Depth, rebounding leads Knights past rival Chargers
By Andrew Schnittker
aschnittker@wilsontimes.com
Behind a red-hot second quarter and deep, balanced attack, the Greenfield School boys basketball team picked up a huge NCISAA 2-A/3-A Coastal Plain Independents Conference win Tuesday evening, knocking off visiting rival Wayne Country Day 84-77.
The Knights, the third-ranked team among MaxPrep’s NCISAA 2-A rankings, improved to 19-5 overall and 4-0 in CPIC play with their fifth straight win. Greenfield’s ability to work the ball through and around the paint for 3-point shots, force turnovers and get out in transition and pull down rebounds at both ends of the court proved to be too much for the Chargers (18-3, 3-1), the second-ranked team, to handle.
“I just thought offensively, we were really unselfish, but we attacked,” said Greenfield head coach Rob Salter. “We were really good in transition. I thought Matt (Kirby) and Kobe (Edwards) were in constant attack mode all night. Matt was phenomenal tonight. I thought we made a lot of hustle plays. I just thought we did the intangible plays we needed to to win. … I knew it would be a battle all the way, and our guys showed a lot of toughness.”
The Knights led by four at halftime, pushed that to 14 with a strong third quarter and held off a late push from Wayne Country Day.
Greenfield’s depth proved to be a key factor as well, with seven players finding the score sheet. Hampton Evans led the way with 20 points, followed by Matt Kirby with 18, Nik Edwards with 15 and Kyshon Atkinson with 11.
“We’ve got guys coming off the bench just as good as the starting five, ready to come in off the bench and also play hard,” Kirby said.
Nayshin Waller led Wayne Country Day with 17 points, followed by Jordan Cooper with 16.
Salter did see room for improvement defensively.
“I thought we didn’t do a very good job in transition at times,” Salter said. “We could not keep Cooper out of the lane. They made some 3s. I think some of our guys kind of freaked out and forgot to get the help side because they were shading towards the shooters. But they’re a good team. Cooper’s been doing that to us for a long time. He’s electric in the open court in getting to the lane.”
The Knights jumped out to a 22-16 lead after one quarter, aided by a hot start from downtown as they knocked down four 3-pointers in the opening frame.
The Chargers started hot in the fourth quarter and took a four-point lead on a 3 and dunk from Waller, prompting Salter to call a timeout with 4:18 left in the half. Micah Sherrod buried a 3 to bring the Knights within one, and that sparked a 9-0 run that allowed the Knights to reclaim a 41-36 lead. Greenfield found itself ahead by four at the break.
The Knights took control in the third quarter, outscoring the Chargers 30-20 to take a 14-point lead into the fourth.
“I thought we really did a good job of getting in the paint,” Salter said. “That’s what we always say. Attack, get a foot in the paint, and good things will happen. I thought we did a good job of getting to the rim and finishing. I thought we did a good job of kicking it out when we needed to. We knew we were a little deeper than they are, so we wanted to put pressure on them most of the night. And then rebounding, when we got the rebounds in the second half, it led us to running and getting in transition.”
Nik Edwards helped the Knights extend their lead midway through the frame, dropping in 3s on back-to-back possessions to make it 55-48, and then a slick move to the basket through contact by Kirby, followed by a steal and layup by Sherrod, pushed it to nine with under four minutes left in the frame.
“I knew my team needed me to get some buckets to get going,” Kirby said.
The Knights depth began to tell on the Chargers as the third quarter went along, as, even with starters such as Evans, Kirby and Atkinson resting, the Knights continued to force turnovers with their pressure defense and attack in transition, as well as pull down offensive rebounds, pushing their lead into double digits.
“That’s what we want to do,” Salter said. “And Matt said it, we’ve got guys coming off the bench just as good as our starters. There’s lineups you just go with in certain games. Micah (Sherrod) comes off and he’s so athletic and can shoot the cover off the ball. Cole (Evans) has been electric from the 3-point line. Bryson (Wall) is just Mr. Everything, intangible for us, he doesn’t have to score to impact the game. We’ve got so many different pieces that help us win. They’re starting to really buy into their roles.”
After re-entering the game, Kirby ignited the crowd by draining a 3 at the third-quarter buzzer to put the Knights up 14 heading into the fourth.
“It felt good,” Kirby said. “We have a lot of confidence when we’re hitting shots.”
Some sloppy play from the Knights midway through the second quarter allowed Wayne Country Day to start to creep back in, but Greenfield’s lead didn’t dip below double digits until there were under four minutes to play, and never dipped below five (and that wasn’t until there was under a minute left). The Knights will host conference foe Epiphany on Friday.
“They were ranked No. 2 in 2-A, and we were ranked No. 3,” Salter said. “We’re battling for a conference title. They have a chance to win a state championship, just like we feel we do too. They’ve got a really good team. We’ll see them a couple more times, so we know it’s not going to be easy any of those times.”
Greenfield’s Kyshon Atkinson, who posted 11 points on the night, drives between two defenders during a home win over Wayne Country Day. Carl Copeland | Special to the Times
WAYNE COUNTRY DAY (77)
Waller 17, Cooper 16, Coles 11, Vazquez 9, Williams 9, Jones 7, Cogdell 6.
GREENFIELD (86)
Evans 20, Kirby 18, N. Edwards 15, Atkinson 11, Sherrod 9, K. Edwards 8, Adair 4.
Score by quarters:
WCD 16 22 20 19 — 77
GFS 21 21 30 14 — 86
By Andrew Schnittker
aschnittker@wilsontimes.com
Behind a red-hot second quarter and deep, balanced attack, the Greenfield School boys basketball team picked up a huge NCISAA 2-A/3-A Coastal Plain Independents Conference win Tuesday evening, knocking off visiting rival Wayne Country Day 84-77.
The Knights, the third-ranked team among MaxPrep’s NCISAA 2-A rankings, improved to 19-5 overall and 4-0 in CPIC play with their fifth straight win. Greenfield’s ability to work the ball through and around the paint for 3-point shots, force turnovers and get out in transition and pull down rebounds at both ends of the court proved to be too much for the Chargers (18-3, 3-1), the second-ranked team, to handle.
“I just thought offensively, we were really unselfish, but we attacked,” said Greenfield head coach Rob Salter. “We were really good in transition. I thought Matt (Kirby) and Kobe (Edwards) were in constant attack mode all night. Matt was phenomenal tonight. I thought we made a lot of hustle plays. I just thought we did the intangible plays we needed to to win. … I knew it would be a battle all the way, and our guys showed a lot of toughness.”
The Knights led by four at halftime, pushed that to 14 with a strong third quarter and held off a late push from Wayne Country Day.
Greenfield’s depth proved to be a key factor as well, with seven players finding the score sheet. Hampton Evans led the way with 20 points, followed by Matt Kirby with 18, Nik Edwards with 15 and Kyshon Atkinson with 11.
“We’ve got guys coming off the bench just as good as the starting five, ready to come in off the bench and also play hard,” Kirby said.
Nayshin Waller led Wayne Country Day with 17 points, followed by Jordan Cooper with 16.
Salter did see room for improvement defensively.
“I thought we didn’t do a very good job in transition at times,” Salter said. “We could not keep Cooper out of the lane. They made some 3s. I think some of our guys kind of freaked out and forgot to get the help side because they were shading towards the shooters. But they’re a good team. Cooper’s been doing that to us for a long time. He’s electric in the open court in getting to the lane.”
The Knights jumped out to a 22-16 lead after one quarter, aided by a hot start from downtown as they knocked down four 3-pointers in the opening frame.
The Chargers started hot in the fourth quarter and took a four-point lead on a 3 and dunk from Waller, prompting Salter to call a timeout with 4:18 left in the half. Micah Sherrod buried a 3 to bring the Knights within one, and that sparked a 9-0 run that allowed the Knights to reclaim a 41-36 lead. Greenfield found itself ahead by four at the break.
The Knights took control in the third quarter, outscoring the Chargers 30-20 to take a 14-point lead into the fourth.
“I thought we really did a good job of getting in the paint,” Salter said. “That’s what we always say. Attack, get a foot in the paint, and good things will happen. I thought we did a good job of getting to the rim and finishing. I thought we did a good job of kicking it out when we needed to. We knew we were a little deeper than they are, so we wanted to put pressure on them most of the night. And then rebounding, when we got the rebounds in the second half, it led us to running and getting in transition.”
Nik Edwards helped the Knights extend their lead midway through the frame, dropping in 3s on back-to-back possessions to make it 55-48, and then a slick move to the basket through contact by Kirby, followed by a steal and layup by Sherrod, pushed it to nine with under four minutes left in the frame.
“I knew my team needed me to get some buckets to get going,” Kirby said.
The Knights depth began to tell on the Chargers as the third quarter went along, as, even with starters such as Evans, Kirby and Atkinson resting, the Knights continued to force turnovers with their pressure defense and attack in transition, as well as pull down offensive rebounds, pushing their lead into double digits.
“That’s what we want to do,” Salter said. “And Matt said it, we’ve got guys coming off the bench just as good as our starters. There’s lineups you just go with in certain games. Micah (Sherrod) comes off and he’s so athletic and can shoot the cover off the ball. Cole (Evans) has been electric from the 3-point line. Bryson (Wall) is just Mr. Everything, intangible for us, he doesn’t have to score to impact the game. We’ve got so many different pieces that help us win. They’re starting to really buy into their roles.”
After re-entering the game, Kirby ignited the crowd by draining a 3 at the third-quarter buzzer to put the Knights up 14 heading into the fourth.
“It felt good,” Kirby said. “We have a lot of confidence when we’re hitting shots.”
Some sloppy play from the Knights midway through the second quarter allowed Wayne Country Day to start to creep back in, but Greenfield’s lead didn’t dip below double digits until there were under four minutes to play, and never dipped below five (and that wasn’t until there was under a minute left). The Knights will host conference foe Epiphany on Friday.
“They were ranked No. 2 in 2-A, and we were ranked No. 3,” Salter said. “We’re battling for a conference title. They have a chance to win a state championship, just like we feel we do too. They’ve got a really good team. We’ll see them a couple more times, so we know it’s not going to be easy any of those times.”
Greenfield’s Kyshon Atkinson, who posted 11 points on the night, drives between two defenders during a home win over Wayne Country Day. Carl Copeland | Special to the Times
WAYNE COUNTRY DAY (77)
Waller 17, Cooper 16, Coles 11, Vazquez 9, Williams 9, Jones 7, Cogdell 6.
GREENFIELD (86)
Evans 20, Kirby 18, N. Edwards 15, Atkinson 11, Sherrod 9, K. Edwards 8, Adair 4.
Score by quarters:
WCD 16 22 20 19 — 77
GFS 21 21 30 14 — 86
