Knights return to state title game with rivalry win
From staff reports
GOLDSBORO — The Greenfield School boys basketball team is one final step away from achieving its ultimate goal for the 2022-23 season. With a satisfying 74-61 victory over 2-A/3-A Coastal Plain Independents Conference rival Wayne Country Day in the NCISAA 2-A semifinals Thursday night, the Knights punched their ticket to Saturday’s state championship game.
The third-seeded Knights, who improved to 29-10 on the season, took a 29-26 halftime lead before pulling away from the second-seeded Chargers (29-7) in the second half of the fourth meeting of the season between the rivals.
“I can’t be more proud of the team in that situation,” said Greenfield head coach Rob Salter. “We were so tough, so good defensively. We set the tone for us early. We played Greenfield basketball. We moved the ball. Our guards got in the lane and made plays. We shared the ball. Everybody that played stepped up and made a big play during the game. It was just such a complete team effort on both ends of the court.”
The Knights led 45-38 through three quarters before hitting their free throws in the fourth quarter.
Greenfield’s Kobe Edwards drives to the inside during a road win over Wayne Country Day in the NCISAA 2-A semifinals Thursday. Carl Copeland | Special to the Times
The Knights connected on 21-of-25 free-throw attempts, with 23 of those attempts coming in the final frame. Guards Kobe Edwards and Matt Kirby went 8 for 8 and 5 for 6, respectively, from the charity stripe.
“I thought we guarded the ball very well, I thought we were so tough on the glass tonight,” Salter said. “There were a couple guys that hurt us in the last two games, we did a good job trying to slow them down. We were just challenging everything. Matt Kirby completely controlled the game in the second half. He and Kobe Edwards were fantastic running what we had to do. Hampton (Evans) made big plays for us offensively, Nik (Edwards) made four straight free throws for us to give us that breathing room we wanted.
“At the beginning of the year, I thought we played really tough against some really good teams. I think we kind of lost that toughness on the defensive end as the year went on a little bit, and I thought for the last week in the playoffs, we’ve been so tough on the defensive end on the glass.
With the victory, the Knights not only advanced to the state championship game, but also avenged an 81-56 loss to the Chargers in the CPIC title game as well as loss at WCD in the regular-season finale, finishing the year 2-2 against their rival.
“It was nice,” Salter said. “It was just a phenomenal environment. Both teams played so hard. Obviously, Wayne and Greenfield is big if we were playing on the playground, but to play them in a final four, they were so good this year. After they embarrassed us a week and a half ago, to get back healthy and have everybody back, for us to bounce back like we did, I couldn’t ask for anything else. We just came ready to play tonight. It was a great win. It was Wayne but it was us having to play at that level to beat a really good basketball team.”
Kirby led the Knights with 26 points, followed by Hampton Evans with 15 and Edwards with 12.
“I thought our seniors showed leadership tonight,” Salter said. “I thought Bryson Wall was phenomenal on the defensive end and on the glass. He really slowed down (Nayshin) Waller, who had dominated us the last two games. He just did a fantastic job of making him work. We just made the winning plays that we had to to advance to the state championship game.”
The Knights will now play in the state title game for the second year in a row, and their first in the 2-A ranks. The Knights fell 76-69 to United Faith Christian in last year’s 1-A title game.
At Forsyth Country Day School, the Knights will face top-seeded The Burlington School, which defeated Gaston Day School 53-49 Thursday, and beat the Knights 68-64 at Farmville Central’s MLK Showcase in January.
“A lot of people probably didn’t think we could do it,” Salter said. “We always believed we could. We’re there. We’re not satisfied just to be there, but you can’t win it unless you’re there. We believed that we had the team that could get there this year when we play at the level we can play at. We’re playing our best basketball right now at the right time, and hopefully we can keep that going for one game. But we know that’s going to be an absolute war.”
From staff reports
GOLDSBORO — The Greenfield School boys basketball team is one final step away from achieving its ultimate goal for the 2022-23 season. With a satisfying 74-61 victory over 2-A/3-A Coastal Plain Independents Conference rival Wayne Country Day in the NCISAA 2-A semifinals Thursday night, the Knights punched their ticket to Saturday’s state championship game.
The third-seeded Knights, who improved to 29-10 on the season, took a 29-26 halftime lead before pulling away from the second-seeded Chargers (29-7) in the second half of the fourth meeting of the season between the rivals.
“I can’t be more proud of the team in that situation,” said Greenfield head coach Rob Salter. “We were so tough, so good defensively. We set the tone for us early. We played Greenfield basketball. We moved the ball. Our guards got in the lane and made plays. We shared the ball. Everybody that played stepped up and made a big play during the game. It was just such a complete team effort on both ends of the court.”
The Knights led 45-38 through three quarters before hitting their free throws in the fourth quarter.
Greenfield’s Kobe Edwards drives to the inside during a road win over Wayne Country Day in the NCISAA 2-A semifinals Thursday. Carl Copeland | Special to the Times
The Knights connected on 21-of-25 free-throw attempts, with 23 of those attempts coming in the final frame. Guards Kobe Edwards and Matt Kirby went 8 for 8 and 5 for 6, respectively, from the charity stripe.
“I thought we guarded the ball very well, I thought we were so tough on the glass tonight,” Salter said. “There were a couple guys that hurt us in the last two games, we did a good job trying to slow them down. We were just challenging everything. Matt Kirby completely controlled the game in the second half. He and Kobe Edwards were fantastic running what we had to do. Hampton (Evans) made big plays for us offensively, Nik (Edwards) made four straight free throws for us to give us that breathing room we wanted.
“At the beginning of the year, I thought we played really tough against some really good teams. I think we kind of lost that toughness on the defensive end as the year went on a little bit, and I thought for the last week in the playoffs, we’ve been so tough on the defensive end on the glass.
With the victory, the Knights not only advanced to the state championship game, but also avenged an 81-56 loss to the Chargers in the CPIC title game as well as loss at WCD in the regular-season finale, finishing the year 2-2 against their rival.
“It was nice,” Salter said. “It was just a phenomenal environment. Both teams played so hard. Obviously, Wayne and Greenfield is big if we were playing on the playground, but to play them in a final four, they were so good this year. After they embarrassed us a week and a half ago, to get back healthy and have everybody back, for us to bounce back like we did, I couldn’t ask for anything else. We just came ready to play tonight. It was a great win. It was Wayne but it was us having to play at that level to beat a really good basketball team.”
Kirby led the Knights with 26 points, followed by Hampton Evans with 15 and Edwards with 12.
“I thought our seniors showed leadership tonight,” Salter said. “I thought Bryson Wall was phenomenal on the defensive end and on the glass. He really slowed down (Nayshin) Waller, who had dominated us the last two games. He just did a fantastic job of making him work. We just made the winning plays that we had to to advance to the state championship game.”
The Knights will now play in the state title game for the second year in a row, and their first in the 2-A ranks. The Knights fell 76-69 to United Faith Christian in last year’s 1-A title game.
At Forsyth Country Day School, the Knights will face top-seeded The Burlington School, which defeated Gaston Day School 53-49 Thursday, and beat the Knights 68-64 at Farmville Central’s MLK Showcase in January.
“A lot of people probably didn’t think we could do it,” Salter said. “We always believed we could. We’re there. We’re not satisfied just to be there, but you can’t win it unless you’re there. We believed that we had the team that could get there this year when we play at the level we can play at. We’re playing our best basketball right now at the right time, and hopefully we can keep that going for one game. But we know that’s going to be an absolute war.”
