District races have unbeaten Eastside (girls) and Twin Springs (boys) sitting firmly atop the standings.
JUSTICES NEAR TOP
Those that follow basketball around the state know how good John Marshall has been over the last three seasons. The Justices have won two of the last three Class 2 state titles. In 2021, when Richmond City Schools did not participate due to the pandemic, Union won.
Marshall is by far the best public school in the commonwealth, touting a 17-0 record with wins over national powers like DeMatha Catholic (Hyattsville, Maryland) on the road, Columbus (Miami, Florida) and Wheeler (Marietta, Georgia).
Marshall is led by North Carolina State signee Dennis Parker Jr., who is averaging 19.1 points per game. The Justices have defeated every in-state opponent — most of them being Class 6 teams — by at least 19 points, have an active 26-game winning streak and are ranked second nationally in the MaxPreps latest top 25 poll.
