Warren's 3 pushes Horns over Warriors

Illness had a hand in the Johnson County boys basketball team's loss at South Greene on Tuesday, and Longhorns coach Ethan Harmon would've felt sick if his healthy squad didn't pull one out at Happy Valley three nights later. The 'Horns were missing two starters and three others from the rotation due to illness in an 87-57 loss at South Greene. But all hands were on deck against the Warriors on Friday. And it didn't look good for Longhorns fans when Happy Valley made a free throw to take a two-point lead with another free throw still to be taken. But the second free throw was missed and Johnson County advanced the ball into the frontcourt, where Dylan Warren was spotted for a game-winning 3-pointer with four seconds left to win 48-47. Johnson County coach Ethan Harmon decided not to call a timeout after the missed free throw because he didn't want Happy Valley coach Shane Williams setting his defense. "We had a timeout, but in that moment – Shane does a good job changing up defenses and we had struggled against their zone at times," Harmon said. "I knew our best opportunity to get an open look was in transition without stopping and getting set up. And I also trusted our guys to make the right decision and the right play. "And the reality of the matter is I'm lucky to have the players that I have and they made the right decision. And Dylan Warren made the shot." Senior Darren Chappell scored 25 points against the Warriors. He made five 3-pointers. Warren finished with nine points – all from 3-point range. Warren missed the South Greene game due to illness. Chappell and Landin Lipford scored 19 and 16, respectively, against South Greene. Point guard Carson Jennings added 10 points for the short-handed 'Horns. "Darren and Landin played pretty decently against South Greene," Harmon said. "Carson also did what Carson usually does. He scored a little bit and made plays for others. "But the reality on Tuesday was we had two starters out and the first three guys off the bench out too. Really, there were only five of our regulars, and two of them weren't a hundred percent." Gavin Dyer, a 6-foot-6 inside-out threat, scored 33 points for South Greene, including six 3-pointers. The Longhorns jumped out to a 15-11 lead before getting outscored 76-42 the rest of the way. "We just ran out of gas," Harmon said. "With the lack of depth we had – we won the first quarter, but after that, they started knocking down some shots and we were late on rotations. They did a good job knocking down shots and getting the ball where it needed to be." Johnson County's Monday game at Unaka was postponed to Saturday and the home game versus league-leading Unicoi County on Tuesday was postponed until Feb. 9. The Horns are still scheduled to host Chuckey-Doak on Friday. Ethan Harmon (class of 2016) played at North Greene when Unicoi County head coach Brandon Broyles was at the helm in Baileyton. "It's going to be an interesting one," Harmon said. "They're the head dog, per se, in our league right now. They haven't lost a district game. But any time a team comes up to the mountain to us, anything can happen." Harmon is still waiting to see his squad consistently defend and rebound with the intensity required to prevail in most postseason matchups. "Once again, if we can put the puzzle pieces all together," he said, "I do think we can be a good team, especially down the stretch here."