The North Greene girls found new life in the second half on Thursday night and stormed past West Greene on the way to a 55-40 victory.
“It felt like if it could go wrong it went wrong tonight. Hats off to West Greene, they had some kids make some shots,” North Greene coach James Buchanan said. “But I thought our kids played hard in the second half, and they played like they didn’t want to lose. They played fast and physical, and down the stretch they made plays. I couldn’t be more proud of them.”
The win marked a career milestone for Buchanan as he earned his 500th victory as North Greene’s head coach. While Buchanan was appreciative of the new win total, he was also quick to point out that the successes that matter most to him are beyond the win column.
“North Greene, has been a great place for me,” Buchanan said. “I didn’t know it when I got here, but after a little while I began to realize that God put me here. Now as I look back I’ve coached around 150 kids. I don’t know of many other jobs where you can develop relationships with that many people. Hopefully I’ve been able to teach them a little about this game, but more importantly I’ve been able to share the gospel with them.”
North Greene went into halftime on Thursday trailing 25-23, and after Madison Wagner knocked down a triple from the corner West Greene led 30-23.
Cadie McDevitt got the Lady Huskies going with a corner three 15 seconds later, and the shot seemed to breathe life into North Greene’s lineup. They scored 16 unanswered points and went in front 39-30.
“We just needed to see a shot go in,” Buchanan said. “I think that shot from Cadie took the lid off. We had a lot more makes in the second half than we did in the first. We tried to get in the paint more instead of settling for threes. But I felt when Cadie hit that shot you could feel the momentum shift.”
North Greene was able to draw even at 30-30 when Tralyn Southerland stole possession in front of the Lady Buffaloes’ basket before Ella Head went under the rim for a reverse layup.
With 4:02 left in the third quarter Southerland scored on an inbound play to give North Greene a lead it would hold the rest of the way.
Southerland led all scorers on Thursday with 23 points, and 15 of them came in the second half.
“I have to compliment Tralyn on playing so much of the first half with two fouls. I probably should have gotten her a sub, but I thought it might get out of control,” Buchanan said. “You have to find different ways to score. Basketball is about deception, and as the game went on she figured out some things that were working. She had some good post moves with some impressive finishes in the second half.”
Head capped the run with a jumper from the top of the key.
West Greene scored the final four points of the quarter and when Neveah Fillers put back a miss the Lady Buffs stayed within striking distance at 39-34.
On the first possession of the fourth quarter Kahlie Edwards narrowed the Lady Buffs’ deficit to 39-36, but then North Greene got going again.
Josie Graham finished a steal by Head and turned it into three points the hard way. Southerland followed that by turning a steal from Graham into two points and a 46-36 lead.
Southerland added five more points before Head sank a midrange jumper and Graham scored inside on the way to a 55-40 win.
In the first quarter North Greene’s defense caused plenty of problems for West Greene, but they could not get shots to fall despite their extra opportunities. In the first quarter the Lady Huskies went 3-of-14 from the field, and fell behind 9-8.
In addition to that Head picked up three fouls early in the quarter and spent most of the first half on the bench. Graham also picked up three fouls in the first half.
West Greene got two layups from Fillers and Emily Justis hit from beyond the arc.
North Greene went in front 15-11 early in the second quarter when Natalie Foshie deflected a pass that Eva Leonard turned into breakaway layup.
West Greene made it a one-point game at 17-16 when Justis hit from deep, and the Lady Buffs went back in front at 20-19 when Wagner got a jumper to fall from the short corner.
Edwards hit a three-pointer to extend the lead to 25-21 and West Greene went to halftime leading 25-23.
Wagner led West Greene on Thursday with nine points, while Fillers, Justis and Joie Shipley all scored eight points.
In addition to Southerland’s 23 points North Greene got eight points each from Head and Foshie.
After a 55-40 win over West Greene, North Greene Head Coach James Buchanan celebrated his 500th win with the Lady Huskies. Hear his thoughts on the win and a huge milestone moment in his career. pic.twitter.com/JbY3P82sgZ
— GreeneSportsZone (@GSportsZone) December 5, 2025
The Lady Huskies overcame some early obstacles and got the win over West Greene, 55-40#FirstHorizon pic.twitter.com/bbZl3e3DJb
— GreeneSportsZone (@GSportsZone) December 5, 2025
The North Greene Lady Huskies fought off strong stretches from West Greene, pulling away in the second half with a final score of 55-40#FirstHorizon #fyp #basketball #northgreene #westgreene pic.twitter.com/r2aaq3HMHY
— GreeneSportsZone (@GSportsZone) December 5, 2025
