GREENEVILLE— The Cloudland Highlanders knew they had their hands full when coming to play inside Rebel Gym on the campus of South Greene High School to open conference play.

However, Coach Gary Harrison’s squad showed no sign of intimidation coming out of the gate like gang-busters to roll to a 75-48 win.

“We shot the ball well, and the kids executed tonight,” said Harrison in recapping his team’s performance. “We executed right out of the gates, and we have been getting better every night. “We knew it was a tough place to play. We did our job defensively and rebounded, and when you do that, your shots will fall too.”

Cloudland (6-4, 1-0) came out launching missiles from every conceivable location to build a hefty 43-25 halftime advantage.

The ‘Landers connected on eight three’s in the first 16 minutes to quickly build the big lead. Colby Birchfield and Jesse Potter busted the bottom out of the basket for three treys each as Birchfield paced the ‘Lander attack with 16 first-half points. Potter had nine while Preston Benfield and Dalton Vines connected for seven and six points respectively.

Zack Babb did all he could do to keep the Rebels close, scoring nine for South Greene in the first half. Nathan Hall added seven.

The ‘Landers never let up in the second half, even though they went the more conventional route in their scoring, hitting only one three to expand their advantage in taking the 27-point victory.

“Our main key any game is our defense,” said Birchfield who led the ‘Landers with 23 points. “We wanted to use our defense to get turnovers and points from those turnovers. That helped us to get the win”

Cloudland showed balanced scoring with four others hitting double figures besides Birchfield. Jesse Potter added 13 points with 12 each being registered by Chris Wagoner and Dalton Vines.

Preston Benfield added 11 points.

Babb caught fire for the Rebels down the stretch knocking down 23 points total. Hall was the only other South Greene player in double figures with 11.

South Greene 74, Cloudland 45 (Boys)

Her name may be Lamb, but she played with the ferociousness of a tiger.

Behind 28 points from post player Taylor Lamb, the South Greene Lady Rebels had no problem with the visiting Cloudland Lady Highlanders by taking a 29-point win.

Outscoring the Lady ‘Landers 46-15 by the break, the only point of contention in the game was what the final score would be at the end of the 32-minute contest.

Lamb accounted for 14 points in the first half. Braelyn Wykle had a solid half, scoring 11 points for the Lady Rebels as well.

Shian Strickland tossed in seven to lead Cloudland in the opening half.  Payton Johnson netted six.

Cloudland was the aggressor in the second half outscoring the home team 30-28 behind nine points each from Payton Johnson and Megan Lunsford who buried three treys in the third quarter.

Braelyn Wykle finished the night with 16 points and Kinsley Wykle notched 14 to compliment the performance of Lamb.

Payton Johnson led the Lady ‘Landers in the contest with 15 points. Lunsford and Strickland tallied nine each.

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Girls

South Greene, 74-45

Cloudland (45)

Shian Strickland 9, Payton Johnson 15, Johanna Johnson 5, Megan Lunsford 9, Trinity Vines 7.

South Greene (74)

Kinsley Wykle 14, Braelyn Wykle 16, T.K. Franklin 6, Lyndsey Cutshaw 4, Morgan Williams 5, Haile Howlett 1, Taylor Lamb 28.

Cloudland………10      5    19    11 – 45

South Greene……22    24    24     4 – 74

3-pt goals: Cloudland 6 (Payton Johnson, Johanna Johnson, Megan Lunsford 3, Trinity Vines). South Greene 6 (Kinsley Wykle 4, Braelyn Wykle 2).

Boys

Cloudland, 75-48

Cloudland (75)

Noah Arnett 3, Colby Birchfield 23, Preston Benfield 11, Chris Wagoner 12, Jesse Potter 13, Dalton Vines 12, Jason Potter 1.

South Greene (48)

Todd Brown 4, Ayden Shaw 5, Nathan Hall 11, Sam Mease 3, Zack Babb 23, Grayson Burns 2.

Cloudland……..21   22  16   16 – 75

South Greene…13   12   13   10 – 48

3-pt. goals: Cloudland 9 (Noah Arnett, Colby Birchfield 4, Preston Benfield, Jesse Potter 3). South Greene 8 (Ayden Shaw, Nathan Hall, Zack Babb 5, Sam Mease).