West Greene defended its home territory on Tuesday night and knocked off the South Greene Rebels 64-55 to shake things up within the district while handing the Rebels their first conference loss of the season.
“It was huge for us. We had a pretty good little game plan coming into it and had a good day of practice coming into it as well. We were locked in, we were focused, and I’ve not seen that kind of energy and intensity out of them in a minute. They finally brought it for four quarters tonight,” West Greene Coach Allen Tolliver expressed.
After West Greene's win things got much tighter in District 1-2A. South Greene and Chuckey-Doak each have one loss in league play while the Buffaloes are in third place at 3-3.
Leyton Frye showed up to play on Tuesday night with a game-high 32 points to lead the Buffaloes to a key victory over the top-seeded team in the district.
“Big time performance. He took care of the basketball. He’s a player. When the lights come on, he’s there,” Tolliver mentioned.
Tuesday's victory also secures Coach Tolliver his first win within the county after a tough stretch of games to start his tenure at the helm of West Greene’s basketball program.
“It feels great to finally get this one off my back. I got the first one and now we just keep climbing from here,” Tolliver expressed.
Frye let everybody know from the opening whistle that he meant business with a mid-range bucket on the first shot of the night.
Jase Roderick made his way through the lane to answer that with a layup. The opening minutes saw Frye and Roderick go back-and-forth scoring the first ten of twelve points.
After Ethan Turner missed a three-point shot, Frye was able to strip the ball away after South Greene gained the rebound and found enough space to pull off another mid-range jumper that reached the bottom of the net.
Roderick nailed a short jumper in the paint moments later. Frye finished strong at the rim with his left hand to get a layup to fall.
TJ Buckner did what he does best by ripping down an offensive rebound and going back up for a quick two points for South Greene.
Turner backed his opponent down in the post for a quick turnaround basket and then led a fast break trip down the floor that ended with a layup by Frye.
West Greene held a slim 12-10 lead at the end of one. After breaking a 10-10 tie and grabbing the lead at the end of the first, the Buffs would never trail again during the contest.
Turner was a force in the paint during the second quarter with eight of his thirteen total points coming in the second frame. The first of those two came by way of a layup. Turner also secured 16 rebounds in another double-double effort from the senior.
“Thirteen points and sixteen rebounds is impressive. He’s battling dudes that are 6’4” and 6’5” and he’s about 6’2” and he came down with about every rebound I saw. Big minutes from him,” Coach Tolliver said.
Cooper Kelley found his stroke with a long-range triple to keep South Greene close to the lead. Then Hunter Toth tied the game at 20-20 with a free-throw line jump shot.
Austin Wampler and Leyton Frye each finished the quarter with lay ins to put West Greene back out in front.
The scoreboard read 26-22 in favor of the Buffs at halftime.
The back-and-forth action continued into the new half. Jase Roderick fought through contact to get a layup to go down with a foul tacked on for the Rebels. Wampler then sliced his way through two defenders for a tough bank shot. South Greene's Conner Marshall softly kissed the ball off the glass for a layup.
Mason McCamey hit a tough off-balanced fadeaway with a nice touch off the glass for West Greene, but then Woody Hixson dialed up a long-range triple from beyond the arc.
The Buffaloes soon pulled away for their first double-digit lead of the night. After both teams couldn’t get a handle on the ball Frye picked the rock up and took it to the hoop for a layup. McCamey dropped a dime to Frye for another layup in the paint. Frye took command with his sixth-straight point on a pull-up jumper from the foul line. Wampler then notched a baseline layup to cap off the run and push West Greene out front 43-33.
The Rebels did not them run away without a fight and TJ Buckner rose above the competition with a lay in, and Cooper Kelley launched another three-pointer from outside the perimeter.
After South Greene had quickly cut the lead down to five Frye had the ball in his hands with time winding down and pulled up for a fadeaway three from deep that rattled home and sent the crowd into a frenzy.
The Buffaloes led 46-38 going into the fourth and final quarter of play.
The fourth quarter was a make-or-break quarter for the homestanding Buffaloes. Coach Tolliver had never won a county matchup up to this point, had yet to beat South Greene in four tries in his time at West Greene. He was one quarter away from leading his team to a pivotal conference victory that put them in position to essentially avoid the play-in game in the district tournament.
His team didn’t let him down and started the quarter hot with McCamey fighting through contact in the lane for a tough layup off the glass. Wampler buried a three-point shot in the corner that put them ahead 51-40.
Marshall provided a much-needed bucket for the Rebels to get them back in the scoring column. South Greene struggled to find the nets in the fourth quarter with only two made field goals.
Wampler threaded the needle between two defenders and found Turner for a lay in close to the rim. Frye came away with a steal on defense and buried a pull-up jumper in the paint to put the game on ice.
West Greene pulled away late in the third quarter and never looked back on their way to upsetting South Greene 64-55 at home.
Frye dropped a game-high 32 points with Ethan Turner providing 13 points and 16 rebounds in a double-double effort.
South Greene had a balanced scoring sheet with three players reaching double figures. Jase Roderick and Cooper Kelley both poured in 13 points with Woody Hixson adding 11 points to the scoreboard.
