Hot shooting on the outside and a strong presence on the inside from Hannah Miller carried North Greene to a 66-51 early-morning win over South Greene at the Andrew Johnson Bank Ladies Classic.
“I felt like whatever we defensively they had an answer for, but sometimes games like that can be fun because it becomes a chess match,” North Greene coach James Buchanan said. “I’m proud of the fact we handled pressure, because they gave us a lot trouble with that when we played them there. But we need to be better defensively. I’m pleased with the mental toughness I saw today. We did a good job shooting, and those shots are big because if they don’t go in we may be trailing by eight at halftime and trying to catch up, like we were at their place. It’s amazing how different this game can be when shots go in compared to when they don’t.”
Just three weeks ago the roles were reversed when South Greene took down the Lady Huskies 64-50, but on Saturday North Greene put four players in doubles figures and struck from behind the arc 11 times. Miller led the way in the paint with 19 points and 13 rebounds.
“You know they are going to send the whole house at Hannah, but she did a good job of kicking it out and finding shooters,” Buchanan said. “When those girls are knocking shots down you can’t double and triple team Hannah, and then when you play her one on one she showed what she can do. That forced them to make a decision and looking for an answer. I thought our kids did a good job of adjusting to what they were doing.”
South Greene took the lead first on Saturday, and after Kortnei Bailey and Samantha Birdwell each hit from behind the arc the Lady Rebels were in front 10-5.
That was about all the production South Greene got from Bailey and Birdwell in the first half as they both picked up two quick fouls and went to the bench.
After two offensive rebounds Loren Blevins nailed a three-pointer from the corner before a put back by Miller tied things at 10-10.
With 1:40 left in the first quarter Miller fired a pass to Mercy Buchanan on the left wing and she sank a triple to put North Greene in front 13-10. The first quarter ended with North Greene leading 15-14.
On its first possession of the second quarter Ari Hoese put in a jumper from the lane to give South Greene the lead for the final time.
A turnaround jumper in the lane by Miller put the Lady Huskies on top 17-16, and then the three-pointers started flying. Blevins hit from deep in the right corner before Kaydence Marshall knocked down a pair of triples. Josie Graham set up both of Marhsall’s shots, first by athletically leaping to steal an inbound pass and then by grabbing an offensive rebound.
With 3:09 left in the second quarter Buchanan knocked down a three-pointer that put North Greene on top 31-20.
The lead reached 35-20 after Blevins made one at the free-throw line. In the closing stretch of the first half South Greene’s Alexa Gabbard put back a pair of misses, but North Greene led 38-26 at the break.
Midway through the third quarter North Greene’s lead reached 49-32 on Blevins’ third triple of the day.
Natalie Foshie immediately answered with a three-pointer on South Greene’s end of the floor. Just before the buzzer sounded Hoese dumped a pass to Bailey in the paint and she rose above her defender for a jumper that closed the gap to 54-41.
South Greene found some momentum early in the fourth quarter, started by Bailey draining an elbow jumper. Foshie then struck from three-point land, and then she slashed to the basket to cut North Greene’s lead down to 54-48 with 5:31 left to play.
Foshie cut the lead one more time with a three-pointer that made it 58-51, but then Miller took over down low. In the final three minutes the North Greene senior scored seven points while the Lady Huskies’ defense held South Greene scoreless.
In addition to Miller’s 19-point effort Buchann scored 15 points for North Greene, Marshall had 11 points and five assists, and Blevins had 10 points, six assists and five rebounds.
Foshie led South Greene with 16 points and four rebounds, and Bailey scored 13 points.
North Greene will be back in action on Tuesday at 9:30 a.m. against Morristown West. South Greene will play Chuckey-Doak on Monday at 9 a.m.
