For the first time in nearly 20 years the West Greene girls got the best of South Greene, earning a hard-fought, 50-47 win on Rebel Hill on Tuesday night.
The Lady Rebels and Lady Buffaloes have met two times, and sometimes three times, a year for the pat two decades, but before Tuesday night the last time West Greene came away victorious was January 29, 2005.
“This is a good win, and great team win,” West Greene coach Betsy Shaw said. “Every time we’ve played them I’ve felt like we had a chance. But tonight, I think the girls thought we had a chance, and it was so great to see them go do it. I’m so proud of how they played.”
Tuesday win was no fluke as the Lady Buffaloes battled for 32 minutes and used a complete team effort to get the win. Joie Shipley led West Greene with 17 points while being a dominant force on the boards. Morgan Brown added 11 points, Emily Justis had 10 points and Payton Norton had 10 points.
“Everybody did their job and contributed to this,” Shaw said. “Morgan was a great leader. Joie got her shoulder knocked out and came back and played terrific. Joie is a tough kid, and her rebounding was so important. Everybody stepped up, and that is what we can do. Hopefully we’ll see more of that going forward.”
In the early going South Greene’s full-court press was overwhelming and it took West Greene over four minutes to score its first points. By that point Samantha Birdwell knocked down a pair of three-pointers for an 8-0 Lady Rebels’ lead.
Brown got West Greene going with a driving layup, and over the final minute of the of the first quarter Brown and Norton both connected from long range to close the gap to 16-14.
In the second quarter foul trouble began to hinder South Greene’s ability to press and Shipley began to make her presence felt. First she took a steal the length of the floor to tie the game at 16-16. Next, she took a pass from Sarah Justis that broke the press and laid it off the glass for an 18-16 West Greene lead.
The Lady Rebels regained the lead at 21-20 when Regan Arrowood knocked down a three-pointer.
In the final minute of the first half Shipley scored through contact and Sarah Justis sank a mid-range jumper for a 25-21 halftime lead.
In the third quarter South Greene got back to its regular rotation, but the Lady Buffaloes did not let up and added to their lead.
South Greene did close the gap to 27-25 when Ari Hoese came down the baseline for lay in, but West Greene answered with a 13-2 run that put it in front 40-27. Shipley scored six points in the crucial stretch while controlling the paint on the other end of the floor, and Emily Justis added four points.
The period finished with Birdwell scoring inside and Paisley Brobeck sinking a pair of free throws that closed the gap to 40-31.
In the fourth quarter Emily Justis drove through the paint for a layup that put West Greene in front 47-36, but South Greene would not go down easy.
Neveah Davis got a late run started for the Lady Rebels with a three-pointer. With 1:05 left to play, after two offensive rebounds, Natalie Foshie got a jumper to fall from the short corner to close the gap to 47-45.
Foshie then made it a one-point game at 48-47 when she drove the lane with 29 seconds left.
Brown made a pair of free throws to give the Lady Buffs a three-point cushion and South Greene’s final attempt to tie the game was off the mark.
Brobeck, Foshie and Hoese all scored nine points for South Greene.
