The West Greene Lady Buffaloes opened Friday night’s action with a thrilling 44-41 win over the Lady Pioneers of David Crockett in Mosheim in front of a near capacity crowd.
A happy Coach Betsy Shaw said after the win, “It was a great win, we played North Greene last night and we came up short. We talked a lot about at the end what it takes to push through to get those wins and they did a great job tonight.”
During the first quarter both teams were getting to know each other and get a feel for the game with neither team gaining much of an advantage. That was until Emily Justis dropped a triple from the elbow to give the Lady Buffs a 13-7 lead, the biggest lead either team would have all night. The Lady Buffs led 13-9 at the end of the first quarter.
In the second quarter West Greene’s Kahlie Edward’s drilled a step back three from the corner to go up 16-11.
Then Lady Pioneers caught fire, scoring on six consecutive possessions and took their first lead of the game at 18-16 with 4:45 remaining in the quarter. Tatum Garst hit a pair of rainmaking threes from behind the arc to lead the Lady Pioneers to 25-20 halftime lead.
The third quarter was a see-saw affair until Joie Shipley muscled her way to the goal from in front for the layup through contact. The free throw was good then Shipley sent a pass Edward’s way. Edwards made good with a layup and the Lady Buffs had the advantage after tree quarters, 35-32.
As the fourth quarter started Justis, with a foot on the arc, hit a deep two pointer and Shipley dropped a pair of free tosses.
But the Lady Pioneers wouldn’t go away, Autumn Wynn drove the lane for a layup and Kayleigh Doner was good on a three-point play the old-fashioned way. After an empty Lady Buff possession it was Doner again for a layup to give the Lady Pioneers the lead at 41-40, with 3:53 to play in regulation.
It was Shipley with the assist again this time she found Payton Norton for the layup and Norton was fouled on the play, her free throw was good to complete the three-point play and give the Lady Buffs the lead at 43-41.
With less than two minutes to play the Lady Pioneer’s were not done, Doner drove the lane and was fouled. She missed both free throws and the Lady Buffs maintained the lead and went into keep-away mode.
The Pioneers finally made their move to foul with 16 seconds to play, Shipley made one of two from the line to give the Lady Buffs a three point lead at 44-41. The Lady Pioneers still had a shot for the tie but a desperation, off-balance shot wasn’t close and the Lady Buffs pulled off the win.
Emily Justis had 14 points to lead the Buffs in scoring. Joie Shipley scored in double figures with 11 points and her presence in the lane on defense was unmeasurable.
Doner had a game high 22 for the Lady Pioneers.
West Greene gritted out a hard-fought win over David Crockett, 44-41, on Friday night. Listen in to hear what Head Coach Betsy Shaw thought of Friday’s win. pic.twitter.com/LWpvD0Pn6G
— GreeneSportsZone (@GSportsZone) December 6, 2025
