North Greene wins two at Cloudland
Published 9:07 am Wednesday, February 1, 2023
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Star Photo/CY Peters Cloudland's Ella Benfield (11) goes for a rebound.
Star Photo/CY Peters Ryan Turbyfill (23) of Cloudland drives for a fast break layup.
Star Photo/CY Peters Cloudland's Izabella Christman (32) goes for two of her eight points.
Star Photo/CY Peters Ella Benfield (11) of Cloudland drives to the basket for two against North Greene.
Star Photo/CY Peters A Cloudland player tries to make a save against North Greene.
Star Photo/CY Peters Eli Morgan (2) shoots a mid-range jumper against North Greene.
Star Photo/CY Peters Cloudland Coach Spencer Nave has a discussion with a referee right before halftime.
Star Photo/CY Peters A Cloudland player guards a North Greene on the floor.
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BY C.Y. Peters
Star Correspondent
A packed house was in Roan Mountain on Tuesday night to watch their Highlanders play host to the North Greene Huskies. A number one seed in the District tournament was on the line and this one would come down to the wire. The Lady Landers had cut the once eight-point lead down to three with 14 seconds left to play in the game when it looked like the tough defense was about to get a five-second call on a throw-in. As two whistles sounded close together, the back official gave the Huskies a time-out and control of the ball. It was a tough call; the Landers had to foul, North Greene hit the free throws and went on to win 40-38. “That equals the league back out said, Coach Matt Birchfield.” Both Cloudland and Hampton have one loss and the Huskies have two, with several conference games left to play.
Cloudland could never gain the lead. Eight times in the first half, they were down by one in a low-scoring half, 17-14. North Greene would pull out to a big lead at the end of the third, 28-21. But the never stop Landers battled back and were down one with .04 seconds to go. Sanders hit a free throw for a 40-38 win. Ella Benfield led the Landers with 15 points, Izabella Christman finished with eight, Sonya Wagner led North Greene with 12 and Grace Buchanan scored ten.
“We couldn’t get our offense going, said Birchfield; they played really well and you can play behind against North Greene; they will stall the ball on you.”
In the boy’s game, North Greene came out hitting everything they threw up and, by the half, had built a 33-17 lead. Coach Nave’s Landers wasn’t ready to quit. Threes and some tough defense battled Cloudland back to within four, 33-29, scoring 12 unanswered points. Twice they had chances to cut the lead or even take the lead but back-to-back offensive fouls kept giving the Huskies the ball back. The final quarter would belong to the visiting team, as the Huskies would go on to win 57-42. Eli Morgan and Ryan Sexton led Cloudland with 16 and 14. Jason Britton led North Greene with 22.
Cloudland: 9 9 13 11 -42
North Greene 11 22 4 20 -57
Cloudland Sexton 14, Morgan 16, Caraway 5, N. Caraway 2, McKinney 5
North Greene English 5, Davenport 2, May 10, McClain 9, Malone 9, Britton 22
