The South Greene Middle Lady Rebels defeated the Greeneville Middle Lady Devils 48-29 to capture the BP Sports Matrix Christmas Tournament on Thursday.
The Lady Rebels' Kortnei Bailey led all scorers with 18 points.
She sprinted down the court to deliver the first two points for South Greene on a fast break layup. Bailey then added two more with another successful make in the paint.
“Kortnei had a good shooting game. She’s had some games where she’s been on and some games when she’s been off, but she still finds ways to score,” Lady Rebels Coach Joshua Arrowood stated.
Greeneville's Matea Gray landed two free throws at the line, and Jordan Swatzell dropped in a three-point basket from deep.
Bailey scored three points the old-fashioned way by drawing contact on the basket and sinking the shot at the charity stripe. Natalie Foshie then hit a shot from deep to extend the Lady Rebels early lead.
“Natalie knocked down some big shots for us early on in the game as well,” Coach Arrowood mentioned.
The Lady Devils quickly put four more back on the board following a put back from Emma Shelton and a layup from Swatzell. A steal at half court led to a two-point basket for Swatzell.
Bailey landed another shot from beyond the perimeter before the quarter ended.
South Greene would hold a modest 13-12 lead after one quarter of action.
Shelton tied the game at 17-17 with an offensive put back in the paint.
Before the halftime buzzer sounded Bailey cashed in on an open baseline jumper and the Lady Rebels extended the lead to 23-17 at halftime.
The third quarter is where South Greene began to run away.
Bailey sprang back into action early in the period with a drive into the lane that resulted in two points. She would draw the contact and get the foul call but miss the free throw. The missed shot was rebounded by South Greene and swung back around to her for a triple.
Bailey then found space in the paint and sank a wide-open jumper off of an inbounds pass.
Greeneville's Gray and South Greene's Sam Birdwell traded buckets on opposite ends and the third quarter ended with South Greene ahead 36-21.
Shelton stole a pass on the baseline and banked in two more points to start the fourth quarter for the Lady Devils.
Birdwell answered by pulling down a rebound and squared up to hit a shot on the block.
Julia Woolsey stayed with Bailey step-for-step and stuffed her jump shot, but Foshie solidified the Lady Rebel lead with a turnaround jumper in the paint and a wide-open layup in the final stages of the contest.
The Lady Rebels captured the win 48-29 and the BP Sports Matrix Christmas Tournament Championship.
“I mean it feels good anytime you get matched up against Greeneville,” Coach Arrowood said. “You know as a county school that’s one of the games you always want to win.”
Foshie contributed 12 points for South Greene. Sam Birdwell and Clarissa Davis each added six points.
Julia Woolsey led the Lady Devils with eight points while Jordan Swatzell, Emma Shelton, and Matea Gray each delivered seven.
CONSOLATION GAME
WEST GREENE 31, CHUCKEY-DOAK 28
It doesn't matter how you start, it' how you finish, and the West Greene Lady Buffs proved that by knocking off Chuckey-Doak Middle 31-28 with the help of a late surge in the fourth quarter of the tournament's consolation game. It doesn’t matter how you start, it’s how you finish.
The Lady Buffs still started out well by getting out to an early 6-1 lead in the opening period.
Makayla P. banked in a three on the right wing and Joie S. blocked a layup attempt underneath the basket on the next play.
The Lady Knights found some offense when Kirkpatrick got the long two-point jumper to fall in the corner after an opportune bounce.
Aiken sank a long two for West Greene before Kurriker erased that with a layup and a foul at the rim.
Kurriker brought it within one after an offensive put-back in the paint. She would hand the Lady Knights the lead with another put-back off the glass.
Her sixth-straight point for Chuckey-Doak would send the Lady Knights into halftime with a 14-11 lead.
Kirkpatrick walked onto the court out of the half and extended the lead with a cut to the basket that granted her two points.
A turnover by the Lady Knights set up Aiken with a fast break layup on the opposite end. Joie S. grabbed an offensive rebound next and laid it high off the glass for two more. Payton N. used the backboard to her advantage next by banking in a two-point jumper.
The bank shots kept falling and falling for West Greene. Alexis C. took part in the scoring by landing a long two-point shot off the glass.
West Greene would pull the lead back to their bench by outscoring Chuckey-Doak 9-3 in the third period.
The games pace started to quicken when Rawlings fed the ball to Kurriker in the paint for two.
Joie S. received an inbounds pass and bodied her way into the paint for a two-point bucket.
Myers grabbed an offensive rebound and sped down the court to deliver an assist to Foreman at the rim.
Atchison blocked Kenney on the baseline to save a basket for Chuckey-Doak.
Joie S. tied the game at 24-24 by draining a shot in the paint.
Myers put the Lady Knights back ahead with a layup inside. Rawlings added two more free throws to give Chuckey-Doak a four-point lead with 1:37 remaining.
Joie S. drained another two-pointer quickly to cut into the lead. Aiken then was rewarded with a trip to the line and sank both shots to tie the game again.
Joie S. continued to bring the Lady Buffs back with an offensive put back to give West Greene a 30-28 lead.
West Greene would sink one more free throw and escape with a 31-28 victory.
Joie S. led the Lady Buffs with 10 points. Aiken followed closely with nine and Hill contributed with six.
Kurriker led Chuckey-Doak scorers with eight points. Foreman and Rawlings both added five.
