The North Greene girls jumped in front of University High early on Friday night and led by Hannah Miller the Lady Huskies ran away to a 58-19 win to stay perfect in District 1-1A play.
North Greene coach James Buchanan said, “It’s not really a secret what we’re trying to do when you have a player of Hannah’s (Miller) caliber. You know she’s a 1,000-point scorer, shoots the ball well from the three-point line, she can score in the paint and she shoots a good percentage from the free throw line. This team is so unselfish and I think this may be the earliest we’ve got our 20th win.”
Hannah Miller got the Lady Huskies on the board first with triple from the top of the key and seconds later made use of the glass down low for the layup that put the Lady Huskies up 5-0. Miller would drop another triple from the key and end the first quarter scoring with another layup under the goal for a 16-4 first quarter lead. Miller ended the quarter with 10 points.
The Lady Huskies were in the middle of a 15-0 run as the second quarter began, with Miller scoring the first six points of the quarter. Josie Graham scored on an old-fashioned-three-point play in transition, Ella Head keep the streak going with a layup and Cadie McDevitt sank a pair of free throws to increase the run to 15-0 as the score reached 29-4. The Lady Huskies led 31-8 at the half.
Loren Blevins opened the third quarter with a steal and went coast to coast for a layup. Kaydence Marshall followed with a corner three minutes later. Miller scored on back-to-back possessions, then Blevins’ three from the elbow gave the Lady Huskies a 45-12 lead. From there coach Buchanan cleared his bench. In the fourth quarter the ran continuously and Lady Huskies earned their 20th victory of the year, 58-19.
Miller led all scorers with 22 points, Graham scored nine while Blevins chipped in with eight.
BOYS
North Greene 78, University High 67
The nightcap in the Huskies Den was the game everyone came to see. It pitted the No.6 North Greene Huskies and No.9 University High Bucs in a matchup that stayed close into the fourth quarter, but North Greene prevailed 78-67.
The two teams were looking like top ranked teams early, with the score tied at 7-7 Jaiden Bailey dropped a triple from the elbow to give the Huskies a 10-7 lead, a lead they never would relinquish, but it wasn’t easy.
Tyler Britton drilled a three from the elbow and Lance Carrico drove the lane with authority to muster up a layup. Carrico hit one of two from the line and Lawson Davenport ended the first quarter with a short jumper in the lane to give the Huskies an 18-11 lead one quarter of action.
Thomas Darnell was good from behind the arc and Britton gave the Huskies a 13-point lead with a triple from the top of the key at the 5:35 mark of the second quarter.
Like any good team the Bucs did not give up and got back into the game behind Knox Poston scoring on three consecutive possessions, and Andrew Cole cut the led to seven with a runner in the lane. Cole dropped a triple from the top of the key and made two free throws with 16 seconds remaining in the half. The Huskies were unable to score in the final seconds and held on to a slim four-point lead at the half, 33-29.
In the third quarter each team would score in spurts. After the Bucs had cut the led to one point the Huskies would take a nine-point lead into the final frame at 56-47.
Carrico used his left hand to bank one off the glass down low to open the fourth quarter to give his team an 11-point lead, but the Bucs weren’t done. Cole’s shots weren’t falling but he was getting to the free throw line and went 9-for-9 in the final period to keep the Bucs close.
Carrico’s three from the elbow with just over two minutes to play gave the Huskies an 11-point edge. The Bucs were forced to foul and take chances from that point and the Huskies took full advantage, scoring on easy baskets and hitting the free throw down the stretch and went on to a 78-67 win over a very good University High team.
Carrico lead the Huskies with 27 points while Davenport added 20 and Britton had 14. Cole had a game high 34 for UH.
Coach Sam Tarlton has maintained that the Huskies need to hold their opponent to less than 55 points to give his team the best chance to win.
With the win North Greene stays unbeaten against District 1-1A opponents and completes the regular-season sweep of the Buccaneers.
Tarlton said, “We didn’t hold them to 55 and it took our best offensive effort of the season to get a win. Sometimes you have to win in different ways, they’re good. That Andrew Cole, man he can play as good as anybody around. We had a hard time with him tonight. I couldn’t be more proud of our team. We know we will probably see them again, but again I couldn’t be more proud of them.”
