Bobby Maze

KNOXVILLE — No blood, no foul.

Blood? Still no foul.

The Rocky Top League is undoubtedly an offseason basketball pickup series, as evidenced by University of Tennessee star Tyler Smith dunking down lob passes to himself from the free-throw line, or East Tennessee State star Courtney Pigram attempting 3-pointers as his heels hover near midcourt.

Wednesday night’s championship game had a different feel, though.

Sure, HT Group and Ray’s ESG combined for 259 points in just 40 minutes of frenzied action in Bearden High School’s overfilled gym. But Scotty Hopson’s arms told a tougher tale. The biggest star in UT’s star-studded freshman class looked like he’d just survived a bear attack, with claw marks covering both biceps and leaking blood on his once-white towel.

The culprit wasn’t a bear, but some would claim Smith can be an animal.

“Man, this is crazy,” Hopson said with a smile. “I’m cut up.”

Smith, Tennessee freshman point guard Daniel West and Pigram used that occasional feistiness in a 133-126 victory over Ray’s, which also featured UT center Brian Williams and the Vols’ junior college All-America point guard signee, Bobby Maze.

Maze mixed up with West as Smith scrapped (and scraped) with Hopson to provide a packed house with 40 minutes of full-court entertainment. The point guards jawed at each other, while Smith and Hopson bumped and banged from the perimeter to the rim.

Hopson laughed again while describing one of many battles with Smith, this one starting when Hopson slashed to the hole and scored over his UT teammates.

“Then Tyler came right back at me ... with a little ’bow,” Hopson said, pointing to his elbow. “That’s just hard basketball. That’s how we’re going to play.

“It wasn’t personal. It was just basketball. I had a great time. Even though we lost, I had fun out here.”

The fans had fun, too — especially in the closing minute. Pigram hit a deep 3 to unlock a 124-all tie with 25 seconds left, igniting HT’s game-ending 9-2 run. In the spurt, West assisted on a lob dunk, stole a pass and added his own slam at the buzzer.

West called the dunk a “really sweet” finish to a day that started with Maze and Hopson “talking junk before, during and after” their summer-session class on campus.

“Little Daniel showed up big there at the end,” said Williams, whose 6-foot-10 frame is considerably thinner than last season. “We’ve been talking about this game all week. We’ve been making fun of each other, saying how bad we were going to win. But they pulled out the win, unfortunately.”

The statistics were staggering, though not necessarily surprising in a game that Maze called “a little lackadaisical on defense” until the final minutes.

Pigram scored 45 points and Smith again stuffed the stat sheet with 37 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists. West added 14 ponts and 10 assists. Maze had 39 points and seven assists, while Hopson had 36 points and nine rebounds and Williams had 25 points and 14 rebounds.

“We played extremely hard,” Maze said. That’s what this is about. Every time I step on the court, I play like it’s my last game, and I’m going to compete.”

Coach Bruce Pearl could contend for next season’s SEC title with the Vols who were in Wednesday’s championship game — West and Maze in the backcourt, Hopson and Smith on the wing and Williams at center — but that’s not even half of his impressive pieces.

Wayne Chism returns in the post for UT, and J.P. Prince — the SEC’s reigning sixth man of the year — is a potential starter at point or on the wing. Prince isn’t the only lengthy wing, either, as 6-6 redshirt freshman Cameron Tatum and 6-8 freshman Renaldo Woolridge will compete for playing time. East Ridge High School graduate Philip Jurick and highly touted freshman Emmanuel Negedu are hoping for big minutes in the post, too.

“I’m playing with the most talented guys I’ve ever played with, and Renaldo and a lot of the other guys aren’t even here yet,” Maze said. “We’ve got to have one of the most athletic teams in the nation.”

Maze said Pearl’s son, undersized sophomore Steven Pearl, “can hurt you, too.

“That’s the great thing, the best thing, is that we’re playing with the best players in practice,” Maze said. “We’re going to beat each other to death. Everybody’s going to compete, and it’s going to be a war just to step on the floor (in a game).

“Top to bottom on the team, nobody has no guarantees on that floor. You’re going to have to earn it.”

Part of that price is blood, apparently.

Ask Hopson, who said he “couldn’t wait to get those boys back.”

But it’s all in good fun.

“Of course,” Hopson said with his widest grin yet. “People have no idea how good our team is going to be. The sky’s the limit with us. I think Tennessee’s going to be back-to-back SEC champions, and then I think we can win the national championship.

“Everybody’s fighting for positions. We’re on the same team, but at the same time, we’re fighting for spots. It’s going to be very competitive. We’re going to make each other better.”