BLOUNTVILLE – For the first 31:48 it must have felt like there was a lid on the rim for North Greene senior Mercy Buchanan.
She was 0-for-10 from three-point range, an effort that her father and coach described as “horrible”, and even led to him telling her to stop shooting midway through the third quarter.
With 12 seconds left and the game on the line Buchanan took one more chance, and the result was magnificent. She fired true from the top of the key for the go-ahead bucket, and delivered the Lady Huskies a 44-42 win over Unaka in the Region 1-1A championship game at West Ridge High School.
“I missed a ton a of shots tonight. I was nervous and scared, and the clock was running down. I was wide open, and dad told me shoot. All I could think was ‘Please Lord help me,’” Buchanan said. “It went in, I got really excited, but then I had to get back and play defense. I’m just so happy right now. We wanted one more game at home as seniors, and now we have that. I’m so excited right now.”
North Greene fans had to hold their breath for the final 12 seconds as the hot shooting Lady Rangers got off one final attempt to steal the win. Kalli Shepard’s shot bounced long into the far corner, the buzzer sounded, and cheers of exuberance from those clad in green nearly lifted the roof off of the Evelyn Rafalowski Athletic Complex while coach James Buchanan sprinted the length of the floor to embrace his daughter.
“I’m proud of my kid,” North Greene coach James Buchanan said. “Grace and Mercy each played four years for me, and I’ve been intentional about not saying a lot about them because you don’t want it to look like you’re showing favoritism. She had a horrible game, and she’d be the first to admit that. But the fact that she stepped up and hit that thing, I’ll stop being a coach for a second and tell you as a dad that I’m proud of my kid. These girls fought hard, I’m proud of all of them. They are a great group of kids that deserved to win this game.”
The win is North Greene’s first region championship since 2022 and gives the Lady Huskies one more home game this season. They will be back at the Huskies Den on Saturday at 7 p.m. for the Class A State Sectionals against Midway. It is the same opponent North Greene defeated 33-31 on the road in last year’s sectional. On Wednesday Midway fell to Coalfield 70-35 in the Region 2-1A championship game.
North Greene will be trying to advance to the Class 1A State Tournament for the sixth consecutive season.
“We get a chance to play at home again on Saturday, and I’m happy with that,” coach Buchanan said. “We’ve proven the last two years that you can go on the road and win this game. But it’s better to be at home. It’s not going to be easy, we’re going to have to go to work, but we’ve been good at home this year.”
Wednesday championship action started with North Greene taking the lead on the opening possession when Loren Blevins knocked down a corner three and the Lady Huskies played from in front until the 4:20 mark of the third quarter.
Six points from Hannah Miller followed and the Lady Huskies took an 11-2 lead. Over the final 1:40 of the first quarter Unaka’s Arianna Sutherland and Michelle Shields hit from behind the arc to close the gap to 11-8.
In the second quarter Josie Graham and Miller each scored inside and then Buchanan turned a steal into a breakaway layup that pushed the advantage to 17-10.
Three-pointers from Graham and Kaydence Marshall followed before Ella Head beat the buzzer with a finger roll that put the Lady Huskies in front 25-17 at halftime.
In the second half Unaka’s defense made it harder to get the ball to Miller on the block and the outside shots were not falling at a high enough rate to stretch the defense.
On the other end of the floor the Lady Rangers found ways to get open on the three-point line and with 4:20 left in the third quarter Katlyn Dugger sank a triple from the right wing to take a 28-26 lead.
Going the other way Buchanan hit Miller on the block for the tying layup, and then Head drove the lane to put North Greene back in front at 30-28.
The game went to the fourth quarter tied at 33-33 after Dugger hit another triple at the horn.
North Greene spent 40 seconds moving the ball on its first possession of the fourth quarter before finding an open look for Marshall on the left wing. She followed her three-pointer with a pair of free throws that gave North Greene a 38-33 advantage.
Shields got into the lane for a pair of layups and then with two minutes left to play Shepard launched a three-pointer from the left wing with a defender in her face to put Unaka in front 42-40.
With 59 seconds left Marshall made one at the foul line, and North Greene got the ball back with 45 seconds when Dugger dribbled the ball out of bounds under pressure.
Coach Buchanan called a timeout with 32 seconds on the clock to set up the final play. North Greene moved the ball around looking for an opening and with 12 seconds left Mercy Buchanan found herself open at the top the key. She hesitated for a moment but then knocked down what proved to be the game-winning shot.
Miller led North Greene with 14 points on Wednesday and earned Tournament MVP honors. Marshall added nine points while she, Buchanan, Blevins and Head all earned All-Tournament honors.
Shields led Unaka with 16 points.
