PARIS — The big pressure is off Greenland.
After winning the Class 3A state championship last year, the Lady Pirates struggled to get to the .500 mark this year.
GREENLAND 57, DANVILLE 40
Danville 5 11 11 13 — 40
Greenland 13 16 13 15 — 57
Danville (12-13): Hodges 18, Dorrough 16, Powers 2, Eggleton 2, Holland 2.
Greenland (14-13): Scott 18, Thompson 12, Rogers 10, Miller 6, Vaughn 6, Brown 3, Riggles 2.
But on Thursday, after a day’s delay because of inclement weather, Greenland (14-13) clinched a return trip to the state tournament with a 57-40 win over Danville in the first round of the Class 3A Region 1 Tournament.
The win also advanced Greenland to the regional semifinals at 2:30 p.m. Saturday.
“We were a little rusty, but we were anxious to just get out there and play,” Greenland coach Alan Barton said. “The main thing is that we are in. Now we can just concentrate on coming back and playing our best on Saturday and taking it from there.”
Kari Scott led Greenland with 18 points. Kiana Thompson had 12, and Anna Rogers added 10. Savanna Hodges led Danville (12-13) with 18 points.
Greenland led 13-5 after the first quarter and 29-16 at halftime. Danville, the No. 4 seed from the 3A-4 district, never challenged in the second half.