GREENE COUNTY
Greenforest ended Greene County’s turnaround season this past Saturday night in a Class A Division II postseason tilt. The top-seed Eagles easily topped the Tigers 73-32, eliminating them from the state playoffs.
Greene County defeated Johnson County 75-61 on Feb. 21 in the first round but ran into a buzzsaw last Saturday. Greenforest is the state’s No. 1 ranked team in Class A Division II and has won 18 straight games.
While the loss to the Eagles might string, Greene County coach Mark Wright took some positives away from it. The former Wheeler High School assistant coach felt the loss helped prepare them for a bright future.
“It absolutely did help. In the long run, it did, but in the short term, it doesn’t,” Wright said. “The guys were a little nervous to play a team of that caliber. A lot of people would shy away from the challenge and want to play Greenforest later on in the state tournament, but I would rather play them early than late.
At some point, if you want to win it all, you’ve got to see them anyway. We didn’t shy away from the competition at all.”
Greenforest jumped out to a large lead in the first quarter and never looked back. The Eagles got solid play from a pair of 6-foot-9 post players in Daniel Daramola and Djevan Ituome as they crashed the boards all night.
At the half, Greenforest led 40-19 and didn’t take its foot off the gas in the final two periods of regulation, either.
The juggernaut Eagles also shot well from the field, spearheaded by guards Kevin Harper Jr., Russ White, and Elijah Lewis. These three kept the Tigers’ trio of Laryous Burt, Steve Miller, and Jessie Broadus under control.
Greene County’s season ends with a 19-10 overall record and a 10-4 mark in region play. The Tigers advanced to the Region 8 title game over Towns County before falling to eventual champion Warren County.
In Wright’s first season in 2022-23, the Tigers went 7-18 overall and didn’t make a postseason appearance.
“The kids got a chance to go into unchartered territory,” Wright said. “I had to walk them through the process of how the playoffs work because a lot of them weren’t used to the situation. So, with me coming from a (Class) 7A school and having won a few state championships (at Wheeler), it allowed me to help them navigate through the process of going to state and mentally prepare themselves for it. They did a great job.”
Greene County will bring back most of its starters next season, with Miller, Broadus, Burt, and RJ Monford all returning. Contributors such as Ryder Eschbach, Gavin Brown, Khalil Dorsey, and Braylen Hurt return as well.
Next season, Wright expects the team to be even better come playoff time because of the level of competition it will face. The Tigers will travel to Texas, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Florida to play.
“I’m always thinking about the longevity,” Wright said. “We will be playing several holiday tournaments out-of-state, and that will get us ready for a team such as Greenforest when the playoffs come round around next year.”