JOHNSON CITY – Sharing the ball made all the difference for the West Greene boys on Tuesday night as they picked apart University High on the way to a 74-56 season-opening win over University High.
“Overall I thought we played well,” West Greene coach Allen Tolliver said. “We responded every time they made a bucket, and with a young team sometimes you worry how they will respond when the other team makes a play. I’m proud of the effort and its always good to get that first win, especially against a quality opponent.”
The Buffaloes put four players in double figures on Tuesday and freshman Josiah Dawson led that effort with 17 points in his first ever high school game.
“That was big for Josiah, that kid can score the ball,” Tolliver said. “We have really challenged him to get after it defensively. We thought he might struggle with the tempo of the high school game, but as the game went on he got more comfortable. He still has some learning to do, but that kid is going to be good.”
Ayden Lamons had 16 points for West Greene, Tytus Shelton scored 14, Carter Stills had 10, Luke Heck nine and Elijah Williams eight.
“I’ve preached all summer that sharing the basketball is going to be our best basketball,” Tolliver said. “I was really proud with the number of assists we had. If we can keep sharing the ball and keep playing team ball we can do some good things.”
The game started close with University High getting two triples from Janson West and one from Tylen Templin on the way to a 15-12 lead.
West Greene’s Dawson came around a screen and fired in a triple from the right wing to knot the score at 15-15. On the next trip down the floor Lamons sent a pass from the paint to Shelton in the corner and another triple put West Greene in front 18-15.
The Buffaloes closed the quarter leading 20-18 after Dawson drove the lane and spun in the air for a backhanded layup with 20 seconds left.
The Buccaneers quickly regained the advantage early in the second frame with Knox Poston and Brayden Penley sinking three-pointers for a 24-22 lead.
University took a 28-24 lead with 5:50 left in the first half when West slashed to the rim for two points. That was the final bucket for the Bucs in the first half as West Greene began to cover the perimeter better while Lamons controlled the paint.
Stills came off the bench and immediately made his presence felt by knocking down a pair of three-pointers from the right corner to give the Buffaloes a 32-28 advantage.
Lamons scored the final four points of the first half and West Greene took a 36-28 lead into the break.
“We were over pursuing on their shooters and gave them some open looks,” Tolliver said. “We talked about it and made some adjustments. We made it tougher on them to get those shots. The boys played hard, and if we can get effort every night I’m excited for things to come.”
In the third quarter the two teams traded points with the Buffaloes showing off their midrange skills as they maintained the lead. Shelton, Lamons, Stills and Williams all hit from between 12 and 15 feet which matched the eight points from Templin and seven points from West University High got.
The Buffaloes held a 52-45 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
The final frame started Williams nailing a corner three for West Greene. The lead grew to double digits at 59-48 when Heck found the soft spot in the defense and sank another midrange jumper from the left wing.
With 2:22 left Dawson drove the lane for two points and put the Buffaloes up 66-53.
From there the Bucs had to start fouling to gain extra possessions, but they were not able to do anything with those extra chances and did not make a field goal the rest of the way. The Buffaloes played tough defense in the closing stretch while the sure hands of Lamons and Shelton continually secured rebounds.
The Buffaloes did give the Bucs plenty of chances by not taking care of business at the free-throw line. In the final 1:58 West Greene went 7-of-18 at the charity stripe, missing seven in a row at one point.
West led University High with 21 points and Templin scored 18.
The West Greene Buffaloes started out with a 74-56 win at University High on Tuesday night to begin 1-0. Hear what Head Coach Allen Tolliver’s thoughts were after a big win to start the year. pic.twitter.com/2gW8w2Y7ZG
— GreeneSportsZone (@GSportsZone) November 19, 2025
GIRLS
West Greene 42, University High 28
It was not always pretty, but the West Greene girls started the season with a win on Tuesday by taking down University High 42-28.
The first quarter was plagued by turnovers and missed shots and the Lady Buffs did not make a field goal for the first 4:31 of game play.
University High had just as much trouble scoring, and when Emily Justis did get a jumper from the wing to fall for West Greene it held a 5-3 lead.
On the defensive end West Greene got plenty of extra chances as they turned the Lady Buccaneers over frequently and eventually that led to points. Over the final 1:36 of the first period West Greene scored seven points to take a 12-3 lead.
Sarah Justis laid one off the glass, Payton Norton sank a runner and Joie Shipley put back an offensive rebound.
West Greene’s lead reached 16-3 when Norton came down the baseline and floated one in.
Carmen Thomas got University going with a triple and when Harper Poston made a free throw West Greene’s lead was down to 16-13.
Norton broke the run with a triple, and then she nailed another deep one an inbound play with 17 seconds left to push the advantage to 24-15. Before the half end Emily Justis came up with a steal and turned it into a buzzer beater that gave West Greene a 26-15 lead.
University High closed the gap again at the start of the third quarter and when Emma Linkous put back a miss that narrowed the margin to 26-22.
Norton again got the Lady Buffaloes going with a triple before four free throws gave West Greene a 33-26 lead going to the fourth quarter.
West Greene’s defense led by Neveah Fillers at the top and Shipley in the paint shut down the Lady Buccaneers in the fourth quarter and only allowed two points in the period.
On the offensive end Shipley scored six points inside while Norton connected on her fourth triple as West Greene claimed a 42-28 win.
Norton led all scorers on Tuesday with 17 points and Shipley put on nine points for the Lady Buffaloes. Maggie Ryder led University High with 10 points.
