South Greene rolls past Unaka in Tuesday contests

Published 10:23 pm Tuesday, January 10, 2017

South Greene’s Landon Brown, Sam Mease, and Noah Fillers all combined for 10 three-pointers in the first half to spearhead the Rebels past Unaka, 74-44, for a Watauga Valley Conference win Tuesday evening.

The Rebels improved to 2-1 in league play, while Unaka remains winless in the WVC at 0-4.

Mease finished the night with a team-high 20 points while Brown clocked out with 15.

South Greene quickly worked out to a 10-1 lead in the opening minutes of the first quarter before leading 26-9 heading into the second. Both Unaka’s Kyler Lewis and John Ramsey knocked down treys in the first to help get the Rangers on the board. Lewis also picked up three foul shots in the opening quarter.

In a span of a minute, South Greene’s Mease and Brown connected for a trio of trifectas to push the Rebels on out to a 37-11 edge before South Greene drained three more 3-pointers in a row to take a 46-11 lead with 3:01 left in the half. Lewis and Unaka’s Austin Drew made five consecutive points to cut into the Rebels’ lead down the first-half stretch. South Greene made a last second bucket to take a 48-16 lead heading into halftime.

The Rangers would knock down some treys themselves in the third as Ryan Johnson and Austin Beauprez both had two to help Unaka picked up 16 points in the period. At the end of three, the Rebels led 59-32.

Lewis picked up nine of his game-high 22 points in the final period, while Unaka’s Gary Wright ripped a shot from outside to help the Rangers’ cause.

Both Beauprez and Johnson picked up six for the Rangers.

Unaka (4-11, 0-4 WVC) will pick things back up as they host University High (4-10, 0-3 WVC) Friday.

After a long break from basketball, the Lady Rangers traveled to South Greene where they dropped a Watauga Valley Conference contest to the defending Class A state champs, 73-47.

Unaka head coach Kenneth Chambers said the Lady Rangers did a good job on the inside but had trouble protecting the ball throughout the contest.

“I thought our post players did a pretty good job,” Chambers said. “I thought Myah Parlier, Katlyn Weaver, and Erica Potter all did real well.

“Our guards did not do a good job of taking care of the ball,” Chambers added. “We told them coming into the game that taking care of the ball would be key. They (South Greene) shot the ball really good in the first half. We left them open, and they made shots.”

The Lady Rebels (16-3, 3-0 WVC) took a 28-10 lead after the first quarter with South Greene’s Braelyn Wykle leading the charge with 13 first-period points. Unaka’s Myah Parlier and Cydney Forney both had four in the opening frame, while their teammates Sydney Markland and Lexi Garland both had 3-pointers for the Lady Rangers.

In the second quarter, the Lady Rebels outpaced Unaka 21-10 as Wykle connected for eight of her game-high 24 points. Markland and Potter both had treys in the second quarter, while Pariler tacked on four more for the Lady Rangers. Heading into the half, South Greene led 49-20.

Unaka found their footing in the third and were able to hang with the Lady Rebels scoring 15 points to South Greene 14. Parlier connected for a 6-2 run to help cut into the deficit. After three, the Lady Rebels led Unaka 63-35.

“We did better in the second half, but we still made some silly decisions,” Chambers said. “We can’t leave good shooters open and expect to win.”

Potter picked up four points for the Lady Rangers in the final quarter, while Forney, Garland, Weaver, and Parlier all chipped two points each. The Lady Rangers (10-8, 0-3 WVC) kept pace with the Lady Rebels as they outscored South Greene 10-9.

Parlier led the Lady Rangers with 12 points, while Forney added eight points on the night. Both Katlyn Burrow and Garland finished the night with five points each.

The Lady Rangers will hit the floor this Friday as they host University High