ERWIN – After falling behind big in the first half on Monday the South Greene girls were able to rally to keep their season alive with a 69-63 win over Johnson County in the quarterfinals of the District 1-2A Tournament at Unicoi County High School.
The game had 11 lead changes and four ties before the Lady Rebels made the final run on the way to a six-point win.
“This was a tough game. It went back and forth with several lead changes and ties,” South Greene coach Stephen Gregg said. “I’m sure it was fun to watch. They shot it really well in the first half and we felt good to be down three points. In the second half we gave them a look they hadn’t seen on defense, and it was effective. We got the lead back and from there it was like heavy weights throwing punches. We never felt like we had control, but it’s an elimination game and you always feel fortunate to move on.”
On the offensive end Kortnei Bailey led the way with 33 points and 14 of those came in the fourth quarter as the Lady Rebels swung in front before pulling away to the win.
“This was a great game from Kortnei. She was 10-of-11 from the field and scored 30 points,” Gregg said. “We haven’t had Kortnei out there in a while because of injury, but she didn’t miss a beat tonight. Sometimes she’s too nice and you want her taking more than 11 shots, we had to tell her to go take over. But you expect the cream to rise to the top, and she wanted the ball in the fourth quarter.”
South Greene moves on to play No.1 seed Hampton on Thursday at 6:30 p.m. at Unicoi County. The win also secures a spot for the Lady Rebels in next week’s Region 1-2A Tournament.
“We don’t want it to end,” Gregg said. “We’ve had a bad shake all year with injuries and sickness and not having seniors able to play. It’s really big for these juniors to experience tournament situations to get them ready for next season.”
Monday’s second half started with Johnson County leading 33-30 but the Lady Rebels came out with a trapping full-court press that disrupted the Lady Longhorns’ offense. Bailey started the scoring with a layup just 11 seconds into the period.
With 5:33 left in the third quarter Natalie Foshie knocked down a three pointer to put the Lady Rebels in front 39-38. That lead grew to 44-40 when Samantha Birdwell stole possession at midcourt and took it the other way for a layup.
Abby Dickens got the Lady Longhorns going again with a three-pointer from the corner, and when Izzy Thompson sank a pair of free throws Johnson County led 51-44.
Bailey answered with a transition layup that turned into three points the hard way, and then Foshie turned a steal into a runner. The quarter closed with Paisley Brobeck taking a feed from Ari Hoese and sinking a jumper from the block that closed the gap to 54-53.
The fourth began with Bailey stealing possession in the back court and turning it into a quick layup that put the Lady Rebels in front 55-54. Johnson County’s Audry Shaw and Bailey then traded triples.
Another three-pointer from Bailey gave South Greene a 62-59 lead, and then Foshie passed through the Lady Longhorns’ press to Alexa Gabbard for a layup that made it 64-59 with 3:57 left in the game.
Points were hard to find in the final minutes with both defenses turning up the pressure, but Bailey scored the Lady Rebels’ final five to secure to 69-63 win.
Monday’s action started with South Greene playing from in front. In the opening period Reagan Arrowood and Neveah Fillers each knocked down triples while Bailey made a pair of layups on the way to a 14-10 lead.
Shaw scored four points over the final 1:15 to tie the game at 14-14.
The Lady Longhorns looked as though they might run away at the start of the second quarter. They scored 12 straight points with Dickens hitting from deep twice and scoring eight points on the way to a 26-14 lead.
Bailey broke the streak with a jumper from the elbow. Foshie followed with a pair of three-pointers, both set up by Hoese, as part of a 13-0 run that put South Greene in front 27-26.
Foshie hit four three-pointers on Monday and scored 18 points for South Greene.
“Natalie hits some big shots for us in the first half when Johnson County was trying to run away. She helped us hang around and got them out of their zone,” Gregg said.
Dickens used another deep shot to put Johnson County back in front and the Lady Longhorns went to halftime leading 33-30.
Dickens scored 20 points on Monday for Johnson County. Shaw had 16 points, Thomson 11 and Mackenzie McClain 11.
HAPPY VALLEY 41, WEST GREENE 27
Missing one of their most important pieces in Joie Shipley the West Greene girls could not get its offense going and fell to Happy Valley 41-27 in the quarterfinals of the District 1-2A Tournament.
The loss brings an end to the Lady Buffaloes’ season while Happy Valley moves on to play Chuckey-Doak on Thursday at 8:00 p.m. at Unicoi County. It was Happy Valley’s first win over a district opponent this season and its first win over any opponent since December 30.
In a slowed paced first quarter both teams struggled to score but Happy Valley took a 7-6 lead. Payton Norton scored four points for the Lady Buffaloes while Shaniece Gardner scored four points for Happy Valley.
It took over two minutes for West Greene to score in the second quarter but when a steal by Morgan Brown led to three points the hard way from Katelyn Begines the Lady Buffs were back in front at 9-7. The lead grew to 15-8 and on a layup by Brown.
With 55 seconds left in the half Josephine Zeoli sank a triple to put the Lady Warriors on top 16-15. Just before the buzzer Alex Moore scored on a putback to make that lead 18-15.
A driving layup by Brown briefly gave West Greene the lead back at 19-18, but Happy Valley went to the fourth quarter leading 25-21.
With 3:57 left to play a free throw by Brown cut Happy Valley’s lead down to 30-27, but West Greene could not get a shot to fall the rest of the night. The Lady Warriors did the rest of their damage at the foul line, and went 11-of-12 on free throws to pull away to a 41-27 win.
Brown led West Greene on Monday with seven points while Norton and Begines each had six.
For Happy Valley Cayden Anderson scored 12 points, all on free throws.
