WASHBURN – Nobody likes losing and nobody likes watching their season end. But Tuesday night was the end of the road for the North Greene boys basketball team.
In one of the best games of the year the Huskies lost a heartbreaker to Unaka in overtime, 61-50, in the Region 1-1A tournament semifinals.
“What a ball game. I mean my guys battled all night. It was an absolute heck of a basketball game. Probably the best game I’ve ever been a part of. I thought my guys came in and played their absolute tails off. That’s a very good team and a team that I think has a good chance to end up in Murfreesboro. We gave them everything they could take tonight,” North Greene Head Coach Matt Weems expressed.
After a third-place finish in the District 1-1A Tournament and a meeting with Cosby (a team who beat them twice already), most people didn’t expect North Greene to make it past the quarterfinals. After losing to Unaka three times previously this season most probably didn’t expect North Greene to be in the mix late. But the Huskies proved most people wrong and fought until the very last whistle in the Region 1-1A semifinals.
It took a bit of heroics from senior Tyler Britton and a lot of grit to force overtime. The Huskies got down by as much as nine after giving up a 13-0 run and responded with an 11-0 run to regain the lead. North Greene trailed by three with 16.6 seconds left and Coach Weems called a perfect play for senior Tyler Britton. The senior guard’s shot was true and forced overtime and extended the game.
Unaka finished strong and ended the game on an 11-0 run in overtime and ultimately ended North Greene’s season. The Huskies finished with a 12-21 record.
“I thought they played their best basketball game of the season tonight and I’m so proud to be their basketball coach,” Weems stated.
Tyler Britton led North Greene with 21 points in his final game as a Husky. Isaac Gaby ended the night with 10 points. John Hardin led Unaka with 21 points. Justius Wallin scored 14 and Austin Lambert scored 12.
The first quarter was a low-scoring affair. North Greene led 9-5 with buckets from Tyler Britton, Jaiden Bailey, and Havoc Fair.
Unaka outscored North Greene 14-8 in the second and claimed a 19-17 lead at the half. An 8-0 run thrusted them in front, 15-11, after trailing 11-7. John Hardin led the Rangers with six in the second. Bailey, Gaby, and Britton were North Greene’s three scorers in the second.
The third quarter was when the game really started picking up on the intensity. North Greene tied it 21-21 and a back-and-forth battle ensued for a short period. Unaka’s Austin Lambert sank a corner three before Tyler Britton splashed a three in response. Lambert drove baseline and secured a layup and Kingston Ricker responded with another long-range three for the Huskies. Britton cut to the basket for a layup and helped North Greene lead 29-26.
Basketball is called a game of runs and it became true in the third. After North Greene took a 29-26 lead, Unaka went on a 12-0 run and led 38-29. John Hardin scored eight-straight for the Rangers. Justius Wallin scored the final four.
North Greene ended the third on a 7-0 run following Unaka’s large run and scored six-straight to begin the fourth and made it a 13-0 run. Tyler Britton started it with a layup, Thomas Darnell set the crowd on fire with an and-one, and Gaby ended the third with a backdoor layup. North Greene trailed 38-36 after three.
Britton started the fourth with an off-balance lay-in and tied it 38-38. Gaby took the lead, 40-38, with a layup on an inbounds play and drove through the lane again for another layup to cap the run.
Coach Weems explained what it took to withstand their run and have one of their own. “It took a little bit of resilience. They’re going to make a run at some point and time, but we’ve got to take the punch and respond with a punch of our own. I called a timeout and we settled in right there and I thought we did a good job at chipping away.”
Unaka responded with a 6-0 run after that and took a 44-42 lead with 3:38 left.
Isaac Gaby tied the score with a layup and the Huskies gained possession back and tried milking the clock, but turned it over. Justius Wallin stole the ball and raced home for a layup with 56 seconds left. North Greene missed a shot attempt with 30 seconds left and were forced to foul. John Hardin was sent to the line and had a chance to ice the game, but missed the first free throw. Hardin made the second and made it a three-point game. North Greene traveled to their bench and called a timeout with 12.4 seconds left.
Coach Weems called a play for this very moment. North Greene ran a play they hadn’t ran all year and were saving it for a moment like this. The play developed to perfection and Tyler Britton got the ball in his hands with a three-point attempt. Aiden Walsh contested and Britton had to step under and up for a three-point attempt with time winding down. But just as the last name Britton is synonymous with the word clutch, the three-point attempt landed in the bottom of the net and tied the score 47-47 at the end of regulation.
“That’s one that I don’t think we ran all season, but we had in the back of our pocket. That was a play drawn up for Tyler to get him an open look. When it touched his hands I knew it was going in. He wanted the ball in the huddle. That’s what kind of player he is. He knew. So proud of him for making that shot,” Coach Weems explained.
After the dust settled enough for overtime to start, Unaka began on a 3-0 run. Tyler Britton sank another three-pointer and tied it, 50-50, but little did everybody know that would be the only basket North Greene would score in overtime. Austin Lambert drained a three with under two minutes left and scored a putback layup the next possession and started putting it out of reach. A crucial North Greene turnover with 48.1 seconds left almost sealed the deal. The Huskies were forced to foul after every missed shot and the Rangers went 6-for-6 on free throws in the final minute of overtime.
The Huskies would fall to the Rangers in overtime 61-50 and effectively put an end to their season.
North Greene finished with a 12-21 record.
Unaka and Hampton will play for the Region 1-1A Championship on Thursday night at 7:00 at Happy Valley High School.
