The North Greene girls were able to shake off a slow start and flip the script in the second quarter on Tuesday night before running away to a 57-31 win at West Greene.
“We got off to a terrible start, and West Greene seemed to be prepared. But once we got into the flow of the game we did a much better job defensively,” Buchanan said. “I was really proud of the defensive effort, and in the second quarter that helped the offensive effort with points off turnovers. I wish we would have started better, but overall I can’t help but be satisfied with the effort.”
After one quarter of play the Lady Huskies found themselves in an 11-4 hole and just 11 seconds into the second period Morgan Brown hit a free throw to increase that deficit to 12-4.
Points had been hard to find in the first quarter for the Lady Huskies as they never got their outside game going, but Loren Blevins got warmed up in the second frame. Within the first minute of the period Hannah Miller twice sent a pass from the paint to Blevins who knocked down two three-pointers to quickly close the gap to 12-10.
The Lady Huskies then went inside to Miller for four points and a 14-12 lead with 6:02 left in the first half, and from that point they never looked back.
North Greene’s advantage grew to 20-14 after Miller set up Cadie McDevitt for a triple. Miller scored 17 points on Tuesday while dominating the boards, but her ability to find the holes in the defense to set up the Lady Huskies’ shooters sparked North Greene’s comeback.
“After that first quarter Hannah played much stronger. She is great and finding our shooters and I think that made her sought after at the next level. She is not just a one dimensional player. I’m very happy that we’ve got her,” Buchanan said.
On defense North Greene was able to turn turnovers into points while holding West Greene without a field goal for nearly seven minutes.
Three pointers by Blevins and Kaydence Marshall followed and North Greene took a 28-17 lead into halftime. Blevins sank five three-pointers on Tuesday and led all scorers with 18 points.
“Loren has been great for us all year and she hit five three tonight. It was a huge night for her and she helped us get going,” Buchanan said.
In the third quarter North Greene’s defense continued its dominance and did not allow a point until the 1:16 mark in the period and did not allow a field goal until there were 35 seconds left in the period. On the offensive end Miller scored seven points while Mercy Buchanan put in three points and set up Blevins for a transition layup.
In the fourth quarter Blevins hit from behind the arc two more times and Miller put in four points in the paint for a 53-25 lead before Buchanan emptied his bench.
West Greene was able to get six points from Joie Shipley in the final frame as part of her 12-point night, but the Lady Huskies finished the day with a 57-31 win.
