The North Greene boys basketball team looked like it was worthy of being ranked No. 6 in the state in the latest TSWA Poll after a 25-point win over Cloudland, 66-41, in Baileyton, But Husky head coach Sam Tarlton would beg to differ.
Tarlton said, “The scoreboard might say it by the final score, we were really good in spurts and then really bad in spurts. I didn’t like the way we started, but I’m not going to complain about a conference win, any time you get a conference win it’s big.”
The Huskies were up 13-7 at the end of the first quarter thanks to a couple of early buckets by Lance Carrico and a couple of late three-pointers by Jaiden Bailey and Tyler Britton respectively.
Carrico started the second quarter with a fast break layup and Thomas Darnell hit a pair of floaters, one from each side of the bucket. Carrico then gave his team an 11-point lead with a layup from in front to make the score 23-12 midway through the quarter.
Isaac Gaby then got into the action with short jumper. Then Gaby stole the ball just seconds later and went for the snowbird layup. Moments later Britton made a spin move in the lane through contact as the half was nearing the end. His free toss was good and the Huskies took a 13-point lead into the locker room at 31-19.
Darnell was good in the lane with a short jumper and added another bucket to open the second half. Britton made a pair of free throws and Bailey nailed a corner trey. Lawson Davenport was good from behind the arc as the Huskies claimed their largest lead of the game at 46-23.
North Greene then hit one of the “no so good spurts” that Tarlton alluded to, allowing the Landers to go on a 9-0 run. But they regrouped and led 50-32 heading into the fourth period.
Davenport made a pair of free throws and Carrico drilled a corner three and on the next possession. Carrico was good from the elbow for another triple and the lead was back to 23 points at 55-32. From there the Huskies were content to run clock and Tarlton cleared his bench at the three-minute mark as they cruised to a 66-41 win over Cloudland.
Carrico finished with 16 points, Darnell and Britton each had 12 while Davenport was nearly in double figures with nine.
GIRLS
North Greene 51, Cloudland 47
The North Greene girls, ranked No. 8 in Class 1A by the TSWA, had to hold off a late push by a tough Cloudland squad to secure a 51-47 win over their District 1-1A rival on Friday night.
North Greene head coach James Buchanan said “They’re (Cloudland) always going do a good job, they’re very well coached and very disciplined. This is not the way we want to close a game. We need to do better than that and our defense failed us down the stretch when they picked up the tempo. It’s good to win and defend your home floor in a big conference game, and we’re happy about that but at the same time we’re definitely not satisfied. We’re looking to improve on our mistakes.”
After falling behind 5-0 the Lady Huskies went on a 14-0 run with Kaydence Marshall starting things off by popping a triple from the bend. Hannah Miller followed with a triple of her own. Miller was working hard in the paint using her left hand for one layup and then another with the right hand. She finished off the run with short jumper and the Lady Huskies enjoyed a 14-5 lead.
The first period ended with North Greene leading 14-9.
Ella Head dropped a triple from the elbow to open the second quarter and Miller was still working hard down low for another left-handed layup. But the Lady Huskies couldn’t shake the pesky Lady Landers. Makenzie Street was good from the top of the key for three, and Marknna Shell sank a two-pointer for Cloudland.
Miller scored on the inbound pass and showed her range with another triple, but Shell was good from long range again to keep the Lady Highlanders close at 28-21 at the half.
After scoring 16 points in the first half Miller was still the go-to as the third quarter got underway with yet another layup. Loren Blevins dropped a corner three and the Lady Huskies had a 10-point lead at 33-23. Miller was good from in front of the goal and later found Josie Graham for a layup in transition as third quarter ended with the Lady Huskies leading by 12 points at 39-27.
Graham was good with a pair of free throws as the fourth quarter began and Miller scored again off an inbounds pass that sent the Lady Landers into a timeout with North Greene leading 43-27.
Coming out of the timeout Cloudland scored on the next four possessions to cut the lead back to nine points at 45-36 with three minutes to play. The Lady Huskies didn’t hit a shot from the field in the final three minutes but were six of eight from the free-throw line as the Lady Landers were forced to foul. Cloudland hit a couple late buckets to make the final score 51-47.
Miller led all scorers with 26 points and added 10 rebounds for the double-double.
