The Trailblazers took University High to 21 points in the first half and won a 62-46 victory in the championship of the 29th annual basketball tournament in David Crockett High School.
With host Crockett beating Volunteer earlier in the night, Washington County Schools finished 1-2-3 in the tournament.
The tournament MVP, Heglar, led the way, scoring 11 of 13 shots from the field for 27 points, 11 rebounds and two blocked shots. He had a total of 51 and 17 in the first two games, with an average of 31.6 points in three games.
"This is the first time that Boone arrives at the championship game, so we had to capitalize," Heglar said. "We slowed him down, when his great guy came up, we always went 'iso', and we played our basketball style, we have a lot of depth in this team this year."
That depth included Judah Hilton with eight points and Derek Percell with seven, while Boone coach Chris Brown also spoke about the defensive contributions of Zac Saul, Cade Norris and others.
The Blazers never let the Bucs get going, going up by 16 in the second quarter before leading 32-21 in half. He was 50-31 at the end of three quarters and the advantage was 58-36 in the middle of the fourth.
Boone won the rebounding battle 41-23 and employed a defensive strategy focused on closing the gaps and cutting off the passages.
"We focused on really getting after them," Brown said. "We had to enter the passing lanes and be very active with our hands and feet, and defensively, I thought it was our best performance of the year, we wanted to be aggressive, take their driving lanes and get them out of the 3 points." We want to impose our style on people and once we get up, I thought we controlled the game tonight. "
Kaleb Meredith scored 14 points and Colin Daniel had 13 to lead the Bucs. Jake Hubbard and Marshall Fleenor finished with seven points apiece. University High had advanced to the title game by beating a pair of five-time Hardee champions, David Crockett and Unicoi County, earlier in the tournament.
"We learned a lot about ourselves the night before and tonight was not our thing," said Justin Penley University High School coach. "We had good shots, we just did not knock them down, that's just the basketball game, it happens that way sometimes, but it was a good tournament in general and we got into this kind of tournament to challenge the kids."
David Crockett 76, Volunteer 39
Ayden Begley hit six 3-pointers in a 22-point performance to lead the Pioneers' victory over the Falcons for the third-place honors .
"It feels good when it's like that, you know it's going to come in when you shoot it," Begley said. "After the game the night before, I went home, rested a bit and concentrated."
Mack Hensley focused with 12 points and Donta Hackler scored 10 when the Pioneers pulled a 47-20 lead in half. In total, 11 players scored for Crockett.
"I thought our children were disinterested and they shared basketball," said Crockett coach John Good. "Hit some shots and it's funny how everything else works, you fail and it takes away the daylight, you hit some and it pumps you."
Brody Hunley had seven points and Dakota Hicks scored six to lead Volunteer.
South-Doyle 64, Unicoi County 55
Mason Brang finished with a maximum total of 16 points to lead the Cherokees over the Blue Devils in fifth place.
Cleophus Smith arrived with 14 points and Quentin Carr added 14 points in the South-Doyle victory.
Brett Lingerfelt scored 14 to lead Unicoi County, who led 28-27 in half. Ty Thelen and Danny Lowery finished with nine for the Blue Devils.
Sullivan South 72, Claiborne 60
The Rebels jumped to a 27-14 lead in the first quarter and controlled the action against the Bulldogs.
Chase Bowery advanced south with 18 points, followed by Gannon Chase 15. Ben Diamond contributed 13 points and Gavin Rader added eight.
Jacob Williams scored 17 and Kade Beeler scored 16 to lead Claiborne.
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