GREENE COUNTY
Greene County girls’ basketball defeated No. 7 Towns County 67-55 on Tuesday, Jan. 16, in an upset.
The Lady Tigers used a total team effort to take down the ranked Lady Indians last week.
Greene County head coach Steven Hopper was impressed by his team’s performance that night.
“In all honesty, they’re just doing what they’re told to do. They did a good job at executing the game plan,” Hopper said. “We watched an excessive amount of film (of Towns County), so we know who their best players were and know what they’re capable of in terms of numbers and plays. We asked the girls to do certain things, and they did them. Defensively, we played great.”
The Lady Tigers’ defensive prowess held Lady Indians’ leading scorer Brelan Sieveking well under her season average of 14.2 points per game. She only scored seven points in the loss last week.
Greene County also limited Towns County’s second-leading scorer, Scotlyn Fain, to only eight points.
Offensively, Greene County managed to use its clear height advantage to score inside the paint. Players such as Amauria West (21 points) and Jesaria Porter (15 points) stepped up big time.
“When you get scoring like that it helps. But when you can also hold two of the region’s best players far under their averages, it’s pretty good,” Hopper said. “When you go back and watch all the games, we’ve held everybody’s best players under their averages. When you do that, you win games.”
A prime example of Hopper’s point was when his team held Lake Oconee Academy to 42 points. His players’ defensive effort also limited the Lady Titans’ leading scorer, Georgia Bosart, to 13 points.
That led to Greene County knocking off Lake Oconee Academy for the first time in several years.
Last Tuesday, the Lady Tigers led by eight points at the intermission, with momentum on their side.
The Lady Indians came out in the third quarter firing on all cylinders, making it a one-possession game later in the period. But Greene County ended the quarter on an 8-2 run, pushing the lead back to eight.
Again, it was the defense in the fourth quarter that limited Towns County to score only seven points.
Hopper said switching up his defensive strategy led to offensive inefficiencies late in the game for the Lady Indians.
“We’re lucky to have several girls on this team that can basically lockdown and face-guard whoever when we need to,” Hopper explained. “As of now, we’ve done a great job by targeting the other team’s best players. Essentially, I am putting my best players on them and saying, ‘Go by them.’ Then if you do get by them, we’ve got a couple of 6-footers that can rebound the ball well.”
Hopper shouted out Alliyah Rhodes, Shameria Mitchell, Kimora Harper, and Dajah Hobes for their defensive dominance this season, especially in the victory over Towns County last week.
“Teams may not know those girls but they’re difference makers,” Hopper said. “They give great effort.”
The upset victory put Greene County at 8-9 overall and 5-1 in conference play entering this week. The Lady Tigers are one spot ahead of Lake Oconee Academy and one spot behind Towns County.
Greene County will face Warren County at home this Friday. The Lady Screaming Devils defeated the Lady Tigers, 49-43, on Dec. 16. They’ll also travel to Washington-Wilkes the following day for another rematch. The Lady Tigers of Wilkes County lost the last game, 62-25, on Dec. 15.