Rangers fall in OT, Lady Rangers dominate Lady Rebs
Published 12:16 am Wednesday, February 9, 2022
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Star Photo/Gracie Fields Unaka's Joseph Slagle lines up a trey from the corner.
Star Photo/Gracie Fields Gavin Seigfried drives past a South Greene defender.
Star Photo/Gracie Fields Kiki Forney scans for an open teammate in Unaka's contest against South Greene.
Star Photo/Gracie Fields Lyndie Ramsey works the basketball into the front court for the Lady Rangers.
Star Photo/Gracie Fields Macy Ensor prepares to fire up a shot for the Lady Rangers.
Star Photo/Gracie Fields Mailey Guy looks for a teammate to pass the basketball to.
Star Photo/Gracie Fields Lady Ranger Tara Whitehead runs down a loose basketball.
Star Photo/Gracie Fields Ryan Sexton looks to find a teammate on the inside of the South Greene defense.
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BY ALLEN LAMOUNTAIN
STAR CORRESPONDENT
Lately 32 minutes of playing time isn’t quite enough for the Unaka Rangers. The Rangers played in their third overtime game over the last few weeks, but fell to the South Greene Rebels 71-65 on Tuesday night at Snavely Gymnasium.
Meanwhile, Senior guard Macy Ensor dropped in six trey’s for the Lady Rangers and they held off a torrid South Greene rally to hold on for a 74-66 win.
Senior guard Joseph Slagle connected on seven three-pointers – including one in the overtime period to close Unaka to 66-65 with 1:36 remaining in the overtime period. South Greene finished the game on a five-point run from the free throw line for the win.
“Seems like in these overtime games we have had you have to be sound enough to make the smart plays because everything is magnified,” Rangers head coach Aaron Dugger said. “Every possession is big and these kids are learning. South Greene is a team that is always tough and it doesn’t matter if they graduated five starters, next year they are coming back. That’s why we schedule them.”
Unaka (10-15 overall) trailed 19-14 after one period but with Slagle hitting his second trey and senior guard Joe-Z Blamo playing ‘mister inside’ he dropped in seven of his nine first half points as the Rangers grabbed a 33-31 halftime lead.
Senior post Luke Myers scored 14 of his team-leading 20 points in the second half and overtime and was a force in the paint with 11 rebounds for the Rebels. Unaka led 54-46 going into the fourth quarter as Slagle hit three trey’s in the stanza and the Rangers looked like a good bet for a win.
With the clock winding down the Rebels got a deuce from Myers and a trey from Cooper Kelly to pull to within 59-57 with 4:31 left in regulation.
Post Hayden Hartman drilled a three-pointer to give South Greene a 60-59 lead but Unaka’s Ryan Sexton hit a free throw to tie the game. The rest of the 1:59 was futility for both sides as no one could score forcing the overtime session.
Blamo scored on a dribble drive for a 62-60 Unaka lead but that was his last point of the game finishing with a game-high 21 points. After a six-point Rebel run, Slagle hit his last trey to make it a 66-65 game.
GIRLS
Unaka ………… 74
South Greene .. 66
The Lady Rangers (21-5 overall) led this one from the jump with Ensor scoring 15 of her 19 points in the first half as Unaka took a 17-13 first period lead and extended to a 37-28 halftime advantage.
“Macy has been working on her shooting in the gym,” Lady Rangers head coach Kenneth Chambers said. “When you are a shooter you take a lot of shots in practice and she has been working hard and stepped up tonight. South Greene has a good team and they have had some players leave and others step in.
“We had a game last night so we may have been a little tired near the end, but we have different kids step up every night. Julie Simerly does a good job handling the ball and running the offense, Tara Whitehead gives good effort and Kiki Forney is very consistent.”
Junior Lyndie Ramsey scored a game-high 27 points on 9-of-15 from the floor (60 percent) including a pair of first quarter trey’s. She also finished 6-of-7 from the line, collected 13 rebounds and had three steals.
For South Greene Emma Cutshall scored a team-high 19 points with Haley Susong adding 15.
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GIRLS
Unaka 74-66
South Greene (66)
Henley 8, Brooks 10, Cutshall 19, Mullins 4, Susong 15, Rader 10.
Unaka (74)
Simerly 2, Ramsey 27, Whitehead 2, Forney 16, Ensor 19, Guy 8.
South Greene .. 13 15 10 26 – 66
Unaka ………… 17 20 15 22 – 74
3-point goals : SG 8 (Susong 5, Cutshall 2, Hensley). U 11 (Ensor 6, Ramsey 3, Forney 2).
BOYS
South Greene 71-65
South Greene (71)
Lamb 10, Buckner 5, Fillers 11, Myers 20, Hartman 16, Roderick 3, Kelly 6.
Unaka (65)
Slagle 24, Lydick 4, Sexton 1, Seigfried 3, Blamo 21, Ramsey 12.
South Greene … 19 12 14 15 11 – 71
Unaka ………….. 14 19 21 6 5 – 65
3-point goals : SG 6 (Buckner, Lamb, Hartman, Roderick, Kelly 2). U 8 (Slagle 7, Seigfried).
