Maye's buzzer-beating 3-pointer enables Greenfield to deck Freedom 54-53
By Tom Ham Senior Staff Writer
The laid-back crowd inside the Greenfield School gymnasium Thursday night finally roared with excitement on the game-ending shot.
Tyler Maye, a sophomore guard, drained that shot - a 3-pointer - as the Greenfield varsity boys basketball team decked Freedom Christian Academy of Fayetteville, 54-53 in a showdown amongNorth Carolina Independent Schools Athletic Association 1-A/2-A Coastal Plain Independents Conference leaders.
With Freedom leading 53-51, the Knights got a timeout with 6.8 seconds remaining. Freshman point guard Coby White worked the basketball into the frontcourt, dished to Maye and Maye, stationed in front of the Greenfield bench, swished his jumper from some 25 feet out.
"We executed the play just like (head) coach (Rob Salter) drew it up," exclaimed Maye, who ended a frustrating evening on an euphoric note.
"He can just flat score the basketball," Salter said of Maye. "He didn't play well tonight until he hit that last shot. But it shows what type player he is."
In seizing revenge against a second state-ranked opponent this week, the Knights, ranked No. 4 among the state's NCISAA 1-A teams, dealt Freedom, No. 4 in 2-A, its first conference loss and drew within a half-game of the top spot. Freedom, 19-6 overall, leads with a 4-1 conference worksheet with one game remaining, while Greenfield, 20-8 against all foes, climbed to 3-1 with two league contests left.
Earlier in the week, Greenfield celebrated revenge against Trinity Christian, top-ranked in 1-A and the reigning state champion. With Thursday night's win, the Knights reached the 20-win plateau for the ninth consecutive season.
Greenfield observes Senior Night on Friday evening against archrival Wayne Country Day.
LATE, LATE DRAMA
The Patriots, missing two starters - Marko Tomic, a 6-foot-7 senior from Ireland, among them - created a hush when junior guard Mike Melvin dribbled the basketball for over 40 seconds, then drove the lane and scored on a layup for a 53-51 Freedom edge with 7.6 seconds showing.
But Greenfield had an answer with Maye draining a closely contested shot. Maye was accurate for just the second time on eight attempts.
"All night, I had been struggling and I was frustrated," Maye admitted. "But coach believed in me and told me I was going to hit the game-winning shot. He drew up the play for me and I believed in myself. And I just knew I was going to come through in the clutch."
Head coach Dan Pruessner was satisfied with his Patriots' defensive effort on the game-winning shot.
"I told them (during the time-out) don't give up a 3. But, at the same time, I told them not to give up a wide-open layup. It happens. It was a deep 3 and it was contested. It was a great shot."
NO-HURRY PACE
The drama decided a clash that was played at a cautious, no-hurry pace most of the way. Possessions were precious as the Knights committed just eight turnovers and Freedom nine. However, five of the Patriots' miscues occurred in the fourth quarter and, said Salter, critical was a steal by Knights senior guard Isaiah White.
"They did a good job of slowing us down," Salter credited Freedom. "They were screening us to death. I thought we were really good defensively, too. This was the type of game you have to grind it out - and we did. We believed."
Explained Pruessner: "We like to run, but we were trying to slow them down in the half-court because we couldn't guard them one-on-one."
After three ties and three lead changes in the opening quarter, Greenfield surged from a 11-11 tie to a 19-13 lead at the quarter's end on a pair of free throws from senior Dwanya Sutton-Williams with 1.3 seconds showing.
The Knights, in the second quarter, twice upped the lead to eight points on a 3-pointer from Maye and a field goal from Williams-Sutton, respectively. However, Freedom surged behind 6-7 Thank God Avar, a junior from Nigeria. A 3 from Gunnar Hardarson, a senior from Iceland, bombed the Patriots out front 31-30. But Williams-Sutton's only 3-pointer enabled the Knights to claim a 33-31 halftime lead.
MAYE DID IT
The Patriots outscored the Knights 7-2 at the outset of the second half and forged their biggest lead of 43-37.
The Knights reclaimed the lead at 47-46 on Coby White's 3-pointer with 5:23 remaining. Freedom answered with two free throws from Avar and a 3-pointer from 6-4 Gustav Maskoliunas, a 6-4 junior from Lithuania. The Patriots stayed out front for over three minutes before senior Will Crandell's free throw drew Greenfield even at 51-51 with 49.5 seconds remaining.
Coby White led the Knights with 17 points, while Crandell contributed 15 points and eight rebounds. Top Freedom scores were Avar with 16 points and Hardarson with 14 on a poor shooting (5 of 17) night.
"Defensively, we were good," Salter reviewed, "and we did some good things offensively, too. In the second half, for a six-minute stretch, we didn't have good possessions. But a game like this is going to help you in the state tournament. You have to win games like this one then.
"I told Tyler that you are going to hit the 3 to win the game, and doggoned if he didn't do it."
By Tom Ham Senior Staff Writer
The laid-back crowd inside the Greenfield School gymnasium Thursday night finally roared with excitement on the game-ending shot.
Tyler Maye, a sophomore guard, drained that shot - a 3-pointer - as the Greenfield varsity boys basketball team decked Freedom Christian Academy of Fayetteville, 54-53 in a showdown amongNorth Carolina Independent Schools Athletic Association 1-A/2-A Coastal Plain Independents Conference leaders.
With Freedom leading 53-51, the Knights got a timeout with 6.8 seconds remaining. Freshman point guard Coby White worked the basketball into the frontcourt, dished to Maye and Maye, stationed in front of the Greenfield bench, swished his jumper from some 25 feet out.
"We executed the play just like (head) coach (Rob Salter) drew it up," exclaimed Maye, who ended a frustrating evening on an euphoric note.
"He can just flat score the basketball," Salter said of Maye. "He didn't play well tonight until he hit that last shot. But it shows what type player he is."
In seizing revenge against a second state-ranked opponent this week, the Knights, ranked No. 4 among the state's NCISAA 1-A teams, dealt Freedom, No. 4 in 2-A, its first conference loss and drew within a half-game of the top spot. Freedom, 19-6 overall, leads with a 4-1 conference worksheet with one game remaining, while Greenfield, 20-8 against all foes, climbed to 3-1 with two league contests left.
Earlier in the week, Greenfield celebrated revenge against Trinity Christian, top-ranked in 1-A and the reigning state champion. With Thursday night's win, the Knights reached the 20-win plateau for the ninth consecutive season.
Greenfield observes Senior Night on Friday evening against archrival Wayne Country Day.
LATE, LATE DRAMA
The Patriots, missing two starters - Marko Tomic, a 6-foot-7 senior from Ireland, among them - created a hush when junior guard Mike Melvin dribbled the basketball for over 40 seconds, then drove the lane and scored on a layup for a 53-51 Freedom edge with 7.6 seconds showing.
But Greenfield had an answer with Maye draining a closely contested shot. Maye was accurate for just the second time on eight attempts.
"All night, I had been struggling and I was frustrated," Maye admitted. "But coach believed in me and told me I was going to hit the game-winning shot. He drew up the play for me and I believed in myself. And I just knew I was going to come through in the clutch."
Head coach Dan Pruessner was satisfied with his Patriots' defensive effort on the game-winning shot.
"I told them (during the time-out) don't give up a 3. But, at the same time, I told them not to give up a wide-open layup. It happens. It was a deep 3 and it was contested. It was a great shot."
NO-HURRY PACE
The drama decided a clash that was played at a cautious, no-hurry pace most of the way. Possessions were precious as the Knights committed just eight turnovers and Freedom nine. However, five of the Patriots' miscues occurred in the fourth quarter and, said Salter, critical was a steal by Knights senior guard Isaiah White.
"They did a good job of slowing us down," Salter credited Freedom. "They were screening us to death. I thought we were really good defensively, too. This was the type of game you have to grind it out - and we did. We believed."
Explained Pruessner: "We like to run, but we were trying to slow them down in the half-court because we couldn't guard them one-on-one."
After three ties and three lead changes in the opening quarter, Greenfield surged from a 11-11 tie to a 19-13 lead at the quarter's end on a pair of free throws from senior Dwanya Sutton-Williams with 1.3 seconds showing.
The Knights, in the second quarter, twice upped the lead to eight points on a 3-pointer from Maye and a field goal from Williams-Sutton, respectively. However, Freedom surged behind 6-7 Thank God Avar, a junior from Nigeria. A 3 from Gunnar Hardarson, a senior from Iceland, bombed the Patriots out front 31-30. But Williams-Sutton's only 3-pointer enabled the Knights to claim a 33-31 halftime lead.
MAYE DID IT
The Patriots outscored the Knights 7-2 at the outset of the second half and forged their biggest lead of 43-37.
The Knights reclaimed the lead at 47-46 on Coby White's 3-pointer with 5:23 remaining. Freedom answered with two free throws from Avar and a 3-pointer from 6-4 Gustav Maskoliunas, a 6-4 junior from Lithuania. The Patriots stayed out front for over three minutes before senior Will Crandell's free throw drew Greenfield even at 51-51 with 49.5 seconds remaining.
Coby White led the Knights with 17 points, while Crandell contributed 15 points and eight rebounds. Top Freedom scores were Avar with 16 points and Hardarson with 14 on a poor shooting (5 of 17) night.
"Defensively, we were good," Salter reviewed, "and we did some good things offensively, too. In the second half, for a six-minute stretch, we didn't have good possessions. But a game like this is going to help you in the state tournament. You have to win games like this one then.
"I told Tyler that you are going to hit the 3 to win the game, and doggoned if he didn't do it."
