South Greene’s offense started to look like the South Greene of year’s past and exploded for an 87-57 win over visiting District 1-2A counterpart Johnson County on Tuesday night.
The Rebels were hot from the three-point line again and made a dozen three-pointers on their home floor and carried out a big 30-point win to improve to 3-2 within District 1-2A play.
Gavin Dyer was red hot and had a stellar night by dropping 33 points with six triples to lead all scorers. Jameson White scored 11 points, all in the third, to join him in double figures. South Greene had 10 players score on Tuesday night.
“Shots finally started going down. The game is a lot easier when you’re making buckets. It wasn’t just Gavin, Jameson White came in and knocked down some big shots,” Rebels Head Coach Terry Hoese mentioned.
After falling behind 0-2 in conference play a month ago in December, Coach Hoese and the Rebels knew the next three were must-win games. South Greene did just that by finishing Tuesday’s game with a win to help their standing within the conference. “We’re kind of where I expected to be and now it’s time to go win a few games that people feel like we shouldn’t go win,” Coach Hoese said.
Before either team could score, the officials set the standard for how the night would go. A Johnson County fan was ejected only two minutes into the contest.
The Longhorns started with a three from Carson Jennings. Gavin Dyer nailed his first three in response and started his terrific night from the field. Noah Wright scored next for South Greene.
Before the first quarter was over the officials managed to hand out another technical foul. Dyer hit both free throws and Cayden Fillers successfully hit a layup to complete a 4-point possession. Johnson County went on a 7-0 run to regain the lead and led 15-11 before Dyer closed the quarter with a triple. South Greene trailed 15-14 after the opening eight minutes.
Dyer started the second quarter with a backdoor layup. The Rebels held a brief 16-15 lead before Jennings scored a layup. Will Arrowood stepped off the bench and splashed a three-pointer to regain the lead for the Rebels. They never trailed after Arrowood’s three.
The Rebels went on a 16-6 run to take control of the game. Charlie Lane battled through sickness and managed to step in for a few minutes in the second and drained a three. Dyer and Arrowood each made another three-pointer and created a 9-point margin. The lead grew to 36-26 at the half after Dyer got a quick last-second layup off before time expired.
South Greene went on an absolute tear in the third quarter and outscored Johnson County 32-13. The Rebels started with a 10-0 run to extend their lead to 20 only a few minutes into the second half. Cayden Fillers started with an elbow jumper. Jameson White scored all of his 11 points in the third and started with a three in the corner. Dyer finished the 10-0 run with 5-straight. White and Dyer traded threes for the Rebels. White ended his 11-point quarter with a transition three. Dyer scored the last bucket of the third to reach the 30-point mark. South Greene led 68-39 going into the fourth comfortably in control.
At the start of the fourth, Dyer hit one more three-pointer for good measure to finish with 33 points. “It’s good for him because I’m telling you he’s beat himself up. He’s had some games where he hasn’t shot it very well,” Coach Hoese explained.
The bench mob came in to play the fourth quarter. Zack Mason, Simon Burns, and Brant Wilhoit scored late buckets.
“It’s nice to get those guys in the game. They come to practice every day and they practice just as hard as anybody and to see them get playing time is huge,” Hoese stated.
South Greene finished Tuesday night’s action with an 87-57 win.
South Greene travels to Unicoi County next. The game was originally scheduled for Friday but has been pushed up to Thursday to avoid potential inclement weather.
