GREENE COUNTY
The No. 3 seed Greene County Lady Tigers went on the road earlier this week and defeated the Greenforest Lady Eagles 47-43 in the first round of the Class A Division II state playoffs.
The Tuesday night contest was tight through all four quarters, but it was the Lady Tigers’ resiliency that pushed them through to the second round for the first time since 2009.
After the game, head coach Derrick Williams acknowledged that his girls found the momentum in the second half and never let up after that.
“It was a tough game, and going into halftime we were down by 11, and I told the girls in the locker room that ‘basketball is a game of runs,’” Williams said. “‘They punched us in the mouth in the first half, so now we have to turn around and punch them in the mouth,’ and we answered the call.”
Greene County responded as soon as the second half started and went on a 5-0 run to cut the deficit to six points.
Even though leading-scorer Osy West didn’t play the entire period due to foul trouble, the Lady Tigers had tied the Lady Eagles by the end of the third quarter.
Williams’ squad also picked up the slack on the defensive end of the court, causing Greenforest to turn the ball over a lot more than it did in the first half. This led to quick transition baskets that eventually led to them taking the lead late in the fourth quarter.
He believed that the team’s difficult regular season schedule had prepared his girls to play in big moments like this one.
“We scheduled good competition at the beginning of the year, and I feel like that helped us and is a testament to our ability in these situations, not to mention the great competition that is already in our region,” Williams said. “Our performance [against Greenforest] was a testament to that, and I think it will benefit us moving forward.”
Looking ahead, No. 3 seed Lady Tigers will have to travel to Taylor County Friday at 6:30 p.m. to take on a dominant Lady Vikings team. The Lady Vikings the No. 1 seed out of Region 6A after finishing the regular season 25-1.
Even though their last game was on the road, Williams feels good about the momentum they have and the support behind them. He acknowledged how important the environment was in the first-round win.
“[Greenforest] was a hostile environment. It was loud, and from the moment we walked in, they had a DJ blaring music,” Williams said. “I’ll be honest, though, we might have had more fans there than they did, and I can’t say enough about the fans and the parents. If we have that behind us this Friday and play our game, we can compete with anyone.”