By KEVIN WEAKS
Press Sports
Greenfield closed out its District 14A schedule on a sour note. The Yellowjackets now hope the finish to their regular season has a sweeter taste.
Both Greenfield teams lost at Union City on Friday night, bringing an end to the league slate with the girls now 13-9 overall and 8-2 in the district and the boys 14-7 and 9-5.
The Lady Yellowjackets could not maintain a quick start and had trouble scoring consistently in a 64-37 to the state’s No. 1-ranked Class A girls’ team.
Greenfield did not have any players in double figures, hit only 16 field goals total (only two 3-pointers) and managed just 2-of-6 free throws.
The Black and Orange boys, meanwhile, struggled offensively against UC’s pressing, overplaying defense without point guard Hunter Crouse in a 70-52 loss.
Greenfield committed 20 turnovers while hitting 21-of-42 field goals, only 2-of-10 on triples.
The ’Jackets, who have now lost their last two girls’ games and four of the last six boys’ contests, will finish the regular season Thursday at McKenzie.
UC 64, Greenfield 37 (G)
Greenfield forced turnovers on UC’s first two possessions, resulting in a transition layup by Rachel Roberts and a drive into the lane by Brittany Peoples.
Alle Dees hit a 3-pointer at 3:26 for a 9-6 Lady Yellowjacket advantage, but that proved to be the last stand for the visitors as UC’s Tory Reedy knocked down three triples in the quarter to help her team to an 18-11 at the break.
“Early on, we were playing hard and got off to a good start, but we weren’t able to sustain it,” Greenfield head coach Willie Trevathan. “There were some little errors on the defensive side of the ball, and Tory got hot making some shots. We got behind, and playing behind Union City is tough. They’re a good team.”
Peoples finished the half with five points, but Greenfield struggled with Union City’s active halfcourt zone in falling behind 32-16 at the half.
A 12-4 run pulled the Lady ’Jackets within 36-28 at 3:02 of the third frame, but a flurry of points by Union City to close the half all but put the game away as Lady Tornadoes led 44-38 at the break.
“We had a good third quarter up until about the last minute,” Trevathan said. “We had a couple of defensive breakdowns. We had challenged ourselves to make a game out of it, and we did that for the most part. We probably ran out of gas there in the fourth quarter.”
Peoples, Kalee Kesterson and Ashton Pence all scored eight points for Greenfield.
UC 70, Greenfield 52 (B)
Missing Crouse to a high ankle sprain, Greenfield suffered eight turnovers in the first quarter and 13 in the half but still trailed just 18-12 after the opening period before falling behind 37-24 at intermission.
“They could afford to be more aggressive because,” Yellowjacket head man Peter Angelos said. “Hunter Crouse is a very good point guard, but unfortunately, he wasn’t able to go. I told my guys that when people find out that he’s not out there, they’re going to press a lot, and Union City did.”
Tyler Hoke had 11 points for Greenfield in the first half, but it was not enough to keep up with UC’s balanced scoring attack. Marcus DeBerry scored 12 points, hitting a pair of treys, and Khiry Lewis added 10 points.
Union City then put the game away with an 8-0 start to the fourth quarter, leading by as many as 22 points in the final quarter. Greenfield kept battling, though, and was as close as 14 (60-46) midway through the fourth.
Hoke finished with 23 points, and Tony Robinson added 15 for Greenfield.
Published in The WCP 2.5.13