GREENLAND -- Greenland had no answer for West Fork's inside tandem of Cody Roebke and Harrison Johnson on Friday night.
The duo combined for 35 points and helped the Tigers to an early lead en route to a 49-33 victory.
How They Scored
Girls
Greenland 54, West Fork 27
West Fork^6^9^7^5^—^27
Greenland^14^16^20^4^—^54
West Fork (15-8, 5-3): Smith 11, Griffin 4, Karnes 4, Greenlee 3, Throgmorton 3, Cartwright 2.
Greenland (20-2, 9-0): Crown 14, Thompson 13, Redmond 10, Arnold 8, Wright 5, Boone 2, Osburn 2.
Boys
West Fork 49, Greenland 33
West Fork^10^18^11^10^—^49
Greenland^6^10^9^8^—^33
West Fork (13-8, 6-2): C. Roebke 18, Johnson 17, R. Roebke 8, Crawford 5, Yates 1.
Greenland (8-12, 4-5): Z. Wolfe 9, Self 7, Gaines 6, Clem 6, White 3, D. Wolfe 2.
The Pirates (8-12, 4-5 3A-1 West) were able to speed up the pace and run past West Fork in the Tiger Dome a couple weeks ago. But Friday was pretty much all West Fork thanks to the two 6-foot-4 juniors.
Roebke scored a game-high 18 points, including 13 in the first half, as West Fork (13-8, 6-2) led 28-16 at halftime. Johnson chipped in with 17, including an impressive 9-of-9 from the free-throw line.
West Fork built the double-digit lead by going inside to Roebke and Johnson, making 10 of 16 shots from the floor in the first half.
Tigers coach Cody Vaught said his team did exactly what he wanted them to do.
"We were trying to get the ball inside over and over and over," Vaught said. "We worked on it all week, and we wanted to keep doing it until we drew double-teams. Our m.o. is to go inside. We had a couple guys with the flu tonight, but overall it was a good, hard-fought victory."
The Tigers kept pace with league-leading Mansfield with the win. Both teams have two losses, but Mansfield is a half-game up at 7-2. West Fork continues with road games at Elkins and at Lavaca next week.
West Fork also took advantage at the free-throw line, making 18-of-24, while Greenland managed just 7-of-18.
Greenland coach Jared Gobel admitted his team couldn't stop West Fork's big inside tandem and that was the difference.
"They did a lot better job tonight of taking advantage of their advantage," Gobel said. "Their advantage is their two big ones. There isn't anybody in our league that has two big men. Tonight, they were pounding it in there, and we couldn't stop it."
Sophomore Zac Wolfe led Greenland with nine points. The Pirates also struggled from the floor, making just 12 of 35 shots (34 percent).
Girls
Greenland 54, West Fork 27
The Lady Pirates slowly pulled away for the big 3A-1 West Conference win against their rivals on Friday.
Greenland (20-2, 9-0 3A-1 West) are now three full games ahead of Cedarville and Elkins, both tied for second place in the league at 6-3. West Fork is now a half-game back at 15-8 overall and 5-3 in the league.
Kim Crown led all scorers with 14 for Greenland, while Kiana Thompson added 13 and McKayla Redmond 10. Dara Smith led West Fork with 11.
Paul Boyd can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @NWAPaulB.
Sports on 01/31/2015