The South Greene girls put their undefeated conference record to the test against Happy Valley on Friday night, and the Lady Warriors gave them all they could handle, in fact it eventually came down to the very last shot of the game but the Lady Rebels escaped with a 55-52 win.
Coach Stephen Gregg said after the game, “We’re South Greene and we’re gonna get everybody’s best effort, and tonight we got Happy Valley’s best effort. We didn’t play with urgency. We still haven’t lost a conference game …this may be good to get the girls' attention”.
The two teams went back and forth in the first quarter, a quarter that saw nine ties or lead changes. South Green held a one point lead at 10-9 when Ryleigh Gregg hit a triple from just left of the key, but the Lady Warriors came right back with a two from Mailey Crury and a three from Cadie Baliey to end the quarter with a 14-10 lead.
In the second quarter Bailey extended the Lady Warrior lead to 11 points with a three from the elbow and short jumper in the lane. Then it was the Lady Rebels turn to go on a mini run as Gregg hit another triple and Ari Hoese used a steal and score to cut the lead to 31-26 at the half.
Madison Hensley sparked South Greene as the third quarter started by nailing a three to open the quarter. Seconds later she stole the ball and went in for a layup while drawing a foul. She completed the old-fashioned-three-point play for a 32-31 lead. Jordyn Roderick also came alive scoring nine points in the quarter, helping to build a 45-36 lead at the end of three quarters.
It looked as if the Lady Rebels would be able to cruise as the lead quickly went to 11 points when Gregg hit another triple from the elbow at the 6:30 mark. The lead briefly went to 13 points at 55-42 with 4:54 to go when Hensley drove the lane for an easy layup.
The Lady Warriors then went on a 10-0 run over the next four minutes with most of the damage being done by Crury. Happy Valley had one final chance with 16 seconds to play but the defense stood strong and Bailey's three-point attempt at the buzzer was off the mark as the Lady Rebels survived, 55-52.
South Greene
Hensley 17, Roderick 11, Gregg 9, Brooks 9, Hoese 5,Susong 4
Happy Valley
Crury 18, Bailey 16, Moore 13, Anderson 5
BOYS
South Greene 91, Happy Valley 24
In boys action, the Rebels opened the game with a 14-0 run and never looked back as they ran away to a 91-24 win over Happy Valley.
By the end of the first quarter the Rebels were up 16-4, and by halftime it was 44-10 mainly due to Hayden Birdwell having one of his better games, scoring 20 points in that first half.
South Greene went up by 56 points after three quarters at 75-19 and would go on to win 91-24.
The Rebels would put ten player in the scoring column, five of them in double figures.
“This one takes a little of the bitter taste out” explained Coach Terry Hoese after a loss to West Greene on Tuesday. He also talked about the possibility to win the conference, "The next two make the whole season, and we better be ready to play and we need to finish up."
The Rebels have a big next week, first traveling to Johnson County on Tuesday and then hosting Chuckey-Doak on Friday. If the Rebels win both they will secure the top seed in the District 1-3A Tournament.
The Rebels are currently 5-1 in league play, Chuckey-Doak is 5-2, West Greene is 3-3, Johnson County is 2-3 and Happy Valley is 0-6.
South Greene
Birdwell 22, Kelley 15, Roderick 12, Toth 10, Thornburg 19, Buckner 6, Marshall 5, Winter 6, Arrowood 3, Fillers 2
Happy Valley
Grindstaff 5, Furr 4, Nickles 4, Parker 4, Deakins 2, Moody 1, Perry 2,Murry 2
