’Jackets bounce back to knock out Twisters

Posted: Friday, December 21, 2012 12:00 pm

By MIKE HUTCHENS
Press Sports
The disappointment and self-described “hangover” from Greenfield’s first loss didn’t last long.
One night after their perfect season to-date was spoiled by McKenzie, the Yellowjackets rebounded to beat Union City 58-48 Tuesday night to take over sole possession of first place in District 14A.
Tony Robinson poured in a game-high 28 points — including five 3-pointers — as Greenfield (9-1, 6-0) weathered a 10-0 start by the Golden Tornadoes to immediately rid itself of the bad taste left from a six-point setback vs. McKenzie on Monday.
The ’Jackets have now beaten perennial league favorites UC, Humboldt and Lake County in establishing themselves among the upper echelon in the widely-heralded district this season.
“We have three senior starters back from last year, and we’re just not going to panic,” G’field head coach Pete Angelos said after Tuesday’s comeback triumph.
“Take nothing away from McKenzie because they’ve got a good team, but I thought some of our slow start against Union City may’ve been a hangover from the night before. I was just happy that we were able to wipe the slate clean from that game.”
The Greenfield girls were not a part of the feel-good story from Tuesday after dropping a 42-26 decision to the league-leading Tornadoes.
The Lady ’Jackets made just three field goals over the span of the first three quarters against a rugged UC defense that contested virtually every pass and every shot and failed to score at all in the third period when the visiting Twister girls scored 11 unanswered points to break open a four-point game.
“We just have to make more shots,” Greenfield head coach Willie Trevathan said of his squad. “The big thing is, we’ve done that against teams who are similar to us or who we’re better than. Against teams more athletic or bigger — like Union City — we panic and don’t.
“It’s the same ball and the same rim. We just don’t play with the same basketball intelligence against everybody. The majority of that is a maturity issue. We’ve got to keep from having those mental breakdowns.”
Greenfield plays at Weakley County rival Westview tonight before taking an extended Christmas break until Jan. 4 when it plays at South Fulton in a makeup game.
The ’Jackets’ contest vs. Gibson County — originally slated for Jan. 3 — has been moved to Jan. 5.
Greenfield 58, UC 48 (B)
A game-opening 3-pointer by Marcus DeBerry and a hoop by LaMonte Dickerson bucket that capped a 10-0 Union City run put G’field in an immediate hole.
The Yellowjackets were undaunted, though, and outscored the visitors 32-15 over the middle two quarters to take a 41-31 lead into the stretch run.
Robinson’s triple and a bucket inside by Tyler Hoke drew Greenfield even at 25 late in the first half before a surge of 10 straight points just after the intermission break put the ’Jackets up for good.
Robinson sank another trey to give Greenfield its first lead at 30-29 with 6:35 showing in the stanza before Hoak and Jeremy Lannon then scored from the paint. An inbounds pass theft and subsequent 3-pointer by the fearless Robinson capped the aforementioned flurry.
Hunter Crouse twice gave Greenfield its biggest lead of the night twice (11 points) in the fourth quarter — the first time with an old-fashioned 3-point play, the second via a deuce with 2:26 showing.
Crouse joined Robinson in double digits with 10 points while both Lannom (9) and Hoke (6) provided the victors with a solid inside presence.
“We’ve got more size this year than we’ve had in a while and that really helps us on the glass,” Angelos said.
Union City (7-3, 5-1), which suffered its first district loss, got 11 points from Malik Stockdale and 10 from Donte Simpson.
UC 42, Greenfield 26 (G)
The Lady ’Jackets (8-3, 4-2) simply could not overcome their offensive futility against the bigger and more physical UC girls.
Countless missed shots and multiple turnovers by both teams dominated the first half that produced just 10 field goals combined by both clubs.
Brittany Peoples’ 3-pointer at 5:47 of the second stanza gave Greenfield its last lead at 7-6. A Rachel Roberts triple in the latter stages of the half got the Yellowjackets within 11-10, but the home team never led over the last 21 minutes.
Union City got a nice lift off the bench from sophomore Kieesha Alexander who scored 10 points, and a pair of Raven Fair 3-pointers in the third quarter highlighted the Twisters’ run of 11 straight points that expanded a slim halftime lead to 26-10.
Tory Reedy scored 12 of her game-high 13 points in the fourth period for UC — including a pair of trifectas and 6-for-6 at the free throw line.
Sophomore Shaynece Clemons provided G’field with its only offensive highlights, ending up with a team-high eight markers in a reserve role.
Published in The WCP 12.20.12