Greenfield gains edge over rival Dresden

Posted: Wednesday, February 6, 2013 12:00 pm

By RANDY CAVIN
Press Sports
A possible regional preview between a pair of Weakley County rivals went Greenfield’s way.
The Lady Yellowjackets got a big 50-37 win over the Dresden girls behind some big 3-point shooting from Rachel Roberts, while the Greenfield boys snapped the Lions’ three-game winning streak and ended a two-game skid of their own with a 52-45 win.
It was a much-needed win for the Lady ’Jackets, who improve to 14-9 on the season after a pair of losses last week. The Lady Lions, who had been riding high on a nine-game winning streak, are now 18-5 on the season.
It was Roberts who provided the spark on offense whenever the Lady ’Jackets needed a big basket. Roberts hit four 3-pointers and scored 14 points in the game.
“Rachel is coming into her own right now,” Greenfield head coach Willie Trevathan said. “She made some big baskets for us when we needed them.”
Tyler Griffin made a big difference with the ailing Hunter Crouse on the bench, scoring 13 points and hitting three triples for Greenfield in the second game.
“I knew it was not going to be easy with Hunter being out,” Greenfield head coach Peter Angelos said. “Griffin played really well for us tonight.”
Greenfield improves its record to 15-7, while Dresden now sits at 14-8.
Dresden will wrap up its season tonight at Carroll Academy, where the Lady Lions can win the District 13A regular season title. Greenfield finishes its season at home on Thursday against McKenzie.
G’field 50, Dresden 37 (G)
Roberts hit back-to-back 3-pointers to break a tie game early in the first period, and the Lady ’Jackets went on a 10-point run from there to lead 12-2 before Carrie Hatchel and Amy McAlpin each scored to cut the lead in half.
Greenfield’s Ashton Pence pushed the lead back to nine on a 3-pointer to start the second period. Dresden then went on a 10-point run with Hatchel hitting a 3-pointer and a foul shot to tie the game at 15 with 3:50 to play in the half.
Hatchel scored six points in the first half, but they were not easy to come by with Kalee Kesterson guarding her the entire half.
“Kalee did a fine job for us tonight by guarding Hatchel,” Trevathan said. “Hatchel is a tough player to guard.”
Hatchel finished with 12 points on the night to lead Dresden in scoring.
Greenfield retook the lead on a triple by Brittany Peoples. Kesterson followed Peoples up with a drive to basket, and Peoples converted a 3-point play to give the Lady ’Jackets a 23-17 halftime lead.
Kesterson and Roberts hit a 3-pointer in the early going of the third period with Dresden’s Ashlee Garner converting a 3-point play sandwiched in between Kesterson’s and Roberts’ shots.
Garner scored the first eight points for the Lady Lions in the second half with Hatchel hitting a jumper to make it a 31-27 game with just over 2:30 to play in the period.
Roberts made it an 11-point game about two minutes into the final period on a pair of shots from the line after a Dresden player on the bench was called for a technical.
Dresden got to within five on six consecutive free throws with Hatchel making four and McAlpin hitting two. McAlpin had to sit out the last three minutes of the third period after she picked up her fourth foul but came back at the start of the final period and finished with 11 points.
Greenfield put the game out of reach with a seven-point run capped off by Roberts’ last 3-pointer of the game.
Peoples scored a game-high 18 points while Kesterson scored nine.
G’field 52, Dresden 45 (B)
The ’Jackets continued with what the Lady ’Jackets were doing in the opener by draining 3-pointers to break out into an early lead over the Lions.
Griffin made a triple with Zac Grooms hitting one shortly afterwards to give Greenfield a 12-6 lead with 2:10 to play in the first period.
Dresden’s Austin Daniel got the Lions to within a basket after he made a pair of free throws and a shot under the rim. Greenfield closed out the period on a Tyler Hoke basket and a Griffin 3-pointer to lead 17-11 after one.
The Lions and ’Jackets went on a basket exchange program in the second the period with Austin Maxey and Daniel six points each in the period. Tony Robinson scored seven of his 17 points in 1:48 of the second period to help Greenfield go into the break with a 33-25 lead.
A low-scoring third period saw Greenfield maintain its lead with a 9-6 scoring period to lead 42-31 going into the fourth.
Dresden went on an 8-2 scoring run to pull to within seven with just over four minutes to play, but Greenfield pushed the lead back up to nine on a Griffin basket. The ’Jackets hit 4-of-8 shots from the line down the stretch to seal the win. Published in The WCP 2.5.13