The West Greene Buffaloes only set four goals for themselves at the start of the season, and they meet three and a half of them. Ten wins was goal number one, they won 16. Goal number two was to finish in the top two of the conference, and they did that. The third goal was to play with a team attitude. Coach Allen Tolliver said, ”These guys did everything I ask of them without issue and this group here really set a foundational piece for the program.” goal met!
Their fourth goal was to host and win a region game, they earned the right to host a region game but fell to Eagleton 49-37 on Saturday night in the Region 1-2A quarterfinals, in a game that was much closer than the final score indicated.
Conner Campbell hit Ayden Lamons underneath to open the game but Austin Gredig answered with a three from the elbow for Eagleton. Elijah Williams hit a pair from the line and Lamons returned the favor to Campbell streaking in the lane for an easy layup that sent Eagleton into a timeout to regroup.
Coming out of the timeout the Royals went on an 8-0 run capped by a four-point play when Gredig was fouled by Williams as he drilled another triple from the elbow. Lamons was open for the layup and Williams hit another pair of free throws to finish out the first quarter strong but West Greene still trailed after one quarter, 12-10.
Williams beat his man to the goal and took a pass from Lamons to briefly tie the game at 12-12 with the layup. Gredig hit another three from the elbow, but the Buffs went on a mini run to capture the lead when Campbell worked his way to the basket and Lamons was good with a hook shot. Williams beat his man to the goal again for a 18-15 Buffaloes’ lead with just over a minute to play in the first half.
Alex Walker hit a layup to draw the Royals back to within one but Williams, probably the smallest man on the court, beat his man yet again to the goal for a 20- 17 West Greene lead. Nathan Clemmer popped a three to tie things at 20-20 going to halftime.
As the third quarter started Lamons spotted Williams headed toward the goal ahead of all defenders for an easy bucket and a 22-20 Buffaloes lead. Noel Meza Flores then stole the ball and went coast-to-coast for a dunk that ignited a Royal 12-2 run for the remainder of the quarter that ended with the Buffaloes on the wrong end of a 32-24 score.
Campbell opened the fourth quarter with a basket from in front, and Lamons was good with the layup through contact for an old fashion three-point play to cut into the lead at 34-29. But that’s as close as the Buffs could get as their shot just weren’t falling and the Royals were content with slowing the game and working the clock. As the clock ran out the game and the season came to a close for the Buffaloes at 49-37.
Tolliver said, “We held them to under 50 points and they usually score in the 70s or 80s, you can’t fault our defensive effort. On offense we got the looks we needed to get, it was one of those nights that the ball just didn’t go in the hole for us. We beat them everywhere but the scoreboard, rebounds we out rebounded them, assists, charges, we took more charges, 50-50 balls we had more white jerseys on the floor than there was blue. You’re not ever going to fault the effort of this group”.
Williams led the way for the Buffs in scoring with 15 points, while Campbell reached double figures with 11. For the Royals, Gredig had a game high 16.
Photo By Bryan Cannon
