The West Greene boys started slow, but quickly climbed their way back to make things interesting down the stretch before losing 81-74 to Daniel Boone High School.
”We came out extremely sluggish and slow,” West Greene Head Coach Allen Tolliver said. “Just battled all night. We never really put our heads down and got down on ourselves which is very easy to do when you’re down 19 points at one point in the first quarter.”
Tennessee’s leading point scorer Jamar Livingston dropped a season-high 47 points in the Blazers win on Thursday night.
Leyton Frye and Ethan Turner didn’t have too bad of a night either putting in 30 and 22 points respectively.
It was senior night for the Buffs and five players were honored prior to the girl’s game. Leyton Frye, Ethan Turner, Austin Wampler, Jaden Gregg, and Braylon Rader were the five representatives.
West Greene came out slow and fell behind by as much as 19 points in the first quarter.
Livingston drained a triple then laid the ball off the glass on a put back to score the first five of the game.
Frye landed a running bank shot through the net to get West Greene on the board.
Back-to-back threes from Tim McGonegle and Peyton Long extended Boone’s lead.
Austin Wampler’s hustle on defense was huge in the first half. A tipped pass turned into a layup for the senior on the other end. He rose up to swat away a shot on the baseline then dished it ahead to Frye for an assist after another impressive play on defense.
“Wampler came up clutch with some steals and got the ball rolling for us. We couldn’t get a shot to fall. He got a couple steals and a couple tips that led to some breaks and we got some layups to fall,” Coach Tolliver mentioned.
Jamar Livingston splashed a three-pointer to close out the first. The Blazers led 25-10 at the end of one.
Boone stretched their lead out again on a quick four-point swing from Livingston and McGonegle.
Leyton Frye’s and-one play sparked a run for West Greene that saw them wake up and start closing the gap. Ethan Turner got a wide-open layup to fall after Austin Wampler drew the attention of both defenders driving to the rim. Frye sank a three-point bomb to cut their deficit down to single digits.
Clay Rowland hit a three-pointer from behind the arc and Dawson Daniels fired back and did the same. Frye lost his defender on a smooth step-back three in the corner to cut the score down to eight.
The Blazers didn’t respect Turner’s outside shooting and left him wide open along the three-point line for an easy triple that cut the score down to only one possession.
Livingston decided to take control back by splitting through the defense for two easy layups.
Turner got an offensive put back to go down right before the end of the half.
The Buffs outscored them 29-18 in the second quarter. Boone held a 43-39 lead going into the half.
“The effort and intensity that was brought tonight after the first quarter was insane,” Coach Tolliver said.
Whatever Coach Tolliver said in the locker room during halftime must’ve instilled some extra confidence in his team. West Greene started the second half hot on a 7-0 run to take the lead after being down 19 points in the first quarter.
Leyton Frye crossed a defender with a behind-the-back dribble move for a layup in transition. The Blazers raced back down the floor and attempted to catch them off guard with a quick fast break after the bucket. Frye stripped a Boone player on his way up for a layup and fed the ball to Ethan Turner for a layup that tied the score.
A deep three-pointer from way downtown by Frye gave West Greene a 46-43 lead.
Peyton Long didn’t let the lead last long by hitting a trey to tie it. Jamar Livingston rose up above the rim to lay it in and take the lead back.
The Trailblazers kept coming up with stops on defense then slowly stretching their lead back out.
Jaden Gregg took the contact that was given and didn’t let it bother him on his way to a layup with a foul. He’d make the free throw after to complete a three-point play the old-fashioned way.
“Jaden came out and brought some intensity and energy,” Tolliver expressed.
Long nailed another three-pointer to put the Boone lead back up to five at 56-51.
Mason McCamey got the defense jumping on a pump fake along the three-point line to give him enough space to make a mid-range jumper. Wampler sank a mid-range bucket next.
Peyton Long cashed his third three-pointer of the quarter to lead Boone into the fourth with a 65-59 lead.
Jamar Livingston took over in the final frame and scored twelve of his teams sixteen points in the fourth. He started off with an and-one play to lift Boone ahead by nine.
Ethan Turner came right back with a layup, but Livingston returned the favor and scored one of his own on the baseline. Turner provided a big bucket late with an offensive put back to cut the score down to four but that’s as close as they would get.
Livingston scored four-straight to put the game out of reach late and allowed the Trailblazers to ice the game on free throws.
Daniel Boone High School played spoiler to West Greene’s senior night by taking home an 81-74 win with them.
“I’m proud of the effort. If this is the kind of team I’ve got going into the tournament then I’m pretty excited for it,” Coach Tolliver stated.
Jamar Livingston dropped a game-high 47 points with Peyton Long draining four three-pointers for 12 points.
Leyton Frye piled up the stat sheet with 30 points and Ethan Turner produced a 20-point double-double in the losing effort.
GIRLS
Daniel Boone 70, West Greene 23
The Lady Buffaloes didn’t get the win they wanted on senior night after suffering a 70-23 defeat to Daniel Boone on Thursday night.
West Greene had seven representatives on senior night. Madi Brown, Taylor Lawson, Kinsley Ellenburg, Maddie Bryant, Hailey Ripley, Bre Ellis, and Mara Reagan all competed in their last regular season home game inside of Jimmy Jones Gymnasium.
The Lady Trailblazers jumped ahead quickly once Kyleigh Bacon got a pull-up jumper to fall and then secured a layup to score four of Daniel Boone’s first six points. Josie Jenkins knocked down a wide-open triple and before you knew it the Lady Blazers had pulled out to an 11-0 lead.
Kinsley Ellenburg scored West Greene’s first bucket after waiting patiently for the ball to bounce off the iron twice before falling through the net.
Lillie Walters got a bucket to fall and Kenzie Bacon drained a three-point shot in the corner to boost the Lazy Blazer’s lead to 21-2.
Ashlyn Seymore grabbed her own missed and put it back off the glass for a layup. Addison Dietz stole a pass and took it to the rack for another easy lay in.
Kinsley Ellenburg added a layup for the Lady Buffs before the quarter closed.
Daniel Boone led 25-4 after one quarter.
Kylie Beach locked down the post with a put back bucket in the paint. Andrea Flores stole the ball away and took it coast-to-coast for a finish off the glass.
Hailey Ripley landed a layup off the glass for the Lady Buffs.
Kyleigh Bacon contributed to the scoreboard on back-to-back plays with a layup then as assist to Macie Masters for a layup. Addison Dietz spotted up along the perimeter for a three-point bucket.
Taylor Lawson scored another layup off the glass to help add to West Greene’s scoring total.
Boone held a 46-14 lead at the half.
Hailey Ripley drained the only three-pointer of the night for the Lady Buffs to open up the third quarter.
Daniel Boone went right back to work with layups from Kaylee Cox and Kyleigh Bacon. Addison Dietz scored five points in the third quarter with a three-point bomb and a strip layup.
The Lady Blazers were up 65-19 going into the fourth.
Ashlyn Newton landed a three-point jumper through the net for Boone’s final field goal.
Taylor Lawson scored four free throws to close out senior night with a team-high 11 points. Seniors Hailey Ripley and Kinsley Ellenburg each added six points.
Daniel Boone left with a 70-23 victory in the end.
Kyleigh Bacon and Addison Dietz both scored ten points to lead them in scoring. All eleven players scored for the Lady Blazers in their win.
