The Greene County girls basketball season came to a close under tough circumstances, but for head coach Steven Hopper, the bigger picture showed signs of real progress for a program built almost entirely on youth.
The Lady Tigers’ season ended with a 55-21 loss to Lincoln County in the first round of the region tournament last week. The result reflected many of the challenges the team faced throughout a rebuilding season.
Greene County’s girls (1-19) held an early lead over the Lady Red Devils and controlled much of the first quarter before the contest turned more physical, testing the young roster, which is still learning to handle adversity.
“We actually held the lead for a lot of the first quarter,” Hopper said. “But things started to become chippy and physical, and a lot of young girls don’t like to be touched or hit. You’ve got to finish games when you have leads, and that’s something we didn’t do.”
That theme echoed through much of the season.
The Lady Tigers found themselves competitive late against teams like Towns County and Lake Oconee Academy, but struggled to close out opportunities that could have swung the season in a different direction.
Despite the lack of wins, Hopper pointed to noticeable growth from the opening weeks to the end of the year, particularly in fundamental areas.
“In the ball-handling department, at the beginning of the year, I only had one girl that really wanted to handle the basketball,” Hopper said. “By the end of the year, I had about two or three.”
Akierria Griggs emerged as a steady presence with the ball, while Ja'Neyce Hull made significant strides both in handling and scoring as the season progressed. The offensive focal point, though, was Denver McCommons, who consistently carried the scoring load.
“Denver is Denver,” Hopper said. “By the time I totaled it up, she was averaging almost 17 points a game in the region, and down the stretch, including non-region games, she was closer to 18 or 19 points a game.”
Those individual improvements helped Greene County look far more competitive by season’s end, even if the results didn’t always reflect it.
Looking ahead, Hopper sees plenty of reason for optimism. Greene County will return more than 90 percent of its production next season, including all five starters. The only departures come from a pair of seniors off the bench.
“I’m thankful for everything Felicity Thomas and Carla Dunn did,” Hopper said. “But at the end of the day, we get everything back. Or almost everything.”
With a young core now battle-tested, Hopper hopes to build on that foundation through offseason work and added experience.
While GHSA rules limit formal practices, he plans to encourage early involvement and create a summer schedule focused on live competition.
“They need experience,” Hopper said. “As they start to grow and gain more experience, they’re going to be perfectly fine.”