South Greene dominated in the second half to fuel a 65-34 victory in Thursday night’s District 1-2A quarterfinals to advance into the semifinals and extend their season.
“It’s good. I didn’t feel like we played very well, but at this point it’s all about winning and whatever it looks like. We get to play again Saturday, guaranteed three more games, so we’ll see what happens from here on out,” South Greene head coach Terry Hoese stated.
The Rebels are not used to elimination games early in the postseason. Since league realignment in 2021, the Rebels haven’t participated in a first-round game. They have finished top two in the standings all four seasons up to this point, but settled for third this season. That placed them in an unfamiliar position on Thursday.
South Greene maintained a double-digit lead in the first half, but Happy Valley played competitive and managed to cut it to six points entering halftime. Coach Hoese challenged his squad and asked somebody to step up in the second half. “I said ‘somebody might want to go make a shot.’” Sophomore Jameson White answered the call.
White scored a game-high 23 points and hit seven three-pointers in the game. He netted four of those in the crucial third period that helped South Greene distance itself from the competition.
“We came out in the second half and Jameson White went off. Jameson had a great game,” Hoese bragged.
The win helped South Greene advance to Saturday’s semifinals at West Ridge High School. The Rebels will square off with West Greene for part four in this year’s rivalry series. The game will be played at 4:30 PM. The winner advances to Tuesday’s District 1-2A Championship at 7:30 PM. The loser will play in the third-place game at 6 PM.
“We’ll get in here tomorrow and try to get prepared and see what we can conjure up,” Hoese stated.
Jameson White of course led South Greene with a game-high 23. Gavin Dyer scored 15 and Noah Wright scored 13. Nine different Rebels scored.
South Greene improved to 18-11 with the win.
The first possession of the game showed those gathered on Rebel Hill how the rest of the game would go. Jameson White canned a corner three twenty seconds in and gave South Greene an early 3-0 lead. The game remained 3-0 until Lane Parker made a layup with 5:16 remaining to score Happy Valley’s first bucket. White answered with another three-pointer in the same spot and Noah Wright laid the ball off the glass down below to extend the lead to 8-4 halfway through one.
Cayden Fillers sank a quick free-throw line shot and Gavin Dyer made a soft baseline fader to extend it further to 12-4. Dyer finally found his range and drained a trifecta next.
The Rebels ended the quarter on a 9-0 run and led Happy Valley 15-4 after one.
The Warriors killed the Rebel run with a three-pointer from Jackson Grindstaff to open up the second, but Will Arrowood answered with a three of his own. Grady Goulds cut the margin to just six with a deep three-point bomb. Noah Wright muscled up for a layup on the next possession to make it 20-12. Happy Valley gained all the momentum going into the half with a tough layup by Grindstaff and cut it back to six.
South Greene only held a 22-16 lead at the halftime break.
The Rebels would catch fire in the second half and outscored Happy Valley 23-13 in the third. The fourth quarter was an even wider margin as the Rebels outplayed them 20-5.
Jameson White started the second half the same way he started the first with a triple from the corner. Noah Wright was left wide open underneath and scored a layup off the glass. Gavin Dyer fired away from deep with a three-point field goal to start the third on an 8-0 run before Coach Shane Williams of Happy Valley called timeout.
Grady Goulds ended the run with a three-point bucket, but Jameson White’s fourth three-point bucket of the contest answered it. White nailed his fifth three-pointer next to give South Greene a 36-19 lead. Gavin Dyer splashed another triple from the top of the key to open up a 20-point lead for the Rebels.
White’s hot hand never cooled off as he sank his sixth three of the game and fourth of the quarter. He scored 12 of South Greene’s 23 in the third.
The lead grew to as much as 23 after White’s sixth triple, but Happy Valley managed to cut it to 15 with a lengthy scoring run. South Greene led 45-29 entering the fourth quarter.
Lane Parker banked a running floater off the glass to cut it to 14 to start the fourth. The Warriors were held to only three points for the rest of the game. Noah Wright’s layup and solo free throw started the fourth for the Rebels. White reached the 20-point mark with a layup and Wright went 2-for-2 at the free-throw line to make it a 20-point game again.
Gavin Dyer’s dagger three with 4:17 left signaled that the end was near. Jameson White’s seventh three of the game was the final dagger and the cherry on top.
Coach Hoese emptied the bench with 2:41 left up 58-32. Eli Fillers, Zack Mason, and Brant Wilhoit scored in the final stages of the fourth.
South Greene finished off Happy Valley 65-34 and ended Thursday’s contest with a win.
Jameson White led the way with 23 points while Gavin Dyer scored 15 and Noah Wright scored 13. Grady Goulds led Happy Valley with 12. Lane Parker scored 10.
