Greenfield makes 5th straight trip to NCISAA 1-A semis, whips CCS
A quarterfinal at Greenfield.. The Cyclones lost 82-61. Jimmy Lewis | Times
By Jimmy Lewis Wilson Times
In the end, the Greenfield School varsity boys basketball team relied on its depth to get by crosstown foe Community Christian in the quarterfinals of the North Carolina Independent Schools Athletic Association 1-A playoffs Saturday afternoon.
While CCS came out in the early going and attempted to put its best foot forward with the combination of junior Khouri Carvey, sophomore Anthony Speight and senior Andrew Gattis, the six-player rotation of the Cyclones left it with little recourse once the minutes and mileage piled up.
By the second quarter, the long-range proficiency of Greenfield began to take hold in earnest. A seven-point lead after one quarter turned into a runaway before halftime, and the Knights were well on their way to booking their fifth straight trip to the NCISAA 1-A semifinals or better with an 82-61 victory.
Now 13-5 overall, Greenfield, the No. 2 seed in the East region, will host top West seed Charlotte Victory Christian (19-7) on Tuesday night for the right to play for a championship. The title game will be held at a campus site in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Greenfield took its adept 3-point shooting to another level against CCS, knocking down a season-high 14 shots from beyond the arc with a full roster back at its disposal following various instances of contact tracing over the last several games. CCS, the No. 3 seed, had its season ended at 8-5 after reaching the quarterfinal round for just the second time in school history.
Among those key catalysts were sophomore Bryson Wall and freshman Drew Pittman. Pittman was 3 for 5 from long range, while Wall went 3 for 4. Greenfield launched more 3-pointers (38) than 2-point attempts and finished 33 for 72 for 45.8% accuracy.
“We’ve got some guys that can shoot the ball,” Greenfield head coach Rob Salter said. “And it’s good for them to believe. We put in a lot of work, and I tell them, get in a rhythm and shoot it. And they came in tonight and started doing that.”
Junior Aaron Murphy led Greenfield with 19 points and six rebounds, while freshman Hampton Evans collected 13 points and six boards.
The Cyclones of the Mid-Carolina Conference were competitive in the opening quarter, leading as late as 14-13 on a pair of Speight free throws. But the dynamic guard would be assessed his second personal foul shortly before those tosses, and prior to the end of the first quarter, was in dire straits. In transition, Greenfield sophomore guard TyChaun Clay pushed the ball up the floor and got Speight to commit his third personal in the final minute of the period. Evans supplied a putback to make it 24-17 Greenfield after one quarter.
With three personals, Speight was limited defensively and could not be subbed for given the thin bench of the Cyclones. Clay plucked it from Speight early in the second quarter, and the CCS guard had no choice but to let him go as Clay laid it in for a 28-17 cushion. The Knights would go on to make six more 3-pointers in the second quarter to race to a commanding 56-32 lead at the half.
Key for Greenfield in the first half defensively was not letting Gattis of CCS get into any semblance of a shooting rhythm from 3-point territory, thanks to the defense of senior guard Justin Holland. Gattis didn’t attempt a long-range effort until the second quarter and his four treys in the second half didn’t come until the outcome was well in hand for Greenfield.
Speight had 23 points for CCS, while the lengthy Carvey still made his presence felt inside with a double-double of 18 points and 13 rebounds. Greenfield’s lead reached as many as 31 to close the third quarter.
“It was a good experience,” CCS head coach Roland Loftin said. “Obviously, they were the superior team, a well-coached team. And I wish them the best — I hope they win it. They wore us down. They’ve got a great coaching staff, so they do what great coaching staffs do. They wore us down, we were tired and we were making terrible mistakes.”
Of course, Loftin has good reason to root for Greenfield the rest of the way with Clay, his stepson, a mainstay in the Knights lineup.
“We ate breakfast this morning and it’s just going to be back to normal,” Loftin said. “I’m back to being a Greenfield fan.”
As for Clay, Greenfield’s fifth straight trip to a 1-A semifinal is simply more receipts in the world of Twitter.
“Nobody wants to see us win but us,” Clay said. “That’s what we’ve got to keep in our head. That’s something to keep us motivated. You see on all the social media how Greenfield isn’t supposed to be this far and such and such in the playoffs. Nobody wants to see us win but us in that locker room right there. We cherish that and go out there and fight every night.”
CCS (61)
Carvey 18, Speight 23, Gattis 12, Williams, Beamon 4, Harper 4.
GREENFIELD (82)
Murphy 19, Clay 9, Holland 6, Alston 5, Evans 13, Kirby 5, Peten, Edwards 7, Pittman 9, Wall 9, Watt.
Score by quarters:
CCS 17 15 10 19 — 61
Greenfield 24 32 17 9 — 82
A quarterfinal at Greenfield.. The Cyclones lost 82-61. Jimmy Lewis | Times
By Jimmy Lewis Wilson Times
In the end, the Greenfield School varsity boys basketball team relied on its depth to get by crosstown foe Community Christian in the quarterfinals of the North Carolina Independent Schools Athletic Association 1-A playoffs Saturday afternoon.
While CCS came out in the early going and attempted to put its best foot forward with the combination of junior Khouri Carvey, sophomore Anthony Speight and senior Andrew Gattis, the six-player rotation of the Cyclones left it with little recourse once the minutes and mileage piled up.
By the second quarter, the long-range proficiency of Greenfield began to take hold in earnest. A seven-point lead after one quarter turned into a runaway before halftime, and the Knights were well on their way to booking their fifth straight trip to the NCISAA 1-A semifinals or better with an 82-61 victory.
Now 13-5 overall, Greenfield, the No. 2 seed in the East region, will host top West seed Charlotte Victory Christian (19-7) on Tuesday night for the right to play for a championship. The title game will be held at a campus site in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Greenfield took its adept 3-point shooting to another level against CCS, knocking down a season-high 14 shots from beyond the arc with a full roster back at its disposal following various instances of contact tracing over the last several games. CCS, the No. 3 seed, had its season ended at 8-5 after reaching the quarterfinal round for just the second time in school history.
Among those key catalysts were sophomore Bryson Wall and freshman Drew Pittman. Pittman was 3 for 5 from long range, while Wall went 3 for 4. Greenfield launched more 3-pointers (38) than 2-point attempts and finished 33 for 72 for 45.8% accuracy.
“We’ve got some guys that can shoot the ball,” Greenfield head coach Rob Salter said. “And it’s good for them to believe. We put in a lot of work, and I tell them, get in a rhythm and shoot it. And they came in tonight and started doing that.”
Junior Aaron Murphy led Greenfield with 19 points and six rebounds, while freshman Hampton Evans collected 13 points and six boards.
The Cyclones of the Mid-Carolina Conference were competitive in the opening quarter, leading as late as 14-13 on a pair of Speight free throws. But the dynamic guard would be assessed his second personal foul shortly before those tosses, and prior to the end of the first quarter, was in dire straits. In transition, Greenfield sophomore guard TyChaun Clay pushed the ball up the floor and got Speight to commit his third personal in the final minute of the period. Evans supplied a putback to make it 24-17 Greenfield after one quarter.
With three personals, Speight was limited defensively and could not be subbed for given the thin bench of the Cyclones. Clay plucked it from Speight early in the second quarter, and the CCS guard had no choice but to let him go as Clay laid it in for a 28-17 cushion. The Knights would go on to make six more 3-pointers in the second quarter to race to a commanding 56-32 lead at the half.
Key for Greenfield in the first half defensively was not letting Gattis of CCS get into any semblance of a shooting rhythm from 3-point territory, thanks to the defense of senior guard Justin Holland. Gattis didn’t attempt a long-range effort until the second quarter and his four treys in the second half didn’t come until the outcome was well in hand for Greenfield.
Speight had 23 points for CCS, while the lengthy Carvey still made his presence felt inside with a double-double of 18 points and 13 rebounds. Greenfield’s lead reached as many as 31 to close the third quarter.
“It was a good experience,” CCS head coach Roland Loftin said. “Obviously, they were the superior team, a well-coached team. And I wish them the best — I hope they win it. They wore us down. They’ve got a great coaching staff, so they do what great coaching staffs do. They wore us down, we were tired and we were making terrible mistakes.”
Of course, Loftin has good reason to root for Greenfield the rest of the way with Clay, his stepson, a mainstay in the Knights lineup.
“We ate breakfast this morning and it’s just going to be back to normal,” Loftin said. “I’m back to being a Greenfield fan.”
As for Clay, Greenfield’s fifth straight trip to a 1-A semifinal is simply more receipts in the world of Twitter.
“Nobody wants to see us win but us,” Clay said. “That’s what we’ve got to keep in our head. That’s something to keep us motivated. You see on all the social media how Greenfield isn’t supposed to be this far and such and such in the playoffs. Nobody wants to see us win but us in that locker room right there. We cherish that and go out there and fight every night.”
CCS (61)
Carvey 18, Speight 23, Gattis 12, Williams, Beamon 4, Harper 4.
GREENFIELD (82)
Murphy 19, Clay 9, Holland 6, Alston 5, Evans 13, Kirby 5, Peten, Edwards 7, Pittman 9, Wall 9, Watt.
Score by quarters:
CCS 17 15 10 19 — 61
Greenfield 24 32 17 9 — 82
