ROGERSVILLE – North Greene’s winning streak continued on Tuesday night and reached eight games with a 52-43 win on the road at Cherokee.
Although the Huskies walked away with a win, Coach Sam Tarlton was not pleased with the way they finished. They held as much as a 17-point lead in the fourth quarter before allowing a 9-1 run to end the game.
“We have to be better than that. I guess it’s good to learn in a win. We played a stretch right there at the end of the third and start of the fourth where it was decent, but we’ve got to be better,” Tarlton explained.
Even with the sloppy finish, the Huskies did enough in the third quarter, forcing traps on defense and throwing Cherokee off their game with turnovers.
“We turned them over. We jumped into a little half-court trap and forced some turnovers,” Tarlton said.
Lance Carrico’s hot shooting carried over into this week as he led all scorers with 20 points. Tyler Britton scored 13 points and Lawson Davenport added 10. Their overall record improved to 18-4 (3-0) with the victory.
A three-pointer from Carrico began the contest and was followed up by Jason Markham’s layup. Carrico got inside for a layup next. Jason Markham drained a three to briefly give Cherokee a slim lead. Tyler Britton’s floater tied the game at 8-8 to end the first quarter.
The second quarter started just like the first with a three from Carrico. After Jason Markham responded with one, Carrico splashed another three-point bomb.
“He’s just a terrific shooter. He’s been playing really well. I thought he knocked his open shots down tonight,” Coach Tarlton stated.
Landon Jeffers continued the three-point party later in the quarter. Britton and Isaac Gaby created a little separation with two-point buckets before Parker Travis made the fifth three of the quarter. The frame ended strongly for North Greene as Carrico made 1-of-2 free throws but the miss was followed up and put back up by Isaac Gaby.
The Huskies led 21-17 at the break.
The third quarter proved to be the difference maker with the six-point differential being the largest out of any quarter throughout the contest. The three-pointers kept falling with Gavin Lawson and Tyler Britton trading triples. Each team seemed to go bucket-for-bucket throughout the quarter until Lawson Davenport scored three-straight from the free-throw line and Lance Carrico buried another three-pointer.
North Greene walked into the fourth holding a 39-29 lead.
Continuing from Carrico’s three to end the quarter North Greene went on a 12-0 run bridging from the third to the fourth. Britton stripped the ball at half court and raced to the cup for a layup. Gaby netted a pair of free throws and Carrico drained another triple. Davenport finished the run with a lay in.
For the rest of the game North Greene’s only points came from Davenport’s free throw with less than a minute left. Cherokee erased a 17-point deficit to score 9 in-a-row and cause frustration.
“I think we got up 16 or 17 and I look up and we’re laughing and giggling because we think the game is over and they just quit playing. We threw the ball out of bounds 15 times and they are a three away from making it a game. We just got to be better,” Tarlton expressed.
Luckily, North Greene had already built a large enough lead to make up for their late-game sloppiness and held on to a 52-43 win at the conclusion.
Lance Carrico scored a game-high 20 points. Tyler Britton delivered 13 while Lawson Davenport scored 10. Jason Markham led Cherokee with 11.
The Huskies host University High on Friday night for a pivotal District 1-1A matchup inside The Den.
