JONESBOROUGH – West Greene didn’t let a first half deficit affect them and worked their way back to defeat David Crockett 51-49 on Saturday night.
“It was a good win. It’s been a while since we’ve won. So, it’s always good to get a win,” Lady Buffs Head Coach Betsy Shaw said.
The Lady Buffs fell behind by nine points early in the first half before ending the second quarter on an 11-2 run to even it up. They gained their first lead early in the third, but could never pull away. The most they ever led by was three points. West Greene shot a poor 3-for-6 from the free-throw line in the waning seconds, but crucial misses on Crockett’s part and clutch offensive rebounds made the biggest difference.
West Greene had help from an unlikely hero in freshman Erica Davis. She scored six of the final seven points for West Greene and led them with 14 points total.
“That’s a huge thing for her to be able to come in and help like that is so important,” Coach Shaw mentioned.
The Lady Buffaloes improved to 6-9 after Saturday’s win. With the win they swept the season series over Crockett.
Crockett’s Kayleigh Doner started with a layup and began her game-high 22-point night. West Greene struggled to score until halfway through the first quarter with a mid-range jumper from Emily Justis. Lexie Hawkins put Crockett ahead 9-2 with a three-pointer and helped Crockett gain a larger advantage. West Greene trailed 18-9 after one.
West Greene outscored Crockett 15-6 in the second quarter and helped pull even going into halftime. Joie Shipley’s long two-pointer cut the deficit to four points, and her put-back layup tied it at 22-22. Davis nailed a floater along the baseline to end the half and send both squads to the locker room tied 24-24.
The Lady Buffs ended the half on an 11-2 run.
“They started knocking down some shots. Even in the first quarter when we got down that much, we had a lot of shots around the rim that just weren’t falling. It was from several different players. They started knocking some of those down and it cut the deficit quickly,” Coach Shaw stated.
Emily Justis gave West Greene the first lead at 27-26 with a three in transition. Crockett briefly took the lead again before Payton Norton drained a trey to go back in front 30-29. West Greene led 32-31 after three quarters.
Each team had its highest scoring quarter in the fourth. When one team scored, the other had a response. Neither team scored more than twice without a response from the other.
Crockett began with four-straight to take a 35-32 lead, but Norton nailed a three to tie it at 35-35. Doner responded with a three and Emily Justis responded right back with another three for the Lady Buffs.
Autumn Wynn completed an and-one play to help Crockett lead 41-38 again before Justis made West Greene’s third-straight triple. The fourth quarter would feature five ties in total and two lead changes.
Coach Shaw spoke about the importance of those three-point shots, “It’s important. We have a bunch of them that can shoot threes pretty consistently. Any of them can knock down a three at any point and it was good they got those looks and we were able to get the ball to them.”
The final lead change occurred when Norton drained yet another three-ball for West Greene. Davis began her hot stretch in the fourth with an and-one play at the rim. Crockett tied it 47-47 with a three until Davis landed a floater through the net to lead 49-47.
Turnovers and missed shots made it come down to free throws at the end. Davis was fouled and sent to the line with a 49-48 lead. She made 1-of-2 at the line.
Doner drew a foul for Crockett and was sent to the charity stripe with a chance to tie the game with under 20 seconds left. She missed the front end and made the second to set the margin at one point. Shipley was sent to the line to ice it and made the front end, missed the second shot, and Crockett had one last heave attempt left in them. The shot was off the mark and West Greene held on to win 51-49.
Davis led West Greene with 14 points. Norton scored 13 and Justis scored 12.
Crockett’s Doner scored a game-high 22 points. Wynn ended with a 15-point, 15-rebound double-double.
West Greene returns back to action with a road trip to Gibbs on Tuesday.
BOYS
DAVID CROCKETT 55, WEST GREENE 38
West Greene started slow and could not make up for lost ground as it suffered a 55-38 defeat to David Crockett on the road on Saturday night.
Crockett came out firing on all cylinders on Saturday night and grew a huge lead in the first quarter that West Greene never overcame. The lead grew as large as 15 points in the second quarter before West Greene started slowly chipping away. The Buffs managed to get within 6 points only a few seconds into the fourth before Crockett’s 11-0 run sealed their fate.
“We just couldn’t put the ball in the hole is what it came down to. I thought we got good looks and got the looks we wanted. Tried some new things and I thought the new things were working well. Not a ton of practice with them. Just got to keep pushing and keep getting better,” West Greene Head Coach Allen Tolliver said.
Nolan Street led the game with 22 points for Crockett. Caleb Eaves joined him in double figures with 16. Freshman Josiah Dawson led West Greene with 12 points and senior Ayden Lamons had 11.
Cam Gage started with a layup for Crockett and got the game started. The Pioneers led 7-4 before an 8-0 run gave Crockett an 11-point lead. Eaves ended the run with a three-pointer and fastbreak dunk. Street’s corner three ended the quarter with Crockett leading 20-8.
All of West Greene’s first quarter points were scored from both post players, Lamons and Tytus Shelton. The Buffs outscored the Pioneers in the second and cut their deficit to eight heading into the half. Shelton spearheaded a 7-0 run that shifted the momentum momentarily. He scored four-straight and Josiah Dawson ended the run with a three. Street and Dawson traded threes to end the half, and West Greene trailed 30-22 at the intermission.
The third quarter dragged along as each team only scored five points in a slow quarter.
Luke Heck landed a mid-range shot to cut the lead to six points and West Greene trailed 35-29 in the beginning stages of the fourth. After that it all went downhill for the Buffaloes. Crockett went on an 11-0 run to extend the lead to its largest margin at 17 points. The Buffs were outscored 20-11 in the fourth.
Crockett defended its home court and led wire-to-wire in a 55-38 over West Greene.
“It’s still early. Second game back from Christmas break. Crockett is a good team. I think they’ll win a lot of games in 3A,” Tolliver ended with.
West Greene returns back to action with a road trip to Gibbs on Tuesday.
