It’s hard to beat a team three times in a season, right? Well, how about four times? The West Greene girls executed the same game plan again and knocked off Johnson County 70-63 to keep their alive, advancing to the District 1-2A Tournament semifinals.
With the win, the Lady Buffs secured a spot in the region 1-2A tournament.
After a tough defeat to Daniel Boone on senior night last week, the seven seniors got the closure they needed with a big elimination game win inside of Jimmy Jones Gymnasium.
“I’m glad that we got to play again at home. We had a rough home game on senior night so I was glad we got to end on a win here at West Greene,” Lady Buffs Head Coach Betsy Shaw mentioned. “I think that’s important for the girls, especially all those seniors, to get to go out here and win.”
West Greene’s senior trio of Kinsley Ellenburg, Madi Brown, and Taylor Lawson combined for 57 of their 70 total points. They didn’t waste any time making a statement on the scoreboard pulling out to a near 20-point lead by the end of the first quarter.
“They all did a really good job and their teammates did a good job getting them the ball. It puts us in the best position to win when we have three in double figures,” Shaw stated.
Brown started hot from the field with two three-point bombs to set the pace.
Peyton Gentry scored an and-one bucket at the cup for Johnson County’s only field goal of the first quarter.
Bre Ellis caught the hot hand next with a pair of triples to boost West Greene's lead to a double-digit margin. Ellenburg tortured the Lady Longhorns again with her first three-point make of the night.
Lawson joined in on the scoring by putting in the Lady Buffs final two baskets of the first frame.
West Greene led 23-4 after one quarter of play.
Laci Jordan scored the first field goal of the second quarter in a very unusual way. A Johnson County defender grabbed a rebound under the basket and gave Jordan a free layup by accidentally throwing the ball right to her.
Desirea Robinson finally took the lid of the basket and got a three-pointer to fall for the Lady Longhorns. Brookanna Hutchins was next up and knocked down a baseline jumper.
The Lady Buffs went cold on offense for a few minutes but Ellenburg was there to end the dry spell with another trey. West Greene led 39-20 at the half.
Johnson County fought its way back and came with some serious momentum at the beginning of the third. An 8-0 run, led by Hutchins with six points, lowered their deficit to 39-28.
Ellenburg was there for the Lady Buffs all game when they needed a bucket and ended another scoreless drought with her third triple of the contest. Taylor Lawson snuck behind the Lady Longhorns press and granted herself with a wide-open layup.
Hutchins was Johnson County’s main source of offense all night and kept them in the ballgame by scoring ten points in the third quarter.
West Greene went on another run to stretch their lead out. Lawson added another bucket in transition and Kinsley Ellenburg provided another three-point play with an and-one. Hailey Ripley banked the ball off the glass from the block to keep the motor running.
Just when you thought West Greene had put enough cushion in their lead to become comfortable, Sienna Green buried three three-point bombs to keep the Lady Longhorns alive.
The Lady Buffs went into the fourth quarter leading 57-45.
Maddie Bryant put a running floater through the net before Peyton Gentry cut their lead down to eight points with two layups.
Brown nailed a big three-point bucket to put the lead back into double digits. Brown was also very efficient from the free throw line on Tuesday making eight of her ten attempts.
Hutchins grabbed an offensive rebound and sent it back up to cut the lead down to seven at 63-56.
Ellenburg pushed through contact before banking a tough left-handed layup off the glass.
Green knocked down another three-pointer from behind the arc.
Ellenburg and Brown went four-for-four at the free throw line to help West Greene put the game away.
Hutchins knocked it back down to seven after two more layups, but time had already ran out and the Lady Buffs kept enough distance between them and Johnson County to be able to run away with the win.
West Greene outlasted the Lady Longhorns 70-63 to advance to the District 1-2A semifinals where they’ll meet South Greene Thursday night at 6 p.m. at David Crockett.
Ellenburg poured in 22 points to lead the Lady Buffs. Taylor Lawson provided 18 points and Madi Brown piled in 17 points.
Hutchins scored a game-high 28 points in the loss. Green scored 14 points along with Desirea Robinson in double figures with 11.
