ROGERSVILLE – North Greene continued their winning ways and extended their streak to eight games with a 55-19 route of Cherokee on Tuesday night.
Before the game in the locker room, Coach James Buchanan challenged the Lady Huskies to start off hot and build an early lead. They answered the challenge and then some with a 25-3 lead after the first quarter that set the stage for a seamless victory.
“We really emphasized to them that we wanted to come out and play like a good team is supposed to play on the road and that’s focused. Sometimes that’s hard to do if you’ve played a team previously and you’ve beat them. I think a lot of time there’s a tendency there to let up a little then you get off to a slow start and before you know it, you’re in a dog fight. So, I really challenged them and said ‘if you’re a good team, you’ll come out and have a great start to this game,’ and, man, I thought we really did that,” he stated.
Before you knew it, North Greene built an 11-0 lead only 2:17 into the game. They never slowed down from there and practically cruised after their dominant first quarter.
Hannah Miller turned in another 20-point performance to lead the way. Kaydence Marshall and Ella Head entered double figures with 11 and 10 points.
“I think they are continuing to just make the right plays and the right plays tonight were able to get the ball spread around quite a bit and we got three kids in double figures and a couple more with six. We did well sharing the ball,” Buchanan said.
North Greene bumped their winning streak to eight in-a-row and their record improved to 19-3 (3-0).
The Lady Huskies knew it was going to be a smooth night when they added points on their first possession. Loren Blevins sank a three-point jumper to start out. The jumpers kept falling with Mercy Buchanan adding one from three-point range and Ella Head from the mid-range. Buchanan took another shot from deep, but was fouled on the shot. She managed to knock down all three foul shots. The score sat at 11-0 with a little over two minutes off the clock.
Cherokee called a timeout, but the North Greene didn’t slow down. Hannah Miller and Ella Head each provided and-one, three-point plays. Marshall sat along the three-point line and busted back-to-back threes.
Nicole Nelson scored a three-pointer with 13 seconds left for Cherokee’s first field goal.
North Greene led 25-3 after one and continued piling it on in the second.
Cadie McDevitt stole the ball under the basket on an inbounds play and quickly laid it off the glass for a layup. Miller scored four-straight and Blevins stepped back in for another triple from beyond the arc. Cherokee scored four-straight with Addie Lawson’s putback and Nicole Nelson’s floater before Kaydence Marshall nailed her third three-pointer of the half right before the buzzer sounded.
North Greene held a 37-12 advantage at halftime.
The third quarter was another high-scoring quarter. Ella Head sank a triple from long range and Hannah Miller rolled right for a left-handed post turnaround. Marshall and Head each made a pair of free throws next. Miller finished the frame with nine-straight, all in the paint, to extend their lead to 55-17.
The fourth quarter rolled along uninterrupted and the Lady Huskies claimed a 55-19 in Rogersville.
Hannah Miller led the way with 20 points, Kaydence Marshall had 11, and Ella Head with 10.
North Greene suits up again on Friday for an important district contest with University High at home.