RUTLEDGE – The North Greene Lady Huskies improved to 4-0 with a dominant defensive performance in a 49-29 win over Cumberland Gap on Monday at Grainger High School.
It’s the second straight year the Lady Huskies have competed in Grainger’s Pizza Plus Thanksgiving Classic and the second-straight time they opened up with Cumberland Gap. Last year’s game was a tough loss that came down to the wire. With an improved defensive effort North Greene couldn’t be stopped on their way to a dominant win.
“Just happy to come in here and get a win. I think it was last year we came here and lost three and they were all one possession games and to finally get a win in this gym has been nice,” Lady Huskies Head Coach James Buchanan said.
Kaydence Marshall led the way with a game-high 15 points with Ella Head and Hannah Miller trailing behind with 12 each.
The game started with instant offense from both Miller and Marshall with a putback from Miller on North Greene’s first possession and four-straight from Marshall on a free throw and three-pointer. They grabbed the lead first and never let go for a wire-to-wire win.
A baseline reverse layup from Ella Head finished their first-quarter scoring. Kelly Hatfield scored three-straight for the Lady Panthers to pull them within 10-7 at the end of one.
It took almost three minutes for either team to finally score in the second, but Ella Head continued where she left off in the first and scored the next three points with a layup and free throw. The foul shot resulted in a foul after Head’s steal on an inbounds play.
Loren Blevins and Kaydence Marshall made it rain from three with a triple each. Miller pump faked to make her defender jump and laid in a left-handed bank shot. North Greene led 21-13 at the break.
“I felt like we had a good night shooting. Just very proud of them. Anytime you run into zones and shoot well it helps a lot. Especially moving the ball from side to side and you knock down a few shots it really loosens things up. It’s good to see those start falling for us,” Buchanan mentioned.
The second half started with a 9-0 run from the Lady Huskies. Head’s layup was followed by a three from Marshall. Miller sank a free throw before Head drained a three-pointer after an offensive rebound by Josie Graham.
Jayla Bailey ended a four-minute scoreless drought for Gap.
North Greene’s defense was a huge difference maker all night and forced Gap into forcing turnovers and taking uncomfortable shots in half court sets. “Defensively we wanted to speed them up a little bit even if we didn’t turn them over, we thought they didn’t like to play fast and maybe they’d come down and take a quick shot,” Coach Buchanan mentioned.
Marshall, Blevins, Miller, and Head added one layup each to end the third quarter with 38-20 lead.
The three-pointers kept flying as Miller and Marshall extended the lead with threes. Mercy Buchanan made a layup along with Josie Graham to add their names to the scoring sheet in the fourth.
North Greene’s defense and solid shooting led to a 49-29 win over Cumberland Gap on Monday afternoon.
Kaydence Marshall led all scorers with 15 points. Hannah Miller and Ella Head provided 12 each.
Jayla Bailey and Kelly Hatfield scored 9 each to lead the Lady Panthers.
North Greene’s next opponent in the tournament will be Cherokee. That game will be played today at 4:15 at Grainger High School.
