Lady Knights add muscle, top Fayetteville Christian in return
By Jimmy Lewis jlewis@wilsontimes.com | 265-7807 | Twitter: @JimmyLewisWT
For a team that had been away from the floor for precisely a month due to a COVID-19 related shutdown, the Greenfield School varsity girls basketball team returned to action Saturday afternoon versus Fayetteville Christian with the intent of eschewing the expected struggles of such a layoff and its relative youth.
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Indeed, the Lady Knights will have no desire to wait another 31 days to play a game, and the return to play still did not yield a full roster as sophomore Jeallen Holland began her quarantine process.
But Greenfield did gain the contributions of freshman post Victoria Coleman, who missed the season opener against Wilson Christian on Nov. 19 due to a shoulder injury sustained during volleyball season. Her presence was felt quickly, teaming with talented point guard Serenity McNair to give the Lady Knights a potent high-low combo that the Lady Warriors could not contain on a consistent basis. Coleman led the way with 17 points in her Greenfield debut, and McNair hit all six of her free throws in the fourth quarter to keep Fayetteville Christian at arm’s length in a 40-32 win.
“That’s what we try to do,” Greenfield head coach Bruce Wall said of the high-low action between McNair and Coleman. “And we haven’t had time to practice it. But I just threw in three or four different offenses on a timeout, and they somewhat ran it. The pick and roll worked good once they ran it the right way. We’re patient, that’s the biggest thing. We’re young, but we’ve got to be really patient. We’ve got eighth graders, ninth graders mostly, and missing Jeallen today, I think we would have got some good shots for her on that wing ,because they were leaving it wide open.”
The Lady Knights, 1-A members of the split 1-A/2-A Coastal Plain Independents Conference, evened their record at 1-1 with Fayetteville Christian of the 3-A Sandhills Athletic Conference dropping to 1-3. Wall coached his first game of 2020-21 after missing the November opener due to his own quarantine.
McNair, who had 13 points, didn’t have a field goal in the second half after making a pair of 3-pointers in the first quarter. But her penetration and work on the defensive end helped offset that, leaving easy finishing opportunities underneath for Coleman. Playing in her first varsity contest, Coleman showed a propensity for serving in a point forward role at times, being trusted to bring the ball into the frontcourt against pressure.
Defensively, McNair was helped up top by the pestering presence of Darcy Dean. The Lady Knights trailed 8-3 in the opening quarter, but a 11-0 spurt put them ahead to stay. Coleman battled inside for a putback and layup before Dean’s steal and layup gave Greenfield the lead. McNair’s 3-pointer allowed the Lady Knights to post a 12-8 lead after one quarter.
Youth did not translate to timidity on the offensive backboards for Greenfield. Libby Eagles, Coleman and Isabelle Parker all had second-chance baskets in the second quarter. Dean’s steal and layup produced a 20-15 edge for the Lady Knights with 2 minutes, 26 seconds left until halftime.
“I’m excited about the group we have,” Wall said. “They’re very coachable, and they are eager in practice.”
Struggling to score outside of Lena Darnell’s 19 points, Fayetteville Christian went on a second-quarter drought as the Lady Knights took the same five-point lead into halftime. Greenfield led 27-22 in the closing stages of the third quarter, but Coleman was fouled at the buzzer and made one of two free throws to make it a six-point lead for the hosts entering the fourth.
Greenfield’s use of the high-low allowed it to secure its biggest lead of 12 early in the final period. Coleman sealed off Fayetteville Christian defenders for a pair of layups, and a jumper from Eagles staked the Lady Knights to the 34-22 advantage.
Behind Darnell at the foul line, Fayetteville Christian went on a final 8-0 run to put pressure on the young Lady Knights. But Greenfield placed the ball in McNair’s hands, who calmly accepted the fouling from the Lady Warriors and made all six of her free throws in the final 31.5 seconds.
Greenfield’s next scheduled game is Jan. 6 at Cape Fear Academy, but Wall said that he will endeavor to schedule one or two nonconference games before the close of 2020.
“It’s big to end on a win right there,” he said. “Who knows what holds with everything going on the way it is right now, but we hope to get maybe one or two more games in before the end of this year if the schedule allows. And then after that, hopefully come back with a positive attitude the first of the year and finish the run the second part of the season.”
FAYETTEVILLE CHRISTIAN (32)
Corpuz 6, Clark 5, Darnell 19, Kardoni 2.
GREENFIELD (40)
McNair 13, Eagles 4, Parker 2, Dean 4, Coleman 17.
Score by quarters:
Fayetteville Chr. 8 7 7 10 — 32
Greenfield 12 8 8 12 — 40
By Jimmy Lewis jlewis@wilsontimes.com | 265-7807 | Twitter: @JimmyLewisWT
For a team that had been away from the floor for precisely a month due to a COVID-19 related shutdown, the Greenfield School varsity girls basketball team returned to action Saturday afternoon versus Fayetteville Christian with the intent of eschewing the expected struggles of such a layoff and its relative youth.
0
Indeed, the Lady Knights will have no desire to wait another 31 days to play a game, and the return to play still did not yield a full roster as sophomore Jeallen Holland began her quarantine process.
But Greenfield did gain the contributions of freshman post Victoria Coleman, who missed the season opener against Wilson Christian on Nov. 19 due to a shoulder injury sustained during volleyball season. Her presence was felt quickly, teaming with talented point guard Serenity McNair to give the Lady Knights a potent high-low combo that the Lady Warriors could not contain on a consistent basis. Coleman led the way with 17 points in her Greenfield debut, and McNair hit all six of her free throws in the fourth quarter to keep Fayetteville Christian at arm’s length in a 40-32 win.
“That’s what we try to do,” Greenfield head coach Bruce Wall said of the high-low action between McNair and Coleman. “And we haven’t had time to practice it. But I just threw in three or four different offenses on a timeout, and they somewhat ran it. The pick and roll worked good once they ran it the right way. We’re patient, that’s the biggest thing. We’re young, but we’ve got to be really patient. We’ve got eighth graders, ninth graders mostly, and missing Jeallen today, I think we would have got some good shots for her on that wing ,because they were leaving it wide open.”
The Lady Knights, 1-A members of the split 1-A/2-A Coastal Plain Independents Conference, evened their record at 1-1 with Fayetteville Christian of the 3-A Sandhills Athletic Conference dropping to 1-3. Wall coached his first game of 2020-21 after missing the November opener due to his own quarantine.
McNair, who had 13 points, didn’t have a field goal in the second half after making a pair of 3-pointers in the first quarter. But her penetration and work on the defensive end helped offset that, leaving easy finishing opportunities underneath for Coleman. Playing in her first varsity contest, Coleman showed a propensity for serving in a point forward role at times, being trusted to bring the ball into the frontcourt against pressure.
Defensively, McNair was helped up top by the pestering presence of Darcy Dean. The Lady Knights trailed 8-3 in the opening quarter, but a 11-0 spurt put them ahead to stay. Coleman battled inside for a putback and layup before Dean’s steal and layup gave Greenfield the lead. McNair’s 3-pointer allowed the Lady Knights to post a 12-8 lead after one quarter.
Youth did not translate to timidity on the offensive backboards for Greenfield. Libby Eagles, Coleman and Isabelle Parker all had second-chance baskets in the second quarter. Dean’s steal and layup produced a 20-15 edge for the Lady Knights with 2 minutes, 26 seconds left until halftime.
“I’m excited about the group we have,” Wall said. “They’re very coachable, and they are eager in practice.”
Struggling to score outside of Lena Darnell’s 19 points, Fayetteville Christian went on a second-quarter drought as the Lady Knights took the same five-point lead into halftime. Greenfield led 27-22 in the closing stages of the third quarter, but Coleman was fouled at the buzzer and made one of two free throws to make it a six-point lead for the hosts entering the fourth.
Greenfield’s use of the high-low allowed it to secure its biggest lead of 12 early in the final period. Coleman sealed off Fayetteville Christian defenders for a pair of layups, and a jumper from Eagles staked the Lady Knights to the 34-22 advantage.
Behind Darnell at the foul line, Fayetteville Christian went on a final 8-0 run to put pressure on the young Lady Knights. But Greenfield placed the ball in McNair’s hands, who calmly accepted the fouling from the Lady Warriors and made all six of her free throws in the final 31.5 seconds.
Greenfield’s next scheduled game is Jan. 6 at Cape Fear Academy, but Wall said that he will endeavor to schedule one or two nonconference games before the close of 2020.
“It’s big to end on a win right there,” he said. “Who knows what holds with everything going on the way it is right now, but we hope to get maybe one or two more games in before the end of this year if the schedule allows. And then after that, hopefully come back with a positive attitude the first of the year and finish the run the second part of the season.”
FAYETTEVILLE CHRISTIAN (32)
Corpuz 6, Clark 5, Darnell 19, Kardoni 2.
GREENFIELD (40)
McNair 13, Eagles 4, Parker 2, Dean 4, Coleman 17.
Score by quarters:
Fayetteville Chr. 8 7 7 10 — 32
Greenfield 12 8 8 12 — 40
