STONEY CREEK – Trips to Stoney Creek are never easy, but on Friday night West Greene was able to sneak out of Unaka with a slim 59-57 victory to start their new year.
“If you can come up here and walk out with a win, I’m always pleased with it,” West Greene Head Coach Allen Tolliver stated. “I couldn’t even tell you who the leading scorer was. All around it was a total team effort.”
It wasn’t pretty at all, and it didn’t come easy. West Greene led by as many as 18 points in the second quarter, but a furious comeback by the Rangers pulled them back within single digits and made things difficult for the rest of the game. West Greene stayed in control of the whole game and never surrendered the lead. Even though that was the case, it was a stressful ending for all Buffalo faithful.
“It feels good to win this one. I told the boys before we warmed up that they can shoot it, this environment gets crazy, and if they get hot and make a little run you won’t be able to hear anything,” Tolliver explained.
The Rangers had the last shot with an opportunity to win or tie, but the last-chance effort was off the mark and the Buffs survived a late-game scare.
Conner Campbell did all his scoring in the first and fourth quarters and led West Greene with 14 points. Sam Wisecarver followed close behind with 13 points and Ayden Lamons had 10.
John Hardin led Unaka and all scorers with 19 points.
The Buffs made the first quarter a statement quarter and rushed out to a 16-2 lead. Campbell scored their first six on three-consecutive layups and finished the quarter with back-to-back lay-ins to finish the frame with ten points.
After scoring on a layup in the first, Sam Wisecarver started the second with another layup. He scored twice more in the mid-range areas to finish his half with eight. Tytus Shelton gained valuable playing time in the second quarter and scored eight points for West Greene to help pad their lead.
After Elijah Williams drained a three to put the Buffaloes up by 18 points, the comeback began. The Rangers ended the quarter on a 14-2 run to draw back within six at the half. John Hardin’s size and presence in the paint produced 11 of his 19 in the second quarter. West Greene led 33-27 at the break.
The third quarter started with an and-one from Ayden Lamons and a pair of triples from Braden McCamey. After Elijah Williams connected on a transition layup, another comeback was sparked.
Unaka caught fire from beyond the perimeter and drained four three-point buckets to cut their deficit to only one. Mason Wilson had been quiet all game until he nailed three threes in that span. After Wisecarver went 1-of-2 from the free-throw line, Wilson’s layup tied the game at 45-45.
Williams raced down the floor and flipped up a running floater at the buzzer to hand West Greene a 47-45 lead heading into the final eight.
Hardin knotted the score once more with a layup, but Lamons’ triple and back-to-back layups from Wisecarver extended the lead back to seven. Conner Campbell and TJ Good traded layups until Aiden Walsh sank a three with 1:58 left to cut it to four. With a little over a minute left Hardin laid the ball up from the post position to make it a two-point margin. Good went 1-of-2 from the charity stripe and Campbell went a perfect 2-of-2 to make it a three-point game. A put back by Hardin cut it to 58-57 with 19.5 seconds left on the clock.
Braden McCamey was fouled and sent to the line and missed the front end of his attempts, but made the last to push the lead to two.
In the games most crucial moment, the Rangers went to tall post John Hardin for their last second shot. He got the post fade he wanted, but the shot bounced off left iron and the Buffs would survive a scare and walk out of Stoney Creek victorious.
West Greene defeated Unaka 59-57 on Friday night. Conner Campbell was the team’s leading scorer with 14 points. Sam Wisecarver added 13 and Ayden Lamons delivered 10. John Hardin outscored everyone and put in a game-high 19 for Unaka.
“Started the new year off with a win. I can’t complain about that,” Tolliver stated.
The Buffs have a full week off before getting back into action against North Greene next Saturday in Baileyton.
GIRLS
UNAKA 57, WEST GREENE 43
The West Greene Lady Buffaloes played toe-to-toe with a talented Unaka team, but let the lead slip away in the second half and could not catch up as Unaka downed West Greene 57-43 on Friday night.
The story of the game was Michelle Shields scoring at will whenever and wherever she wanted. The Elizabethton transfer dropped a game-high 30 points and proved to be an issue for West Greene’s defense.
“We were unable to play defense and guard Shields. That’s the story of the game. We were unable to guard her,” West Greene Head Coach Betsy Shaw stated.
The scoring margin never reached more than four points in a very tightly contested first half, but an ice-cold start to the third quarter saw West Greene trail by 13 halfway through the frame. Their deficit got cut down to 6 in the beginning stages of the fourth, but the Lady Rangers took care of business and put the game to rest late in the fourth.
Morgan Brown scored a team-high 14 points for West Greene and scored 10 of that in the second half in a come-from-behind effort. Joie Shipley added 11 to go with Brown’s double-digit night.
Unaka jumped out in front first with a triple from Kalli Shepard, but the Lady Buffs managed to gain a short-lived lead towards the end of the first quarter after Shipley’s three-point bucket and Brown’s tough layup. Shepard tied it with a three and Shields hit a runner in the paint to help Unaka lead 14-12 after one quarter.
Shipley started the second with a layup to tie it, but missed a free throw that followed. Shields and Lauren Lund drained triples to extend Unaka’s lead. Emily Justis scored five in-a-row for West Greene to keep pace. The Lady Buffs had a chance to go into the half only down one, but a failed box out led to an offensive put back from Shepard as time expired. Unaka led 26-23 at the break.
The Lady Buffs went cold from the field and did not make a field goal for 4 minutes and 45 seconds. In that time, Unaka managed to go on an 11-1 run with a trio of triples from Brooklyn Campbell, Michelle Shields, and Emma Douglas. Morgan Brown got a layup to fall with 3:15 left in the quarter. Shields finished the quarter with six-straight for Unaka to lead them into the fourth ahead 43-32.
A layup from Emily Justis and an and-one by Joie Shipley pulled West Greene within six of the lead and gave them new life. Unfortunately for them, Unaka went on a 11-2 run to put the game out of reach. Morgan Brown tried her best to will them back with the final six for West Greene.
“She tries to do it all for us. She is our captain and does it all. She fights until the very end. It’s great to have a player like her on our team,” Coach Shaw expressed.
The Lady Rangers cashed in from deep and made four three-point baskets in the fourth quarter. Shields and Campbell scored a pair each.
Unaka ran away with a 57-43 victory over West Greene. Michelle Shields scored 30 points to lead the Lady Rangers. Morgan Brown scored 14 and Joie Shipley scored 11.
“If we were scoring whatever it’d be different, but when we don’t score but 43 you can’t let one player score 30,” Shaw mentioned.
