Vikings latest to fall in ’Jackets’ 14A run

Posted: Wednesday, December 19, 2012 12:00 pm

By RANDY CAVIN
Press Sports
A big sweep for Greenfield over Humboldt kept the boys undefeated and the girls near the top in District 14A.
The Yellowjackets turned a 10-point second half deficit into a 12-point 57-45 win thanks to a 17-point run. The ’Jackets improved to 9-0 on the season and 5-0 in the district with the win.
The Lady Yellowjackets, meanwhile, kept the Lady Vikings (0-9, 0-5) winless on the season with their 44-31 win. Greenfield used a 13-2 run in the second period to put some distance between them and Humboldt to come out with the win and improve to 4-1 in the district.
Both teams will be tested this week before the Christmas break begins. Greenfield will play McKenzie and Union City at home before wrapping up the week at Westview on Friday.
G’field 44, H’boldt 31 (G)
Alle Dees sparked a 13-2 run in second period on her 3-pointer with the Lady ’Jackets leading 10-8 as Greenfield (7-2) went in the halftime break leading 32-12. Greenfield went through a scoring drought that lasted more than eight minutes.
“We had two stretches where we did not score, one in the first period and one in the third,” Lady Yellowjackets head coach Willie Trevathan said. “Fortunately we were able to break out both times with some big shots.”
McCall Scates got Greenfield going in the third period when she hit the back end of a pair of free throws. The Lady ’Jackets went on an 11-point run from that point after being held scoreless the first two minutes of the period.
Trevathan credited the Lady Vikings for giving his team problems with scoring during those two scoreless streaks.
“Humboldt is big and physical,” he said. “They create a lot of problems with their athletic ability, and that is always the case with them.”
Humboldt showed its youth by committing 23 turnovers in the game while the more experienced Lady ’Jackets only turned the ball over 12 times.
No Greenfield player scored above nine points in the game, but the Lady ’Jackets spread the wealth around with eight players scoring.
Ashton Pence led Greenfield with nine points, all on three 3-pointers. Brittany Peoples scored eight, while Shaynece Clemons and Scates each scored six.
Greenfield led 10-4 after one, 23-12 at the break and 34-19 after three periods of play. Greenfield will try to move into a first place tie in the district with Union City tonight when the Lady ’Jackets host the Lady Tornadoes tonight.
G’field 57, H’boldt 45 (B)
The Yellowjackets found themselves down by 10 points after Humboldt’s Dylan Ballard scored with 50 seconds to play in the third period. But Zac Grooms hit a jumper with 15 seconds left, and Greenfield went on a 17-point run to shock the Vikings (6-4, 1-4) at Humboldt.
The ’Jackets took five minutes off of the clock during that run and outscored the Vikings 30-8 in the last 8:15 of the game. Jeremy Lannnom gave Greenfield a 38-37 lead on his basket under the rim with 5:24 to play in the game.
Humboldt called a timeout after Lannom’s basket and changed up its defense from a zone to a man-to-man defense and began trapping Greenfield. That did not stop the ’Jackets and played more into their style of basketball.
“When they switched to the man defense from the zone, they played right into our hands,” Greenfield head coach Peter Angelos said. “Their zone gave us problems until we were able to start penetrating it making our shots. They switched up, but that did not slow us down.”
Tony Robinson scored a game-high 21 for Greenfield after he got off to a slow start. He scored 13 points in the final period with eight coming at the free throw line. Robinson used his quickness to slice through the man-to-man defense and draw some fouls.
Hunter Crouse scored eight of his 13 points in final period with his final two coming on a layup with 20 seconds remaining to give Greenfield a 12-point lead.
Greenfield tied the game at 11-11 with 6:07 to play in the first half on a basket under the rim by Crouse. Then the Vikings went on an eight-point run that took four minutes off the clock before Tyler Griffin ended it with his jumper. Robinson hit a 3-pointer with two seconds remaining on the clock to make it a 23-17 game at the half.
Humboldt went on a six-point run with 2:30 left in the third period on some easy baskets to give them a 10-point lead before the Yellowjackets turned the game around on their 17-point run to stun the Vikings.
“This was a great win for our guys,” Angelos said. “This is the kind of win that shows what we are made of and capable of doing.” Published in The WCP 12.18.12