After suffering two defeats in last week’s Thanksgiving Classic at Grainger, the North Greene boys got back on track with a 61-51 win over Cherokee on Tuesday night in The Huskies Den.
It’s been a tough week for North Greene’s boys’ basketball team. After the loss of leading scorer Bennett McLain, the Huskies have searched for ways to operate without him on the floor. In his absence they needed to find one player to step up. That player was Lance Carrico in Tuesday’s win.
“We challenged him at halftime because he wasn’t playing strong enough and doing what we needed him to do. With Bennett out, he’s got to be our go-to guy and that’s what he was tonight, so I couldn’t be more proud of him,” North Greene Head Coach Sam Tarlton expressed.
Carrico led all scorers with 30 points and hit six three-point bombs. His scoring from all three levels helped give North Greene the extra push they needed to get over the hump. Lawson Davenport helped in his double-figure effort of 15 points. Both combined to score 73 percent of North Greene’s points.
The Huskies improved to 4-2 with their win.
The first quarter was back-and-forth and saw neither team gain more than a two-possession lead. Lance Carrico got his night started with a pair of three-pointers in the first frame. North Greene led 11-10 after one.
Cherokee managed to steal the lead away with a two-handed dunk from Landon Jeffers. Jason Markham followed that up with a layup. After Carrico’s layup tied the score at 14-14, both teams traded buckets for four lead changes and two ties for the remainder of the quarter. The Chiefs ended the quarter on a 4-0 run to go into the break leading 29-24.
Down by five at the half, Coach Tarlton challenged his team at the halftime break. “We had to quit giving up offensive rebounds. We were playing good defense but it doesn’t matter how good of defense you play if you allow them to get the offensive rebound and stick it back in,” he stated.
North Greene dropped their first game in their season series with Cherokee last season and made the necessary adjustments and fixes during halftime to come out on top this time around.
Thomas Darnell got the third quarter started with a layup to start North Greene’s charge. Davenport’s runner was followed by five-straight from Carrico. Tyler Britton’s elbow jumper handed North Greene a 35-34 lead. They’d keep that lead all the way until the end. Davenport ended a 14-0 run for North Greene with 5-straight points to put them ahead 42-34.
After a three-pointer from Gavin Lawson, Britton ended the quarter with a pair of layups to send the Huskies into the fourth leading 46-37.
The Chiefs made it interesting and opened up the quarter with six-straight to climb back within one possession, but a couple big-time three-point daggers from Lance Carrico helped give North Greene a cushioned lead again.
A baseline floater from Lawson Davenport and a long two-point mid-range from Carrico essentially put the game away. Carrico and Britton went a perfect 4-of-4 from the free throw line when it mattered most late in the game to seal the deal.
North Greene’s boys finished the night with a 61-51 win to earn a varsity sweep over the Cherokee Chiefs.
“Turnovers and rebounds. I think we turned it over too much and we didn’t win the rebounding battle I don’t think. We did a little bit better in the second half and then we were able to get a little separation,” Tarlton stated.
Carrico led all scorers with 30 points and Davenport added 15 to go along. Gavin Lawson scored 15 to lead the Chiefs.
North Greene hosts Chuckey-Doak on Thursday night in an in-county rivalry game. The Huskies are looking to snap a four-game losing streak against the Knights.
