GREENLAND — Greenland girls basketball coach Alan Barton would like to see his team be a little more patient on offense, but the Lady Pirates were solid defensively Tuesday to claim a 48-36 win over Green Forest in 3A-1 West Conference play.
Greenland limited the Lady Tigers to just 13 points in the two middle quarters combined to remain tied with league leading Elkins in the loss column and set up a big game Friday.
“The seat’s there; all we need to do is take the steering wheel,” Barton said. “I thought we played great defense. We did a better job of taking care of the ball in the second half.”
Green Forest coach Kyle Farrar acknowledged the Lady Pirates were much more aggressive than his team, especially in a key second-quarter stretch.
“They were just more physical than we were,” Farrar said. “They took us out of what we wanted to do, and we turned the ball over.”
The Lady Pirates (10-11, 5-1 3A-1 West) went on a 10-3 spurt to take control, keyed by junior Anna Rogers.
The 5-foot-7 guard scored six of Greenland’s 10 points and assisted on another basket as the Lady Pirates turned a 15-10 lead to 25-13 with less than 3 minutes left in the first half.
Rogers finished as Greenland’s only player in double figures with a game-high 17, but Barton was more pleased with his team’s overall defense — limiting Green Forest to nine points in a 14-minute stretch of the second half.
Greenland was in command, leading 41-24 before Green Forest mounted a late charge to get within eight in the final minute.
“I’m trying to get these girls to understand when you have a lead, you can be patient,” Barton said. “It’s not stalling.”
Kaitlin Powell led Green Forest (13-9, 1-5) with 15 points.
Green Forest 9 7 6 14 — 36
Greenland 15 15 8 10 — 48
Green Forest (13-10, 1-6): Ka. Powell 11, Watson 8, Blach 7, Ko. Powell 4, Williams 2.
Greenland (10-11, 5-1): Rogers 17, Thompson 9, Miller 8, Scott 6, Riggles 4, Brown 2, Vaughn 2.
Boys
Green Forest 51, Greenland 42
The Tigers got off to a fast start and held on for their first 3A-1 West Conference win of the season Tuesday.
Clayton Watson poured in a game-high 16 points, while Daulton Coffey added 11, including seven in the fourth quarter for Green Forest (5-19, 1-6 3A-1 West).
The Tigers never trailed but turned back a fourth-quarter challenge from Greenland (1-16, 1-5).
The Pirates pulled within 45-42 on Tylor McClanahan’s three-point play with 2 minutes, 39 seconds left in the fourth quarter. But Greenland did not score again.
Calvin Giddens led Greenland with 14 points, while McClanahan added 12.