West Greene took the floor for the second consecutive night in search of another conference victory and, after a sluggish first quarter it did just that with a 65–53 Senior Night win over Happy Valley.
“I don’t know if it was just two back-to-back early games or what, but I felt like we played sluggish—nowhere like we did last night against Johnson County,” head coach Allen Tolliver said. “But credit to Happy Valley for coming in and playing hard. Overall, it was a big conference win for us, and we just need to keep getting better.”
Seniors Ayden Lamons and Elijah Williams led the Buffaloes with 20 points apiece, while Josiah Dawson added 14. Lane Parker paced Happy Valley with 14 points, and Zack Rose also finished in double figures with 10.
Happy Valley held a slim 15–13 edge after the opening quarter as Mason Townsend, Grady Goulds, and Jace Winegar each scored three points for the Warriors. Lamons accounted for six of West Greene’s 13 points in the period.
The Buffaloes turned the momentum in the second quarter, outscoring the Warriors 18–8, including a decisive 16–6 run over the final 6:29 to take a 31–23 lead into halftime. After missing his first two shots of the game, Williams went a perfect 4-for-4 from the field in the quarter for eight points, while Tytus Shelton added four.
Happy Valley opened the third quarter with a 7–0 run to pull within one before Lamons knocked down a jumper at the 5:34 mark for West Greene’s first points of the half.
The teams traded baskets over the next several minutes, trimming the margin to 39–36 before the Warriors called a timeout with 2:46 remaining in the period.
West Greene responded with a Lamons layup, followed by back-to-back steals from Parker Arnott that led to transition baskets by Williams, sparking an 11–0 run to close the quarter.
Arnott finished with five points, but Tolliver credited his defensive effort as a key factor in the surge.
“I’m going to say Parker should’ve been closer to 10 or 11 if he makes a couple of layups, but that’s all right,” Tolliver said. “His defensive effort is what took us over the hump and opened it up.”
Happy Valley received six points each from Parker and Rose in the final quarter, but the Buffaloes were never seriously threatened as Lamons scored six and Dawson added five to seal the win.
West Greene, now 6–3 in conference play, will turn its attention to South Greene, a team it has already faced twice this season.
“We don’t have many days left,” Tolliver said. “We’ll break down some film, look at tendencies, put together a scouting report, and get ready for the last conference game on Monday.”
