ROGERSVILLE – The South Greene girls made it more difficult than it should have been, and kept fans at Cherokee High School on the edge of their seats, but they managed to make the right plays at the end to start the Big H BBQ Christmas Bash with a win.
The Lady Rebels played from in front for much of Wednesday night, but then fell behind by as many as eight points in the fourth quarter before coming back to earn a 57-53 win over Union County.
“It was a game of momentum. It was a frustrating game because the effort was there, but we did a lot of things that weren’t the smartest,” South Greene coach Stephen Gregg said. “I’m just exhausted after that. We did step up when we had to. I don’t want to harp on the negative, because at the end of the day they made plays to win the game.”
The Lady Rebels clung to a one-point lead at 40-39 at the start of the fourth quarter but it did not take long for that to disappear. Union County’s biggest lead came at 49-41 with 5:22 left to play when Payton Long knocked down a three-pointer.
South Greene’s comeback started with Ari Hoese knocking down a triple from the right wing, and With 3:41 left to play Samantha Birdwell nailed three-pointer from the corner on an inbound play that evened things at 49-49. That came after Birdwell and Neveah Davis forced Kyla Collins to dribble out of bounds with their backcourt pressure.
South Greene regained the lead at 52-50 when Hoese hit from deep again. The Lady Rebels took the lead for good with 1:33 left to play when Alexa Gabbard swiped the ball from Collins and sent it ahead to Davis for a breakaway layup that made it 54-52.
“There are a lot of mixed emotions because there were too many turnovers. We found some obscure way to make turnovers tonight,” Gregg said. “But the girls hit some big shots at the end. We shot the three ball better in the second half, and we made some important stops at the end.”
In the final minute Paisley Brobeck went 3-of-4 at the foul line to seal South Greene’s 57-53 win.
Free-throw shooting was difference maker for the Lady Rebels on Wednesday as they went 15-of-20 from the line while Union County was 6-of-17.
The Lady Patriots were in control for most of the first quarter and after Collins dropped in a runner they led 14-7.
Over the final 30 seconds of the first quarter Brobeck sank a jumper from the top of the key and Hoese nailed a triple from the wing to close the gap to 16-14.
In the first 1:09 of the second quarter Bailey got loose for a pair of fast-break layups that put South Greene in front 18-16.
Trinity Borner stretched the lead to 22-18 when she hit a hit a jump shot from the short corner.
Collins knocked down a step-back triple for Union County to close the gap to 22-21, but South Greene answered with six points in the final minute of the first half. Birdwell came up with a driving layup and the Bailey went 4-for-4 at the foul line after taking a pair of steals the other way for a 28-21 advantage.
The second half started with Bailey setting up Davis for a three-pointer that grew the lead to 31-21.
South Greene then went cold on offense and missed on five consecutive shot attempts while the Lady Patriots found success on the other end. With 4:43 left in the third quarter Adeline Montoya laid one off the glass to close the gap to 31-30.
Reagan Arrowood broke the run with a mid-range jumper, but Union County took a 34-33 lead when Collins slashed through the paint.
Union County’s Kalei Beeler ended the period with a three-pointer from the top of the key that closed the gap to 40-39.
Bailey led South Greene with 15 points, Brobeck added 13 points and Hoese scored 10.
Collins scored 24 points for Union County.
South Greene advances to the tournament’s semifinals and will be back in action on Friday at 7 p.m. against the winner of West Greene and University High.
The South Greene Lady Rebels kicked off this year’s Big H BBQ Christmas Bash with a close 57-53 win over Union County on Wednesday afternoon. Listen to what an exhausted Lady Rebels Head Coach Stephen Gregg had to say after the win. pic.twitter.com/RybgXQyC3s
— GreeneSportsZone (@GSportsZone) December 18, 2025
