Basketball season got started at North Greene on Monday evening with a pair of lopsided wins over Cedar View Christian School.
In the nightcap the Seahawks pushed the Huskies, but the North Greene boys were able to close strong to claim a 71-41 victory.
“It was an up and down night, but you expect that from the first game,” North Greene coach Sam Tarlton said. “There were times we looked really good and there were times we looked terrible. Consistency is what we are looking for, and it may take a while to find it. But it’s always good to start with a win.”
Monday’s third quarter began with North Greene’s offense going cold as shot after shot clanged off the iron. On the other end of the floor Josh McConnel got warmed for Cedar View. The Seahawks started the quarter on a 14-2 run, led by seven points from McConnell, and closed the gap 35-32.
The stagnate Huskies needed somebody to get them going and Bennett McLain stepped up in a big way. He fought for an offensive rebound and tapped it off the glass to break the Hawks’ streak.
Before Cedar View could get off another shot Lawson Davenport stole the ball and took it the other way for a breakaway layup. The Huskies scored 10 straight points in a 2:05 span and took a 45-34 lead.
McLain led the Huskies on Monday with 29 points. He scored 19 of those in the second half and 17 of them came after the Seahawks closed the gap to three points.
“That was great to see from Bennett, he made several big shots,” Tarlton said. “We’re searching for who can be that guy that steps up. I feel like we have four options, and it might be someone different every night, but tonight it was Bennett. We’re still trying to figure out who we are, but its good to do that in a win.”
On North Greene’s first possession of the fourth quarter McLain nailed a triple from the left wing and on the second possession he put back Jaiden Bailey’s missed three pointer.
Two more three-pointers from McLain and Tyler Britton followed and with 3:54 left in the game North Greene led 58-37.
In the closing stretch Tim Hillerman nailed a triple for the Huskies and Havoc Fair moved the lead to 30 points at 69-39 when he made good on an old-fashioned-three-point opportunity.
After letting Cedar View close the gap to three points North Greene outscored their opponent 36-9 and only allowed three made field goals over the final 12 minutes.
“It was kind of a game of runs, we gave up a big first quarter and then held them to four points in the second quarter. We let them get going in the third quarter, but then we locked down in the fourth quarter. We have to lock in on those things we have to do on defense, we only did them in stretches tonight,” Tarlton said.
Monday’s action started with the two teams trading buckets on the way to a 10-10 tie. McLain scored seven in the stretch for the Huskies while McConnel put in five points for Cedar View.
Britton gave North Greene it’s first breathing room when he connected from behind the arc on consecutive trips before nailing a jumper from the short corner on an inbound play to push the advantage to 18-10.
North Greene finished the first period leading 20-14.
McConnell stared the second quarter with a triple for the Hawks, but then North Greene scored eight straight points at the rim. McLain, Britton Lance Carrico and Thomas Darnell all scored on layups as North Greene took a 28-17 lead.
Carrico got Monday started in promising fashion after missing much of the preseason, scoring seven points in the first 11 minutes while effectively defending the paint. But he reaggravated an ankle injury and sat the remainder of the contest.
Over the final 7:43 of the first half North Greene allowed just one point, and Davenport finished the second period by turning a steal into a layup for a 33-18 lead.
Britton finished the night with 15 points for North Greene. McConnell scored 17 for Cedar View.
Cedar View 14 4 16 7 41
North Greene 20 13 12 26 71
Cedar View: J McConnell 17, Manning 9, Walker 8, Strickland 3, K McConnell 2, Derrick 2
North Greene: McLain 29, Britton 15, Carrico 7, Davenport 6, Hillerman 3, Fair 3, Bailey 2, Gaby 2, Darnell2, Tolley 2
GIRLS
North Greene 62, Cedar View 36
With more than half of the roster playing at the Huskies Den for the first time on Monday the North Greene girls got everybody some valuable experience in a season-opening win over Cedar View Christian School, 62-36.
“It was a good opening night. We forced a lot of turnovers, and we grabbed a lot of offensive rebounds. If you do those things most nights you are going to have success,” North Greene coach James Buchanan said. “Tonight was a little different because we have many more players, and players without experience. You saw mistakes at the end, but if those girls don’t get the opportunity to make those mistakes they’ll never learn from them. Getting that in-game experience is so important. It’s good to be in here playing games again, we’re excited to get the season started.”
The Lady Huskies started fast on Monday and just four seconds after winning the opening tip Loren Blevins drained a trey from the right corner. Blevins hit from deep again and Hannah Miller scored from the block twice as North Greene took a 10-0 lead less than two minutes into contest.
Blevins third triple of the night came near the midway point in the first quarter, and then she stole the ball near midcourt which set up Ella Head for a layup. Kaydence Marshall hit from deep and Miller laid another one off the glass for a 21-2 North Greene lead with 2:29 left in the first quarter.
Blevins led Lady Huskies with 16 points on Monday while she hit from deep four times. All of those points came in the first half.
“Loren has turned into a little bit of a shot seeker,” Buchanan said. “We need that. Sometimes we pass up too many shots. And people know we are trying to play through Hannah, but when the ball goes in there and the defense collapses we have to be ready to shoot. Loren led the charge with that. I’d like to see more of them let it rip like that. I loved seeing that from Loren.”
The first quarter ended with North Greene leading 23-5
In the second quarter Josie Graham came off the bench and gave North Greene and big boost. A pair of good passes from Miller set her up for a pair of layups before the Freshman put back a miss for a 31-10 lead.
“It was great to see Josie come out like that in her first game and show everybody what we’ve seen all summer. She plays really hard and wreaks havoc on the defensive end. Her energy level is so huge for us. She flies around the court and makes some great hustle plays,” Buchanan said.
Blevins kept putting pressure on the Lady Seahawks with a mid-range jumper, a transition layup set up by a steal, and triple from the right wing. The first half finished with North Greene leading 45-15.
The second half began with Marshall finding Mercy Buchanan in the corner for a three-pointer, and that brought an end to the night for North Greene’s starting five.
Veronika Abrosikov came off then bench and sank a pair of triples for North Greene as the lead grew to 54-17.
Cedar View’s Naomi Strickland then began to find some room to maneuver and scored seven points to close the gap to 54-26. The game went to the fourth quarter with North Greene leading 56-26.
With the clock running in the fourth quarter North Greene’s Kallie Dobson scored the first four points of her high school career.
Strickland scored four more points for Cedar View as part of her team high 19 points.
Graham finished the day with 14 points for North Greene and Miller had 10 points.
Cedar View 5 10 10 11 36
North Greene 23 22 11 6 62
Cedar View: Strickland 19, Lynch 13, Days 2, Adams 2
North Greene: Blevins 16, Graham 14, Miller 10, Abrosikov 6, Head 4, McClain 4, Buchanan 3, Marshall 3, McDevit 2,
