Wins in Region 1-1A never come easy. North Greene looked as if they may have had Tuesday’s game
wrapped up going into the fourth quarter, but not so fast. Cosby made North Greene sweat the entire
fourth quarter, but the Lady Huskies survived in the final minute and ended with a 45-40 win.
“I think it was important because it was a home game against a school like us. One of those that you
may run into in the postseason,” Lady Huskies Head Coach James Buchanan said. “They exploited some
things we thought we had in check and turns out maybe we’re not good at that aspect as we thought we
were. This will be a good one to study. Just try to get better every day.”
The second half was full of fireworks. A technical foul assessed in the third quarter sparked a comeback
by Cosby that brought them within one point of tying the game with under two minutes left. North
Greene made the key defensive stops they needed most and senior Ella Head delivered four clutch free
throws to preserve the win.
“We made big plays down the stretch. Enough to hold them off and win,” Buchanan explained.
Tralyn Southerland led North Greene with 14 points and senior Ella Head scored 13 points and went 6-
for-6 from the free-throw line. Eva Leonard also scored 11.
Cosby’s Azariah Spurgeon scored a game-high 20 points to lead all scorers. Matissa Bible scored 10
points.
North Greene improved to 15-2 with the win and extended their winning streak to four games. Cosby
fell to 8-12 with the loss. North Greene’s home winning streak moved to 28-straight wins inside of
Jerome Woolsey Gymnasium.
The night started with a three-pointer from Eva Leonard followed by a triple from Tralyn Southerland.
Cosby would soon go on a 5-0 run to make it a one-point game. Ella Head’s mid-range and Josie
Graham’s layup gave North Greene a five-point lead. Cosby ended the quarter with a 6-0 run and led 11-
10 after one.
Head began the second with a three and regained the lead before Azariah Spurgeon’s layup tied it, 13-
13. The Lady Huskies ended the half on an 8-2 run to hold a 21-15 lead at the half. A quick five-point
flurry helped matters with Natalie Foshie’s layup and Leonard’s three-pointer falling in the last minute.
North Greene’s lead ballooned to double digits with Leonard’s third three-pointer and Southerland’s
and-one play. Payton Southerland responded with an and-one play for Cosby, but Southerland scored
North Greene’s next three points to keep the game at an 11-point margin.
The fireworks began shooting off with two seconds left in the third when Cosby’s coach was assessed a
technical foul. The tech hurt, but helped Cosby in different ways. The technical led to only a made free
throw by Ella Head, but it would result in one point that Cosby could have desperately used in the
closing stretch. The positive part of the technical was that it sparked a huge run that saw Cosby almost
fully erase the 13-point deficit they faced starting the fourth.
North Greene led Cosby 34-21 going into the fourth.
The fourth began with an immediate steal and layup from Spurgeon. Spurgeon made another layup
before Coach Buchanan called a timeout only 48 seconds into the quarter. Spurgeon’s next layup ended
a 6-0 Cosby run and helped pull them back within a manageable three-possession game.
“Third quarter they had six and we had this going our way and then she just absolutely took control and
took the game over,” Buchanan mentioned.
Tralyn Southerland seemed to stop the run for a moment with an and-one, but Cosby scored six-straight
again and all of a sudden it was only a four-point game, 37-33.
The Lady Huskies got lucky as Eva Leonard secured an offensive rebound and landed a second-chance
jumper. Ella Head’s tough layup gave them an eight-point lead, 41-33, with 3:12 left. North Greene went
the final three minutes without another made field goal while Cosby didn’t. Matissa Bible scored a layup
then nailed a three-pointer. Stella Raines stole the inbounds pass after the three and led to a pair of free
throws by Spurgeon and made it only a one-point game, 41-40.
