The North Greene girls were able to shake off a slow start to build a big lead in the second half, then they were able to hold off one last push from West Greene to claim a 52-44 win in the Huskies Den on Saturday night.
“We have to learn how to close out games better. We did the same thing last night against Cloudland. Learning that is going to be important for us,” North Greene coach James Buchanan said. “Games like this reveal things you need to work on, and it good to see those in January before the important games in February roll around. Overall I’m pleased, it’s always good to get a county win.”
West Greene threw the first punch on Saturday and jumped in front 5-0 after a triple from Emily Justis and a full-court layup by Morgan Brown.
Three-pointers from Kaydence Marshall and Loren Blevins closed the gap to 7-6 by the midway point, but North Greene played from behind for the whole first quarter.
Mercy Buchanan was able to strike from long range to even the score at 11-11. The first quarter ended with Neveah Filler grabbing a rebound and feeding it to Joie Shipley for a lay in that put the Lady Buffs in front 13-11.
Two driving layups by Brown put West Greene on top 20-15 with 3:16 left in the first half. In less than minute North Greene swung in front after Marshall and Hannah Miller both hit from behind the arc.
Miller followed that with two charity tosses and a pull-up jumper from the elbow that sent the Lady Huskies into halftime leading 25-20.
Miller scored the final seven points of the first half and led North Greene on Saturday with 17 points. Maybe more importantly she won the one-on-one matchup in the paint with West Greene’s Shipley, leading a defensive effort that held the talented post to two points.
“Hannah played great,” Buchanan said. “I looked up at one point late and asked my bench if Shipley had even scored. She had two points, and she is a phenomenal player. Hannah did a great job defensively, and our other kids did a great job helping. Then she led us with 17 points, and now she’s three-points away from scoring her 1,000th point. She has been such an impactful player for us and I’m really proud of her.”
In the third quarter North Greene stretched its lead from behind the arc. Blevins started the period with a triple from the right corner, and she went on to sink three three-pointers in the quarter. Buchanan knocked down one three-pointer and was fouled on another. She hit all three free ones for six points in the quarter.
Blevins final trey came at the horn for a 44-30 lead after the Lady Huskies ran 30 seconds off the clock.
West Greene would not go away quietly and with 3:34 left to play Brown jumped a pass at mid court that turned into a quick runner that closed the gap to 49-41.
West Greene’s defense forced a handful of turnovers in the final minutes, but North Greene’s defense was strong enough to make up for its offensive mistakes.
Justis sank a three-pointer with 20 seconds left that cut the Lady Huskies’ lead to 50-44, but that was as close as the Lady Buffaloes got.
In addition to Miller’s 17 points Blevins scored 13 points and Buchanan had 12 points for North Greene.
For West Greene Brown scored 22 points and Justis had 12 points.
