GREENE COUNTY
The Lake Oconee Academy girls’ basketball team defended its home court last Friday night when region rivals Greene County came across town to the Titans’ gymnasium.
First-year head coach Savannah Soles’ squad defeated the Lady Tigers team 59-40 for its second region win of 2023 and third of the season.
It was the Lady Titans who got the better of the Lady Tigers for most of the contest, but there were definitely moments when the two teams collided for some competitive play.
The beginning of the contest started as such, with both teams’ defenses opening up in full-court presses. While there were some chances at the offensive ends, the first basket of the game didn’t come until about two-and-a-half minutes into the first quarter.
Regardless, Soles was confident in her team and told them to keep playing their game even when things were slow.
“Early on, we were getting the shots we wanted and executing the offense, but they just weren’t falling,” Soles said. “We just told them to keep their minds right and keep shooting because eventually, they are going to fall for us. We relied a lot on the three and didn’t really shoot well overall last night, but we hit big shots in big moments and some offensive rebounds to give us extra opportunities.”
Lake Oconee Academy found some momentum when it started to turn steals into fast break points. Lady Titans’ Georgia Bosart also played an instrumental role, getting multiple blocks and making good outlet passes afterward.
Hannah Heinen also contributed to the Lady Titans’ total with a pair of 3-pointers in the first two quarters along with a couple of other baskets.
The first quarter ended with the Lady Titans up 14-5, and Greene County head coach Derrick Williams had to go back to the drawing board heading into the second.
Sonovia Reynolds and Osy West led the charge for the Lady Tigers in the first half, combining for all 15 of Greene’s first-half points.
After the game, Williams told the Lake Oconee News that the lack of scoring came from the stagnant play at the offensive end.
“I hope we can start finding some rhythm on offense. There were moments in the game where we were stagnant and didn’t get any movement,” Williams said. “They’ve got to understand that if we don’t get any movement, we can’t get into a rhythm, and when you play good teams, that bites you, and that’s what happened tonight.”
Greene County also led in the rebounding category, but Lake Oconee Academy continued to move the ball around and look for the best shot.
Lady Titans’ senior guard Jada Williams, who returned from a back injury she received in a game earlier in the week, caught fire in the second quarter to extinguish a Lady Tigers push.
Williams scored 11 of the team’s 18 points in the second quarter, and 17 of the 32 in the first half. Soles attributed Williams’ performance to her desire to play the game, especially at a high level.
“Jada is the type of kid, especially this moment in her senior year playing an in-town rival, that’s not a game she wanted to miss. If she can be there, she wants to be there,” Soles said. “After returning from the doctor, you could just tell her character and work ethic would get her ready, and she played like she never went out Tuesday night.”
Greene County looked defeated headed into the locker room, and Williams acknowledged that the morale needs to stay high in order to be successful.
“We’ve got to stop putting our heads down when things aren’t going our way. They’ve got to understand that a game is four quarters,” Williams said. “Just because you’re down 15 to 16 points doesn’t mean you can’t come back and get a win. We also can’t wait until late in the game to decide to wake up and play. We need to play a game where we play all four quarters.”
Fortunately, it looked like the Lady Tigers woke up in the second half.
Williams’ team started the second half with a handful of consecutive steals, which turned into fast break points and a little momentum.
Greene County started cutting into the deficit, but as the third quarter progressed, Lake Oconee Academy started hitting the shots it wasn’t in the first half.
The Lady Tigers played with intensity in the fourth quarter and had some players come off the bench to make some plays, but at that point the Lady Titans’ lead was too large to overcome.
The 59-40 loss marked Greene’s first region loss of the season. The Lady Tigers will resume region play this weekend when they travel to Lincoln County to take on the 0-14 Red Devils.
Lake Oconee Academy improved to 13-1 on the season and will have two back-to back region games away this weekend at Towns County and Aquinas.