Down two starters you couldn’t blame Unaka for feeling some pressure as the Rangers took on South Greene on Friday evening at Snavely gym in Watauga Valley Conference action. Despite missing guard Kyler Lewis and wing Dylan Carrier the Rangers (8-12, 1-3 WVC) stuck with the Rebels right to the end before falling 57-54.

“I told them before the game to come out and play hard at both ends of the court you give yourself a chance to win,” said Rangers head coach Aaron Dugger. “They played their tails off and left it all out there. We just came up a little short.”

Senior guard Joe Searfoss scored 12 first half points, but the Rangers trailed the Rebels 28-27 at the half. South Greene (7-7, 4-1 WVC) opened the third period with an 11-5 run to take a 39-32 lead before freshman John ‘Boy’ Ramsey knocked down a three-ball.

Searfoss hit a free throw to cut the Rebel lead to 39-36. The Rangers cut the SG lead to 43-42 going into the final stanza with senior post Colton Chambers scoring nine points in the period.

A Chambers deuce to open the fourth quarter gave Unaka the lead back at 44-43 at the 7:04 mark of the period. Zack Turner answered for the Rebels but a free throw from Chambers knotted the score at 45-45 with 5:23 left.

Isaac Hill dropped in a deuce and Ramsey connected from long range as Unaka took a 52-47 lead before Nathan Hall scored two free throws for South Greene. A steal and bucket from Hall gave SG a 53-52 lead with 2:40 left on the clock and Sam Mease tossed in a three to make it a 56-52 game with 2:37 left.

“(Ramsey) can do that,” Dugger said. “If he gets lost he is a threat. We were down shorthanded and we understand the importance of playing at home, that’s why they played so hard. They answered the bell, we were just a little short.”

A Searfoss bucket cut the Rebel lead to just two with just over a minute left in the quarter and the Rangers forced a turnover with :56.4 ticks on the clock. The Rangers ran a play for Chambers in the paint but his shot didn’t fall and SG inbounded with 31 ticks remaining.

Searfoss was called for a foul and Hall stepped to the charity stripe for two shots. He missed the first and the second with Gary Wright grabbing the rebound to set Unaka up for a last chance shot with 23.3 to play.

A shot in the paint by freshman Davey Ensor came up short and Hall once again stepped to the line and missed his first shot. He made the second and Unaka now needed a big three, but another turnover saw the game come to a close.

GIRLS

South Greene 62, Unaka 54

South Greene got 10 first half points from Braelyn Wykle and held off a frantic Unaka fourth quarter push and held on for a Watauga Valley Conference victory that kept the Lady Rebels undefeated in the conference.

“We gave a great effort,” said Lady Rangers head coach Kenneth Chambers. “South Greene shoots the ball well and you really have to guard everybody. We lost Cutshall three times coming around the top of the key. They are too good to let them get up by 15 on you.”

With the score knotted at 7-7, a three point play from T.K. Franklin gave South Greene (17-2, 5-0 WVC) a 10-7 lead with just over a minute left in the first period, and Taylor Lamb followed with one of two from the line. Sarah Tipton hit a free throw with 9.1 seconds left but Lyndsey Cutshaw answered with a two point bucket as the Lady Rebels led 15-8 after one quarter was in the books.

After a trey from Unaka freshman Savannah Tipton made it a 15-10 game, SG went on a six point run to take a 21-10 lead with 2:54 left in the first half. A bucket from Lexi Garland followed by a deuce from Sierra Wright cut the SG lead to 21-14.

“Lexi is a good player,” Chambers said. “When she plays with confidence she plays well. I thought the effort was good, we have been emphasizing playing as a family and it’s a joy to coach these kids.”

Cutshaw dropped in a triple and moments later a pair of free throws as the Rebels built a 26-16 advantage with just over a minute remaining before the half. Despite a 13-7 turnover advantage the Lady Rangers (12-8, 1-3 WVC) went into halftime down 27-18.

Unaka opened the second half with successive turnovers and SG capitalized on both with buckets from Morgan Williams and a trey from Braelyn Wykle to open a 32-18 lead. From there the Rebels pushed their lead to 41-23 after three-ball’s from Wykle and Cutshaw.

Hannah Tipton got her first bucket of the game in the third period and it was a three pointer at the top of the circle. SG took a 48-32 lead after a three point play by post Taylor Lamb which was followed by a trey from Sarah Tipton.

SG closed the third period with a 55-32 lead after the third three-ball from Cutshaw which gave her a game high 17 points along with Wykle.

Unaka came out firing three’s in the fourth quarter and after one from Hannah Tipton the Rangers cut the Rebels lead to 59-48 with 3:25 left in regulation.

GIRLS

South Greene 62-54

South Greene (62)

B.Wykle 17, Franklin 5, Cutshaw 17, Williams 6, K. Franklin 2, Lamb 15.

Unaka (54)

S. Tipton 4, H. Tipton 11, Garland 19, Sa. Tipton 5, Burrow 2, Weaver 3, Wright 10.

South Greene 15 12 28 7 – 62

Unaka 8 10 14 22 – 54

3-point goals : SG 5-11 (K.Wykle 0-3, B.Wykle 2-2, Cutshaw 3-4, Williams 0-1, K. Franklin 0- 1), U 7-20 (S. Tipton 1-4, H. Tipton 3-6, Garland 1-4, Sa. Tipton 1-4, Burrow 0- 1, Weaver 1-1)

BOYS

South Greene 57-54

South Greene (570

Shaw 9, Hall 16, Brown 4, Mease 9, Turner 4, Burns 7, Standridge 4, Hume 4.

Unaka (54)

Searfoss 17, Wright 2, Chambers 14, Hill 2, Ramsey 15, Street 2, Houghton 2.

South Greene 9 19 15 14 – 57

Unaka 11 16 15 12 – 54

3-point goals: SG 3-10 (Mease 3-6, Burns 0-1, Standridge 0-1, Hume 0-2), U 9-17 (Searfoss 4-6, Ramsey 5-9, Hill 0-2)