The South Greene boys were able to hold off a late charge from Hampton on Tuesday night to secure an important 55-47 win in District 1-2A action.
“Anytime you beat Hampton it’s a good night,” South Greene coach Terry Hoese said. “We got rattled a little bit at the end and we have to do a better job of finishing. But overall, I’m happy with tonight. We’ve been playing well lately, and with all the pieces we can win games like this. If you can handle team’s like this it make some of those other ones a little easier.”
With the win South Greene splits the season series with the Bulldogs and pulls even with Hampton at the top of the league standings at 6-1.
“This puts us in a tie for first place with Hampton and it gives us a shot at the top seed in the tournament,” Hoese said. “These guys understood what was at stake tonight. They also understand we have three conference games left and we can’t slip up.”
Tuesday’s first quarter stayed close with the Bulldogs scoring from the outside and the Rebels finding success in the paint. Hampton led briefly at 8-6 after Chase Davenport and Caden Davis each knocked down a three-pointer.
With 5:06 left in the opening period Chandler Gamble was fouled putting back a miss and his old-fashioned-three-point play gave the Rebels the lead for good.
Second-chance opportunities proved pivotal for the Rebels all night long as Gamble, Cayden Fillers and Noah Wright used tenacious effort on the boards to keep the ball at South Greene’s end of the floor.
“I felt like we did a good job of rebounding the ball tonight,” Hoese said. “That was huge for our offense. When you go 6’6”, 6’6”, 6’8” across the front line you should have that advantage. But then you have Noah Wright come in and even though he’s six-foot he plays like he’s 6’8”. He got after it tonight with his hustle. When we are getting those putbacks we are a much better team. Then on the other end we didn’t give them those second-chance opportunities and that was just as important.”
Jace Roderick followed with five points and Trey Gentry got into the lane for a pair of buckets as South Greene closed the first quarter leading 18-14.
Hampton made it a three-point game at 22-19 when Davenport launched from deep, but the Rebels answered with layup from Wright before Gamble ran the length of the floor for a 26-19 advantage.
Over the final 4:28 of the first half South Greene outscored Hampton 8-2 to take a 34-23 lead into halftime. Gentry knocked down a jumper from the top of the key while Gamble and Wright put back a pair of misses. The final points of the second quarter came when Gentry jumped a pass at midcourt and sent it ahead to Gamble for a layup.
In the third quarter South Greene added to its lead with Gamble scoring six straight points in the paint before Roderick nailed a triple that made the score 45-29. The game went to the fourth quarter with the Rebels leading 50-34.
In the final frame Hampton turned up the pressure on defense and South Greene’s offense was held to just five points in the fourth quarter. In less than two minutes Hampton closed the gap to 50-40 when Davenport got through the lane for two points.
Hampton closed the gap to eight points, but the Rebels defense held tough and the offense did just enough to keep the home team in front. Hampton was held to seven points over the final 6:22 despite its defense forcing a handful of turnovers to create extra opportunities.
South Greene finished the night with a 55-47 win. Gamble led the Rebels with 23 points, Gentry had 11 and Roderick scored 10 points.
For Hampton Davenport scored 16 points and Jayden Nave put in 12 points.
GIRLS
HAMPTON 50, SOUTH GREENE 41
The South Greene girls could not find enough offense on Tuesday to keep up with Hampton and fell 50-41.
The night started well for the Lady Rebels and they went back and forth with the Lady Bulldogs through much of the first quarter. With 4:53 left in the period Kortnei Bailey sent a pass ahead to Natalie Foshie for a transition layup and a 7-5 lead.
A steal by Bailey led to a quick layup that gave South Greene the lead again at 12-11, and South Greene closed the opening period with a 14-13 advantage.
In the second quarter Hampton’s Elle Eastep turned a steal into two points to tie the game at 19-19. South Greene’s last lead of the night came at 21-19 when Samantha Birdwell put back a miss. The Lady Bulldogs scored the final eight points of the first half with Faye Carrico getting inside for a pair of buckets that gave Hampton a 27-21 lead.
South Greene made a brief run early in the third quarter and when Birdwell grabbed an offensive rebound and laid it off the glass Hampton’s lead was 29-27 with 5:57 left in the period.
Throughout the period South Greene stayed within striking distance, and with 2:21 left Ari Hoese drained a three-pointer from the corner to make it 35-33. Hampton’s Hannah Smith answered with a triple and Carrico closed the quarter with a layup that put the Lady Bulldogs in front 40-35.
Hampton’s lead continued to grow in the fourth quarter as South Greene only managed to muster six points in the period.
Carrico led Hampton on Tuesday with 17 points and Eastep added 10 points. For South Greene Bailey scored 17 points.
