Sometimes its just not your night, and Friday night was not South Greene’s night.
The Lady Rebels went ice cold from all points on the court, and saw their season come to an end in a 62-40 loss to Cumberland Gap in the Region 1-2A Tournament quarterfinals.
“Sometimes in life things aren’t meant to be. It’s a tough talk whenever you have to end a season. Very disappointed in how things ended. The girls tried, they gave it their all,” South Greene Head Coach Stephen Gregg said.
South Greene went cold at the worst possible time, going 16-for-76 (21%) from the floor, 3-for-25 (12%) from three, and 5-for-10 (50%) from the free-throw line. The Lady Rebels just couldn’t find any rhythm and Cumberland Gap managed to take advantage and outplayed them. The Lady Panthers shot 23-for-47 (49%) from the field.
“For the game we were 16-for-76. I don’t ever recall a game quite like that before. We settled for a lot of threes when they weren’t falling and we were 3-for-25 in our own gym. It was like a snowball effect,” Coach Gregg explained.
After going down 7-2, the Lady Panthers went on a 24-12 run to take a 7-point lead into the half and South Greene never recovered. Cumberland Gap won the second quarter 22-12, won the third quarter 16-9, and won the fourth quarter 20-12.
The loss ends South Greene’s season with an 18-13 (8-2) record. The Lady Rebels won the District 1-2A regular season championship and finished runner-up in the tournament.
“Hats off to them. They were attacking and got to the foul line a lot more than us. They did what they had to do on the road today. I just feel like the better team didn’t win today and I’ll go down fighting that. They were better than us today and that’s all that mattered,” Coach Gregg said.
Paisley Brobeck led South Greene with a 13-point, 13-rebound double-double. Ari Hoese and Kortnei Bailey both scored 8 points in the loss.
Jayla Bailey led all scorers with 19 points to lead Cumberland Gap. Allie Owens and Jenna Middleton scored 10 each.
South Greene looked good in the beginning. Kortnei Bailey sank a mid-range for 2-0 lead with 6:50 left in the first. Paisley Brobeck scored five-straight and helped boost their lead to 7-2 with 4:49 left in the first. Cumberland Gap called a timeout and it immediately halted South Greene’s run. They went scoreless for the rest of the quarter.
“We started out 7-2 and they called a timeout quick and from there it was just like the rim got smaller and smaller,” Gregg explained.
Let’s just say the officiating crew wasn’t the best or most kind to South Greene. The foul count was 18 to 11, not the most unfair. But the decision to call 3 fouls on South Greene in the span of about 10 seconds was certainly an interesting one.
The quarter ended with South Greene ahead 7-4.
South Greene went up 15-11 after Brobeck and Reagan Arrowood’s threes, but the tide changed quickly. Gap went on a 7-0 run and went in front 18-15. Ari Hoese ended the run and Brobeck kept South Greene close with a steal-and-layup combo, but Cumberland Gap still managed to lead 26-19 at the half.
After falling behind 7-2, the Lady Panthers went on a 24-12 run. The run only got worse as South Greene’s deficit grew larger.
The Lady Rebels were held to only three field goals in the third. The margin was cut to six at one point before Gap scored five-straight and went on another five-point run after Sam Birdwell scored in between both runs.
South Greene trailed 42-28 heading into the fourth. That 24-12 run grew to 40-21 after three.
Jayla Bailey scored four-straight to open up the fourth and stretched the lead to 18. Time was of the essence for South Greene in the fourth. Brobeck made a foul shot and Bailey made a layup to cut it to 15, but Gap went on a deflating 6-0 run and went ahead by 21 halfway through the quarter.
South Greene’s shooting slightly improved in the fourth, but Cumberland Gap never let off the gas and time slowly slipped away as Gap continued running away.
South Greene watched their season come to an end with a 62-40 loss to Cumberland Gap in the Region 1-2A quarterfinals. It’s South Greene’s third-straight season ending in the opening round.
Paisley Brobeck led South Greene with a 13-point, 13-rebound double-double. Ari Hoese and Kortnei Bailey both scored 8 points in the loss.
The Lady Rebels finished 18-13 (8-2). Nine seniors will leave South Greene’s program.
“I’d do it again with this group. I enjoyed it,” Gregg expressed. “I’d do it again tomorrow with the same group of girls. They’ve stuck with it for four years. I’ve never had a group where I’ve had nine. I don’t know what next year is gonna hold, but these nine girls will be missed.”
