The North Greene girls got a lights out shooting performance from Eva Leonard and determined effort from Tralyn Southerland in the paint as they wrapped up the regular season in style on Monday night.
Behind 29 points from Leonard and 25 Southerland the Lady Huskies finished the regular season with a 69-58 win over Cherokee.
“We did enough to win tonight, but we also saw enough to know that we have to improve,” North Greene coach James Buchanan said. “I can’t say enough about Eva and the way she shot the ball tonight. I’m so proud of Tralyn for how she dominated the paint. I felt like the team that was able to keep their composure would win, and I’m very proud of my team for getting a good win against a good team.”
With the win the Lady Huskies finish the regular season with a 23-5 record, and they completed their second consecutive unbeaten season at the Huskies Den. North Greene has now won 32 consecutive games on its home floor.
North Greene now heads to the District 1-1A Tournament on a five-game winning streak and playing some of its best basketball of the season. It will open postseason play on Friday against Cloudland at Happy Valley.
“We have a little momentum and we are playing well,” Buchanan said. “Their attention to detail is great and I feel like we can game plan against people. I know I can count effort every night, and any time their brain is there and their heart is there you have a chance.”
Monday’s action started in a less-than-ideal fashion for the Lady Huskies. In the first minute Rylee Sivert knocked down a three-pointer and put back a miss. By the midway point in the period the Lady Chiefs held a 9-1 lead.
Southerland began to play through the contact in the paint better and she scored six points over the next two minutes. Next good ball rotation set up Leonard for a triple from the left wing. Then with time winding down Buchanan called the right play and Ella Head sent a backdoor lob to Cadie McDevitt for a lay in that closed the gap to 15-12.
On the first possession of the second quarter Sivert came down the baseline for a layup and then with 6:52 she pulled up for a jumper from the elbow that kept Cherokee in front at 19-16.
Shortly after that Buchanan put Natalie Foshie on the prolific freshman and she did not score the rest of the half. Though she finished 26 points for the Lady Chiefs much of that came in transition and she scored only two more buckets in the half court the rest of the way.
“I thought Natalie did a great job on (Sivert),” Buchanan said. “If you look at the book she scored 26, but she had to work for them. We were able to limit her in the half court. Then we did a really good job on the rest of them, and sometimes you can allow one kid to have a big day if you can contain the others.”
With 3:55 left in the first half Head gave North Greene the lead at 20-19 when she came down the baseline and landed a floater.
Leonard followed that with a pair of three-pointers to push the lead to 26-19. Another triple by the sophomore point guard put North Greene in front 31-21.
Just before the buzzer Southerland found Foshie coming down the baseline for a layup that put the Lady Huskies in front 33-24.
Leonard was on fire from beyond the arc on Monday and sank eight three-pointers as part of her 29-point effort.
“It seemed like every time they cut into the lead she hit a big shot,” Buchanan said. “There was one time in the fourth quarter that I would normally want to burn clock, but she was hot and just let it go and I didn’t say anything. She has a great feel for the game for such a young player, and she had a phenomenal night.”
The Lady Huskies’ hot streak continued into the third quarter and Leonard started the period with a triple from the left wing. Southerland followed with a pair of powerful buckets from the block, and North Greene went in front 42-26 on a layup by Head.
With 1:04 left in the third quarter North Greene took its biggest lead of the night when Leonard knocked down a straight-away trey that made it 52-33.
Sivert answered with triple for the Lady Chiefs and then she stole the ball in the back court and took it the other way. A transition triple by Kenady Deal closed the gap to 52-41 going into the fourth quarter.
North Greene began to stretch its lead again in the fourth quarter and with 3:01 left to play Leonard drove the baseline to score three points the old-fashioned way while giving the Lady Huskies a 62-46 advantage.
Cherokee was not going to go down easy and jumped in a full court press that produced 10 points over the next 39 seconds of game time. Deal started things with a steal that turned into a three-point play. Sivert turned a baseline steal into another three points the hard way, and then she closed the gap to 62-56 with 2:20 left to play.
The Lady Huskies were able to bleed some clock and Foshie went 3-for-4 at the foul line to make it a three-possession game. Southerland then scored a pair of inside buckets that iced things.
