Knights dominate in playoff opener
The Greenfield School boys basketball team didn’t leave any room for suspense in its first game of the NCISAA 2-A playoffs Saturday, dispatching visiting Freedom Christian Academy 103-49.
The third-seeded Knights, who improved to 27-10 on the season, got an all-hands-on-deck performance as they set exactly the tone they wanted to begin the postseason.
“Our tempo and pace was as good as it’s been since the end of November,” said Greenfield head coach Rob Salter. “We really pushed the ball, we picked up tempo defensively. We worked on that that all week. We had to really get back to the basics this week. Our guys just came out, we shared the ball, we didn’t over dribble, I think we took three charges. We played with a lot of energy. I’m very proud of the guys.”
Cole Evans led Greenfield with a season-high 27 points, knocking down nine 3-pointers.
“He was phenomenal, and our guys did a great job finding him,” Salter said. “Cole’s been a phenomenal shooter all year in practice. Sometimes in a game, his footwork speeds up. He was just in great rhythm. He ran the floor and got to the open spots.”
Hampton Evans added 15 points, Kyshon Atkinson notched 14, Matt Kirby posted 13 and Kobe Edwards chipped in 10.
“It was just good to have everybody back,” Salter said. “It was the first time we’ve had our whole team in about five weeks, probably. The strength of this team has been the depth. I think that showed. We know what the formula is to win, we’ve just got to carry it over and do it during the game.”
The Knights led 25-19 after one quarter, but found themselves ahead 58-36 at halftime as Freedom Christian (15-11) could not match the Knights’ pace.
“I knew they couldn’t keep up the pace,” Salter said. “They were trying to run with us, and then we started making shots. We can be very dangerous when we do that.”
It was Greenfield’s first game since an 81-56 loss to rival Wayne Country Day in the 2-A/3-A Coastal Plain Independents Conference championship game, and Salter said he was pleased with the Knights’ response to that defeat.
“We’ve had a very hard week of practice,” Salter said. “We went back to the basic fundamentals. We changed some things. The guys weren’t very happy after that game. I told them, ‘That’s over with, everybody’s 0-0, we can get hot and make a run too.’ We’ve shown that at times we can play at a state championship level. We’ve just got to do it one game at a time.”
Greenfield will take on sixth-seeded Fayetteville Academy, which defeated Harrells Christian 78-62 Saturday, on Tuesday with a 7 p.m. tip-off.
“They have great size and a lot of talent,” Salter said. “It’s going to be a tough task for us.”
The Greenfield School boys basketball team didn’t leave any room for suspense in its first game of the NCISAA 2-A playoffs Saturday, dispatching visiting Freedom Christian Academy 103-49.
The third-seeded Knights, who improved to 27-10 on the season, got an all-hands-on-deck performance as they set exactly the tone they wanted to begin the postseason.
“Our tempo and pace was as good as it’s been since the end of November,” said Greenfield head coach Rob Salter. “We really pushed the ball, we picked up tempo defensively. We worked on that that all week. We had to really get back to the basics this week. Our guys just came out, we shared the ball, we didn’t over dribble, I think we took three charges. We played with a lot of energy. I’m very proud of the guys.”
Cole Evans led Greenfield with a season-high 27 points, knocking down nine 3-pointers.
“He was phenomenal, and our guys did a great job finding him,” Salter said. “Cole’s been a phenomenal shooter all year in practice. Sometimes in a game, his footwork speeds up. He was just in great rhythm. He ran the floor and got to the open spots.”
Hampton Evans added 15 points, Kyshon Atkinson notched 14, Matt Kirby posted 13 and Kobe Edwards chipped in 10.
“It was just good to have everybody back,” Salter said. “It was the first time we’ve had our whole team in about five weeks, probably. The strength of this team has been the depth. I think that showed. We know what the formula is to win, we’ve just got to carry it over and do it during the game.”
The Knights led 25-19 after one quarter, but found themselves ahead 58-36 at halftime as Freedom Christian (15-11) could not match the Knights’ pace.
“I knew they couldn’t keep up the pace,” Salter said. “They were trying to run with us, and then we started making shots. We can be very dangerous when we do that.”
It was Greenfield’s first game since an 81-56 loss to rival Wayne Country Day in the 2-A/3-A Coastal Plain Independents Conference championship game, and Salter said he was pleased with the Knights’ response to that defeat.
“We’ve had a very hard week of practice,” Salter said. “We went back to the basic fundamentals. We changed some things. The guys weren’t very happy after that game. I told them, ‘That’s over with, everybody’s 0-0, we can get hot and make a run too.’ We’ve shown that at times we can play at a state championship level. We’ve just got to do it one game at a time.”
Greenfield will take on sixth-seeded Fayetteville Academy, which defeated Harrells Christian 78-62 Saturday, on Tuesday with a 7 p.m. tip-off.
“They have great size and a lot of talent,” Salter said. “It’s going to be a tough task for us.”
