Lady ’Jackets shoot down Halls’ season

By KEVIN WEAKS
Press Sports
Greenfield spent the first half getting comfortably ahead of Halls. The Lady Yellowjackets then used the third period to put their visitors away — three points at a time.
Getting 3-point baskets from Ashton Pence, Brittany Peoples and Rachel Roberts in the first 91 seconds of the third frame, Greenfield blew out to a 22-point lead on the way to a relatively easy 66-32 triumph in the first round of the District 14A Tournament Monday night at the ’Jacket gym.
Now 16-9, the Lady Yellowjackets are guaranteed three more postseason games, beginning Thursday night against Union City in the semifinals. Tip-off from South Fulton will be 6 p.m.
Union City, the No. 1-ranked team in Class A for the fifth straight week and a 49-21 winner over Trenton on Monday, claimed two wins over Greenfield on the way to a perfect 14-0 league slate in the regular season.
Having missed out on the regional party last year with a first-round loss in the district, Greenfield head coach Willie Trevathan is glad to be moving on but is not satisfied with merely advancing.
“You want to win them all,” he said. “The next two are important because you want to get the best seed you can, but the real deal begins next week (Region 7A Tournament). We’re excited to get that chance. We didn’t get to go last year. It’s something you appreciate more when you miss out on it for a year.”
There was no missing out this year.
After a close first period, where Greenfield never trailed but never could pull away, the score widened to double digits in the second. By the 6:29 mark of the third, it was all over.
“We knew, being up 16 at the half, that we were in good shape, but we wanted to get it over with as quickly as we could,” Trevathan said. “We didn’t want to go to sleep and let them hit a few shots to make a game of it. Our kids maintained their focus and were able to push the game out, so I was pleased with that.”
The three treys to open the third period helped push Greenfield’s lead from 32-16 at intermission to 41-19.
Greenfield then began to attack the basket to stretch the margin even more. Chasity McMullen took a feed from Peoples underneath for a layup, followed by drives from Peoples and Kalee Kesterson.
McCall Scates took a steal the other way for a layup, and then Alle Dees capped off the flurry of points at 3:17, fittingly, with a trifecta for a 54-21 advantage.
The running clock started near the midway point of the fourth on a triple by Kinlee Moore that put Greenfield ahead 66-29.
Greenfield’s hot shooting after intermission was in contrast to the first half, where the team struggled to a 16-10 lead after one period before finally pulling out to a double-digit lead in the second.
Kesterson and McMullen opened the game with back-to-back baskets off Halls’ turnovers, and then Peoples bottomed a turnaround jumper off a steal for a 6-0 advantage at 6:14.
Kristin Davis kept the Lady Tigers in the game, scoring to make it 13-10 with 40 ticks left in the period, but Dees hit a 3-pointer from the left corner to close the period.
Another triple by Dees gave Greenfield a 23-14 lead in the second frame, and Roberts’ 18-footer with 6.7 seconds remaining in the quarter put the difference at 32-16 at the half.
“We weren’t making any shots early,” Trevathan said. “They were packing it inside and daring some of our players to shoot it.”
Peoples finished with 19 points, and Kesterson added 13 for Greenfield. Davis led Halls with 17. Published in The WCP 2.12.13

Print