’Jackets play to very end for 3rd slot
’Jackets play to very end for 3rd slot Posted: Wednesday, February 22, 2012 1:10 pm
Press Sports Though Greenfield ultimately went under against seventh-ranked Lake County, the Yellowjackets certainly weren’t in over their heads. G’field led by as many as seven points before intermission and for most of the first half before falling to the top-seeded Falcons 62-53 in the District 14A semifinals Friday night at Trenton Peabody High School. Tony Robinson lit up LC with three 3-pointers and 15 points over the first two quarters and Heath Crouse finished with a game-high 20 markers, but the reigning Class 1A state champion Falcons tightened their defensive grip over the final 16 minutes and took the lead for good with a run of seven straight points that broke a 35-all deadlock in the third period. “I’m really proud of how we played and our effort against a very good basketball team,” Greenfield skipper Pete Angelos said after Friday’s game. The ’Jackets then used a free throw with no time on the clock to beat Union City 50-49 in Saturday’s consolation game. The weekend results left GHS with a 15-12 record and in the role of road team for Friday’s first round Region 7A Tournament game. Greenfield will play at Clarksburg in one of four quarterfinals after the Rockets lost to Dresden in Monday’s District 13A championship game. Friday’s winners will then move on to the regional semis on Monday — those contests to be played at Trenton. LC 62, G’field 53 (Fri.) Crouse and Robinson combined for all but the ’Jackets’ 17 first-quarter points, including a streak of 11 straight that gave Greenfield a 17-15 lead after Lake County had scored 10 in a row and had led 15-6. Crouse dialed up long distance twice and Robinson hit once from beyond the 3-point circle to highlight the G’field surge before Jeremy Lannon’s stickback bucket put the Weakley Countians up at the first-quarter horn. Robinson buried back-to-back bombs and then converted a steal into a deuce for his own personal flurry of eight straight points to give Greenfield its biggest lead of the night at 30-23 with 1:42 to go before the half. That was enough time for Lake County to pull even, though, the Falcons doing so when Zay Coleman went end-to-end and finished with a layup at the halftime horn to make it 30-all. Alex Roberts hit a 3-pointer to forge a 35-all deadlock in the early stages of the third period, but that was to be the last time the Yellowjackets were either even or ahead. While Lake County was scoring seven unanswered markers, G’field hit just one field goal the remainder of the period and trailed 45-38 with eight minutes to play. Twice down by double figures, the ’Jackets made one final push — getting as close as 50-45 with 3:31 showing after Hunter Crouse made two free throws for his only points of the night. The battle-tested Falcons held their ground, though, with Rafael Tyler and Stetson Swift converting transition buckets over the next 90 seconds after a Swift free throw to rebuild the lead to 10 at the two-minute mark. “I thought Lake County picked it up in the second half with the man defense, and I believe we got a little tired and a little leg-weary,” Angelos added. “That affected our shooting, I thought.” Tyler and Zay Coleman both scored 15 points for Lake County, which was without two suspended players — Derrick Swift and Devante Pearson. G’field 50, UC 49 (Sat.) Graham Perkins hit the second of two free throws with no time remaining to give the Yellowjackets a thrilling win that took every bit of 32 minutes to secure. Fouled by Peyton Mosley on a rebound when UC’s Marcus DeBerry missed a 3-pointer with time running out in a tie game, Perkins missed the first free throw but hit the second. The sudden end completed a wild slugfest where the two teams battled on even terms the first half before Greenfield took control in the third quarter — only to see the Golden Tornadoes furiously fight back in the fourth. The teams were knotted at 8-all after one period, and Greenfield led 18-16 at the half. The Yellowjackets then outscored UC 20-9 in the third for a 38-25 advantage. Published in The WCP 2.21.12
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