Lady Rebels Bomb Chuckey-Doak In 70-38 District Championship Win

JONESBOROUGH – The South Greene girls put on a showcase from outside the arc on Monday night as they bombed their way past Chuckey-Doak to claim the District 1-2A championship.

The Lady Rebels hit from behind the arc 15 times on 29 attempts in their 70-38 win while five different players sank a trifecta as they improved to a perfect 10-0 against district opponents this season.

“I feel like we played lights out,” South Greene coach Stephen Gregg said. “We have had 14 threes a few time this year, but 15 is the most I can remember in a long time. It was fun to see us get up on defense and challenge in the full court. There’s not much to say when you score 70 and give up 38, I’m proud on both sides of the ball.”

The torching of the nets started early for South Greene as Jordyn Roderick hit from deep twice on the way to a 9-0 lead. The other three points came when Ryleigh Gregg was fouled on a triple, and she went 3-for-3 at the free-throw line.

Hayleigh Taylor broke the streak with a layup for the Lady Knights, but then Hailey Brooks found her stroke from behind the arc.

Over the final four minutes of the first quarter Brooks knocked down four three-pointers to stretch South Greene’s lead to 23-8. Brooks hit five three-pointers on Monday and scored 17 points while also swiping five steals and dishing three assists on her way to earning Tournament MVP honors.

“When a kid hit one tonight we were quick to look for them again, and it was Hailey Brooks in the first quarter who got going,” Gregg said. “Hailey was just feeling it there, and we tell kids when they are feeling it to go for it. She has the green light to do that.”

South Greene began the second quarter on a 12-2 run to stretch its lead to 35-10. Gregg hit her first of five three-pointers in the stretch while Brooks scored five more points for South Greene.

Madison Hensley, who was not among the Lady Rebels to hit from deep on Monday, did create plenty of scoring for South Greene as she dished nine assists to go with seven points and seven rebounds.

“We were hitting kids in transition, and Madison Hensley did a great job tonight,” Gregg said. “She didn’t shoot a lot, but she was a true point guard. When your point guard almost has a double-double with rebounds and assists it tells you she had a good night.”

Hayleigh Hensley gave Chuckey-Doak a brief reprieve with six straight points to close the gap to 35-16.

Gregg hit one more triple for the Lady Rebels as they went to halftime leading 38-17.

By the midway point of the third quarter South Greene’s lead grew to 50-19 as Gregg hit from opposite sides of the arc. Hensley put in four points, including a runner in traffic that she lofted over the Lady Knights.

Gregg finished the night with 20 points to lead all scorers.

“Ryleigh stepped up tonight and got open, and she hit a few threes,” Coach Gregg said. “The growth that we’ve had out of our underclassmen this year I think will help us a lot moving forward. These girls are starting to mature. And we have a plethora of players who can score 20-plus on any night. We’re not trying to play through one person, we just want to find the hot hand.”

Chuckey-Doak was able to close the gap to 52-29 after Saniah Atchison and Courtnee Jones each knocked down three-pointers.

South Greene took a 59-32 lead into the fourth quarter after Kortni Bailey finished off a steal by Jordyn Roderick by sinking another triple.

In the fourth quarter Gregg, Bailey and Kaydence Marshall all hit three-pointers as South Greene’s lead grew to 70-34 with over three minutes still to play.

Jones led Chuckey-Doak on Monday with 10 points, while Roderick was also in double figures for South Greene with 12 points, seven rebounds, five assists and five steals.

Both teams will move on the Region 1-2A Tournament where they will be home on Friday in the quarterfinals. South Greene will host Pigeon Forge and Chuckey-Doak will take on Union County.

South Greene 23 15 20 12 70

Chuckey-Doak 8 9 15 6 38

South Greene: Gregg 20, Brooks 17, Gregg 12, Hensley 7, Bailey 6, Susong 4, Marshall 3, Hoese 1

Chuckey-Doak: Jones 10, Atchison 7, Hensley 6, Ripley 4, Taylor 4, Southerland 2, Brown 2, Yokley 2, Johnson 1

District 1-2A Consolation Game

West Greene 42, Happy Valley 37

In the District 1-2A consolation game on Monday West Greene rallied in the second half to capture a 42-37 win over Happy Valley to finish third in the league.

The Lady Buffaloes played from behind for most of the night, but two minutes into the fourth quarter Hailey Ripley received an inbound pass and drained a jumper from the elbow to put the Lady Buffaloes in front 32-31.

The lead grew to 36-31 after Kinsley Ellenburg grabbed an offensive board and set up Madi Brown for a mid-range jumper.

Happy Valley was able to cut the lead to 36-35 when Marcida Moore tapped one off the glass with 2:15 left to play.

Brown regained the cushion for West Greene with a step-back trey that was shortly followed by a pair of free throws for a 41-35 advantage that sealed the victory.

In a slow paced first quarter Happy Valley held on to a 3-2 lead for almost six minutes. That advantage grew to 7-2 before Ellenburg sank a three-pointer with six seconds remaining in the period to narrow the margin to 7-5.

Happy Valley’s defense allowed it to take a 14-8 lead in the second quarter. Turnovers set up Kadie Bailey for a pair of layups while Moore took a steal the length of the floor for two points.

Ellenburg broke the streak with a triple, and at the horn Brown lobbed in a runner with her foot on the three-point line to narrow the Lady Warriors’ lead to 18-17.

On the first possession of the second half Maddie Bryant gave West Greene the lead when she sank a three-pointer from the top of the key.

Moore then quickly tied the game at 20-20 with a jumper from the lane for the Lady Warriors.

With 1:45 left in the period Taylor Lawson powered up a layup to put West Greene in front again at 27-26. Lawson then set up Ellenburg for a three-pointer to stretch the lead to 30-26.