GREENE COUNTY
Four quarters weren’t enough for Greene County and Taylor County in last Friday’s second-round playoff tilt.
The two teams were tied at the end of regulation. However, the Lady Vikings used the extra period to pull away and eliminated the Lady Tigers from the postseason for a second consecutive year with a 57-44 win.
Greene County head coach Steven Hopper thinks his team should still be playing this week.
“Stuff happens,” Hopper said. “It’s unfortunate. This group competed hard for one another and were a family.”
It was a back-and-forth game, with the top-seed Lady Vikings pulling out some last-minute magic to force overtime. Their talented trio of Jaydah Ford, Alasia Montgomery, and Da’laila Lowe proved to be too much in the end.
The Lady Tigers led 41-37 with a minute left, but Taylor County managed to save its season and force the overtime period. They hit a few clutch free throws and a basket to get back into contention and tie the game up.
In the extra period, Taylor County had the momentum as the last minute of the game crushed Greene County’s confidence. The Lady Vikings outscored the Lady Tigers by double-digits in overtime to pull out the win.
Greene County got solid play from Amauria West, Keiara Jernigan, and others but couldn’t close the game out.
The Lady Tigers end the 2023-24 season with a 15-13 overall record and a 10-3 mark in region play. They entered the postseason as the No. 3 seed from Class A Division II’s toughest region and won a playoff game.
Greene County started its 2023-24 campaign at 0-6 overall with losses to tough competition. But the Lady Tigers steadily progressed as the season went on and started playing their best brand of basketball last month.
“We started 0-6, and everybody felt like we weren’t going to do much, but I knew that was untrue,” Hopper said. “I knew we were going to be where we were because we were getting beat by (teams) who are still playing now. We started by playing high-level competition, and (our progression) showed later in the year when we got to play other Single-A teams. I can’t take anything away from our girls. They played very hard.”
Greene County will lose five seniors – West, Aaliyah Rhodes, Erin Dixon, Mylilrea Grimsley, and Anirah Merritt.
Regardless, the Lady Tigers will return contributors such as Jesaria Porter, Kimora Harper, Dajah Hobes, and others next season. This year’s core will continue to develop in the offseason and hopes to do better in 2024-25.
Hopper feels his team will take an even further step in year two of his tenure with all of the talent returning.
“It’s going to be hard to replace those four seniors, but we’ve got everybody else coming back, including two girls that made All-Region this year,” Hopper said. “So, we’ve got the key pieces we need for next year.”