ELIZABETHTON – The North Greene girls let the lead slip away on Friday night, but in the final minutes the Lady Huskies found the determination to win and swung back in front for a 42-35 victory over Unaka.
“I felt like Unaka was better prepared and they gave better effort for the majority of that game,” North Greene coach James Buchanan said. “But I do want to brag on the kids, because after we got down they kicked it into another gear. We started forcing some turnovers and started playing with more energy.”
With the win North Greene wraps up a perfect 6-0 slate in District 1-1A play and extends its win streak to 14 games. The Lady Huskies have one more game left in the regular season, at Sullivan East on Tuesday, before they look to make another deep run in the postseason.
“Preparation and effort are going to be key going forward. I think if we are well prepared, and we play hard we can be a tough team to beat. Tonight, I don’t think I had us prepared, and I don’t think we played hard. Those are the big things we have to take from this game.”
Friday’s fourth quarter started with Unaka leading 26-25 and that lead grew to 32-27 when Katlyn Dugger knocked down a three-pointer from the top of the key.
With 4:23 left North Greene got going when it slipped a pass to Hannah Miller in the paint. The Lady Rangers were quick to hack at her and the senior made two at the free-throw line. On the next trip Miller took possession again and this time she passed around a triple team to a wide open Josie Graham who closed the gap to 32-31.
The Lady Huskies then turned up the pressure on defense and Miller came up with a steal in front of her team’s bench. She then put back a miss with 3:26 left to play to give the lead back to North Greene at 33-32.
“We did pressure them early in the game, just a token pressure to see how they would handle it. But in the fourth quarter we had to go all out. We tried to trap early and it was good to us,” Buchanan said. “I think we just woke up in that little span and started playing harder.”
Unaka gave North Greene one more scare when a loose ball rolled to Kalli Shepherd and she drained a 25 footer that closed the gap to 37-35 with 1:54 left to play.
Ella Head was then fouled 84 feet from the basket. She made the front end and Miller put back her miss of the second to give North Greene a 40-35 lead. From there the Lady Huskies held on for a 42-35 win.
Miller led North Greene with 15 points on Friday and 10 of those came in the fourth quarter.
“Hannah is a little banged up, but I think when she saw the light at the end of the tunnel, and knew the game was almost over, and she gave it all she had,” Buchanan said. “She wasn’t feeling good, but she hobbled through this one. Getting it inside and playing through Hannah was key.”
North Greene played from in front for most of the first quarter. Head, Kaydence Marshall and Loren Blevins all hit from behind the arc for a 9-6 advantage. After Unaka cut the lead down to one point Marshall struck from deep again and Miller used a layup to send North Greene to the second quarter leading 15-9.
Both defenses played tough in the second quarter, and both offenses struggled to get anything to fall. Unaka scored six points on triples from Lauren Lund and Ari Southerland. North Greene points inside from Graham and Miller, and after Marshall struck from deep the Lady Huskies took a 22-15 lead into halftime.
It took North Greene almost four minutes to score in the third quarter, and by that time the Lady Rangers had closed the gap to 22-21. Sheppard knocked down a three-pointer to tie the game at 24-24, and Dugger sank a jump shot from the paint to give Unaka a 26-25 entering the final frame.
Sheppard led Unaka with 18 points on Friday, all coming from behind the arc.
