West Greene’s Lady Buffaloes battled through early adversity and showed grit and determination to defeat Unicoi County 40–31 in conference action Tuesday night.
Head coach Betsy Shaw praised her team’s effort, particularly in the second half. “I thought we had a lot of will, heart, and desire, especially in the second half,” Shaw said. “We did a great job with clock management and taking care of the ball, especially at the end of the game.”
Joie Shipley got West Greene on the board first with a jumper at the 7:35 mark of the opening quarter. Three minutes later, Unicoi County knocked down a three-pointer and followed with another basket to take the lead with 3:24 remaining. Sarah Justis answered with a layup to cut the deficit to 5–4, but the Lady Blue Devils made two of four free throws to extend the lead back to 7–4.
Erica Davis and Madison Wagner each scored key baskets late in the period as West Greene trailed 10–8 at the end of the first quarter.
Shipley opened the second period with a putback to tie the game at 10–10. Unicoi County responded with a three-pointer to regain the lead at 13–10 with 7:00 remaining in the half. Junior Emily Justis then knocked down her lone three-pointer of the half to tie the game once again.
The Lady Blue Devils answered with a 9–0 run before Sarah Justis scored off an offensive rebound with 2:09 left in the half. Neither team found the basket the rest of the way, and Unicoi County carried a 22–15 lead into halftime.
Scoring was hard to come by early in the third quarter until Kaley Toney hit a three-pointer for Unicoi County at the 6:50 mark. Davis responded with a runner in the lane to make it 25–17. After a West Greene timeout, Toney drilled her second three of the quarter to push the Lady Blue Devils’ lead to 28–17. That would be Unicoi County’s final points of the period, as West Greene closed the quarter on an 8–0 run to cut the deficit to 28–25.
West Greene took control in the fourth quarter, shooting 5-for-7 from the field and reclaiming the lead at 29–28 behind baskets from Justis and Shipley. It marked the Buffaloes’ first lead since the opening period. Unicoi County struggled offensively down the stretch, shooting just 1-for-12 over the final eight minutes. West Greene capitalized by controlling the clock and knocking down three of four free throws late to seal the victory.
Justis and Shipley led the Buffaloes with 10 points each, while Davis added eight and Norton finished with six. Abigail Vidrio was the lone Lady Devil in double figures with 10 points.
Coach Shaw hopes her team can build on the win and string together four complete quarters as West Greene continues conference play Friday night at Johnson County.
Unicoi County (31): 10-12-6-3 (Vidrio 10, Rogers 6, Sparks 5, Anders 5, Hendricks 3, Baxter 2)
West Greene (40): 8-7-10-15 (E. Justis 10, Shipley 10, Norton 6, S. Justis 4, Wagner 2)
