GREENE COUNTY
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Greene County's Keiara Jernigan (24) defends Lake Oconee Academy guard Georgia Bosart (3) in a loss on Friday, Jan. 6. BRENDAN KOERNER/Staff
The Greene County girls basketball team is returning to the postseason for the first time in two years.
The Lady Tigers defeated Washington-Wilkes 47-39 on Tuesday. They will now move on to the region semifinals, which also qualifies them for the Class A Division II state playoffs.
Greene County head coach Derrick Williams was proud of how his players handled the pressure.
“Yeah, it’s an exciting time. One of our goals going into the year was reaching the state tournament,” Williams said. “We didn’t want to be satisfied with having double-digit wins this year.
“Our goal was to make it to state after we came up just short in the quarterfinal of last year’s region tournament,” he added. “We wanted to make sure we came out on top this time.”
The Lady Tigers had already knocked off Washington-Wilkes twice this season, but the second-year head coach warned his players a third victory wasn’t going to be an easy task.
“I tried to remind the girls that just because we beat them twice already, does not mean they were going to lay down and give us the game,” Williams said. “They made us earn it.”
Greene County and the Lady Tigers fought back and forth for most of the quarterfinal contest.
However, after a slow start by the Lady Tigers of Greensboro in the final quarter of regulation, Washington-Wilkes held a three-point lead with just over three minutes left in the game.
According to Williams, Greene County tied the game on a triple from Shameria Mitchell at the three-minute mark, and the Lady Tigers “clamped down” on defense from that point on.
“The girls battled hard,” Williams said. “Osy (West) and Keiara (Jernigan) both fouled out. That’s two of our top three scorers out, and then our leading scorer (Sonovia Reynolds) was injured. So, it’s safe to say things didn’t go our way, but we fought and competed.”
Greene County and Washington Wilke were tied 37-37 when Jernigan hit a layup to take the lead with just over two minutes left. The Lady Tigers never trailed from that point on.
Jesaria Porter stepped up for Greene County in a huge way, scoring five points down the stretch. She hit a 3-pointer to put the Tigers up 42-37, and on the next trip down the floor, got a steal on defense. Porter turned it into two more points on the other end.
Jernigan scored a game-high 21 points for Greene County, despite fouling out late in the game.
Williams highlighted he’s proud of his players’ effort but knows the job is done just quite yet.
“It was a good game. I’m proud of our girls and what we’ve accomplished, but the job is not done yet,” Williams said. “They know exactly what we’ve got ahead of us later this week.”
No. 4-seed Greene County will face No. 1-seed and rival Lake Oconee Academy in Thursday’s semifinals. The Lady Titans won both regular-season meetings with the Lady Tigers.
Regardless of the result on Thursday, Greene County will play on Friday in the region championship or consolation game, which determines what team is the No. 3 and No. 4 seeds.
Williams stated his players are “relaxed” headed into the final two games of the region tournament.
“After the game on Tuesday, they told me that we have more work to do. I don’t think I would’ve gotten that (kind of response) out of my girls last year,” Williams said. “We were young and a little immature, but this year, they know we still have goals we want to accomplish.”