West Greene hosted Chuckey Doak Monday evening in middle school basketball action, and the homestanding Buffaloes came away with a pair of victories.
GIRLS: West Greene 33 (7-3-10-13)
Chuckey Doak 17 (8-4-3-2)
The girls’ contest was a back-and-forth battle through the opening half before West Greene turned up the defensive pressure after the break. The Buffaloes created several scoring opportunities in transition and pulled away for the 33-17 victory.
Head coach Tiffany Shelton said her team played well throughout the contest, despite some early struggles.
“Chuckey Doak’s coach had a good plan that rattled us a little in the first half, and we didn’t shoot the ball very well. We told them that they were going to have to keep their composure and work the ball around, moving off some screens and playing some old-school basketball.”
Chuckey Doak held an 8-7 advantage after the first quarter and carried a slim 12-10 lead into the locker room.
West Greene responded in the third period, doubling its first-half scoring output to take a 20-15 lead heading into the final six minutes. The Buffaloes then put the game away, outscoring the Lady Knights 13-2 in the fourth quarter.
Anslee Shelton led West Greene with 10 points, followed closely by Cambree Brown with nine. McKee Greenlee and Kendall Stills each chipped in six.
Kierra Fox and Josey Holt paced Chuckey Doak with six points apiece, while Miana Hensley added four.
BOYS: West Greene 43 (4-10-11-6-6-6)
Chuckey Doak 41 (3-2-10-16-6-4)
Four quarters weren’t enough to decide the winner in the boys’ contest, and neither was a fifth. It took a three-point play from Micah Shiflet with 50 seconds remaining in the second overtime period to help West Greene break the deadlock and secure a hard-fought 43-41 victory.
West Greene coach Weston Collins described basketball as a “crazy sport” while expressing pride in the way his team handled the adversity.
“I am proud of the fact that our boys powered through the adversity tonight and played sound basketball, especially on the defensive end. I told the boys that being coachable makes it easier for me to draw extra things up, and they executed it well tonight. Hats off to Chuckey Doak. They certainly have a program that doesn’t just show up and play.”
Neither team could get much going offensively in the opening period, as West Greene held a slim 4-3 advantage at the buzzer.
The Buffaloes came out strong in the second quarter, scoring the first 10 points of the period before Kameron Combs finally got Chuckey Doak on the board with less than a minute remaining in the half. West Greene carried a 14-5 advantage into the break.
Leam Broilet scored the first basket of the third quarter and added one of two free throws to give the Buffaloes their largest lead of the night at 19-5.
That’s when the Knights began making their move. Chuckey Doak outscored West Greene 10-6 for the remainder of the period to trim the deficit to 25-15 heading into the fourth.
A three-pointer and two free throws from Jullien Overstreet opened the final period for the Knights. Two consecutive power moves to the basket by Combs cut the West Greene lead to 29-24 and forced the Buffaloes to call a timeout with 3:44 remaining.
Colt Wampler grabbed an offensive rebound for Chuckey Doak and converted the putback coming out of the timeout, and the Knights continued to battle and trailed by just three with 2:49 remaining.
A basket by Shiflet pushed the Buffaloes’ advantage back to five, but another Overstreet three-pointer made it 31-29 with 1:28 remaining, setting up a dramatic finish.
Chuckey Doak called a timeout with 11.7 seconds left to set up a final opportunity to either win the game or send it into overtime.
The Knights went inside to Combs, who powered his way toward the basket and drew a foul with just 0.4 seconds remaining. He calmly stepped to the line and knocked down both free throws to send the game into overtime tied at 31-31.
Chuckey Doak struck first in the extra period with a basket from Combs before Bradley Bowman connected on one of two free throws for West Greene to make it 33-32.
Shiflet then buried a three-pointer with 1:08 remaining and added a free throw to give the Buffaloes a 36-33 advantage with less than a minute to play.
Combs answered with another basket in the paint to pull the Knights within one at 36-35 with 35.8 seconds showing on the clock.
Jace Johnson went to the free-throw line with 24 seconds remaining with an opportunity to put the game away, but managed to convert just one attempt, leaving West Greene with a two-point lead.
Things appeared bleak for Chuckey Doak when Combs was called for an offensive foul while driving toward the basket for a potential game-tying score. However, a West Greene turnover with 3.1 seconds remaining gave the Knights another opportunity underneath their own basket.
Once again, Chuckey Doak looked inside to Combs, who put up a shot from the block as the buzzer sounded. The basket sent the game into a second overtime tied at 37-37.
Both teams traded baskets to open the second extra period, but West Greene eventually found the play it needed. With 50 seconds remaining, Shiflet converted a three-point play to give the Buffaloes a 42-39 advantage.
Combs answered again, cutting the deficit to 42-41 with a layup with 43.6 seconds remaining.
After West Greene failed to put the game away at the free-throw line, back-to-back turnovers gave the Knights an opportunity to take the lead. However, Chuckey Doak’s runner missed its mark, and the Buffaloes were able to seal the victory by converting one of two free throws in the closing seconds.
Shiflet led West Greene with 16 points, followed by Broilet with eight and Ian McKamey with six.
Combs paced Chuckey Doak with a game-high 22 points, while Overstreet added 11.
