by tate russell
sun sports writer
GREENEVILLE - The Greeneville boys got their revenge over Kingsport Dobyns-Bennett.
A year after falling to the Indians in the championship match of the Region 1 tournament, Greeneville finished on top this time around.
The Devils claimed a 16.5-10.5 victory over D-B at Olympia Lanes Thursday evening to win the 2012-13 region crown and lock up a home sectional match next week.
"I thought (our team) did extremely well," Greeneville head coach Johnny Painter said. "Dobyns-Bennett is a very good team and I knew it was going to come down to the very end. I told the guys to withstand their storm, because I knew they had the ability to come back. We did a good job finishing."
The Greene Devils' Tyler Longenbach sealed the victory in game three when he rolled three consecutive strikes in the tenth frame to make sure Greeneville came out on top.
"That was nerve racking for me and it was huge for our team as far as pin total goes, just making sure we got the win," Longenbach said. "Winning the region is big for us. We've tried and tried the last two years. It's what we've been working for and we got it. We didn't get it by much but we got it."
The win marked the fourth time Greeneville had defeated the Indians this year and reversed roles of last year's region tournament in which Dobyns-Bennett defeated the Greene Devils to take the crown.
This marked Greeneville's first region championship since 2009. The Devils will host a sectional match against the Region 2 runner-up on Monday, January 21.
Painter said, "Any time you get to host a sub-state match it's different than going on the road. I like our chances with someone else having to come in here to bowl. In the last three or four years we've lost once here so it makes it special to get to bowl at home."
In game one Greeneville did the most damage as they won four of the six individual matchups and won the team pin total by 74 pins. Longenbach led the Greene Devils with a 190. Dobyns-Bennett's Troy Culbertson had the second highest pin total of game one with a 180 but failed to gain any points because he was paired with Longenbach.
Garrison King rolled a 172 and Caleb Nunn had a 171 each earning the Greene Devils a point for individual wins. Spencer Moore also earned an individual point rolling a 149 as the Greene Devils jumped out to a 6-2 lead.
In game two the teams split individual points and Greeneville narrowly edged the Indians in total pins 1005-1001 earning them two very valuable points. Longenbach once again led the Greene Devils with a match high 207. The performance also nullified a 199 rolled by Dobyns-Bennett's Culbertson.
Nunn rolled a solid 182 and Zac Miller had a 156 to win their individual matches. Moore rolled a162 for Greeneville but came up short of his individual opponent, Joshua Knopf, who rolled a 182.
Greeneville entered game three up 11-5.
The Indians mounted a charge in game three earning 3.5 individual points and edging the Greene Devils in total pins.
Logenbach used his huge final frame to earn a 193 and an individual point for Greeneville. Nunn rolled a 160 on his way to a third individual point of the afternoon. King split his individual matchup with the Indian's Michael Lester, each going for 147.
In Region 1 girls' action at Olympia Lanes Cherokee continued an undefeated season and took down Dobyns-Bennett to take the region championship.
