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KNOXVILLE -- Scotty Hopson and Renaldo Woolridge started the trash-talking Thursday morning in study hall and didn't stop the rest of the day.

With help from some of his Tennessee men's basketball teammates and several temporary ones, Woolridge got the last word.

Woolridge and his HT Group team held off a furious rally in the closing minutes from Hopson and the favored News Sentinel team to escape with a 104-100 victory Thursday night in the Rocky Top Basketball League championship before a near-capacity crowd at Bearden High School.

"Me and Scotty are best friends, and we live right down the hallway from each other," said Woolridge, a sophomore forward for the Volunteers who scored nine points for HT Group (5-2). "We've been talking about this all day. He's going to hear about it."

Hopson, who led the five current UT players in the title game with 24 points for the News Sentinel (5-2), smiled and shook his head at the thought of catching flak for his summer-league loss.

Both of the News Sentinel's defeats during the three-week season came against HT Group.

"I hope I don't hear no grief," said Hopson, a 6-foot-7 sophomore guard for the Vols. "There weren't a lot of UT players out here, but I know Wayne (Chism) and Renaldo will have their say-so with it."

Chism admitted he "really had a rough night," but he managed to score eight of his 16 points in the final 2:29.

The 6-foot-9 senior center's drive from the right wing for a layup with 1:52 left snapped a 92-92 tie and put his HT Group team back ahead for good.

Chism relished the win against the News Sentinel, which had been considered the odds-on favorite to come out on top in the league's third season with three current Vols players playing alongside former UT standouts Dane Bradshaw and JaJuan Smith.

"They thought (they were the better team) when we played them once before, and we beat them again," Chism said. "But it was a tough game this time. We had to pull it out down the stretch."

A dunk with 4:53 remaining by former Eastern Michigan forward Boo Jackson, who finished with a team-high 30 points, gave HT Group a 90-79 lead before the News Sentinel answered with a 13-2 run over the next 2:49.

Smith, who scored a game-high 33 points, spearheaded the News Sentinel's comeback with four 3-pointers in the final 5:41.

"JaJuan started to get hot, so we just went to him more," Hopson said. "That was our game plan."

Williams had 18 points for the News Sentinel, and Bradshaw added 10 points despite missing a free throw and a pair of 3s in the last minute.

"We played a tough team at the end," Chism said. "Scotty Hopson played hard. Brian Williams played well. Everybody on their team -- especially JaJuan and Dane -- they went all-out for this game."

But they didn't go out on top.

"It feels good," Chism said. "Now, I've got to get (a championship) in the (Southeastern Conference), for real."