Sloppy play and a poor offensive showing were too much for the Greenwood High boys basketball team to overcome as visiting Byhalia High School claimed a 67-40 win Saturday night in the second round of the State 4A Tournament.
The Indians (21-9) will face either Louisville or Caledonia in the quarterfinals Tuesday night, while the Bulldogs end their season at 21-11 overall and a Region 3 title to their credit.
“It wasn’t as much Byhalia as it was us. For the second straight game, we just didn’t step up on offense. We missed a lot of shots, easy shots,” said GHS ninth-year head coach Fred Ford, who has compiled a 143-116 overall record during his tenure.
“I told our guys before the game that if we let them hang around, they (Byhalia) would gain confidence. It was 20-20 at the half, but we didn’t match their intensity in the second half.”
Neither team shot the ball well on played extremely well in the first half. Both were hustling on defense and creating turnovers but offenses were struggling.
Byhalia, the Region 1 No. 2 seed, trailed Greenwood 10-9 after the first frame. The Bulldogs scored the go-ahead bucket at the 2:32 mark and neither team scored the rest of the quarter.
The Indians grabbed a 13-12 lead by the 5:24 mark of the second frame, but Greenwood got back-to-back baskets from Marshakie Applewhite and Zacchaeus Moody to go in front 16-13. Byhalia outscored the Bulldogs 7-4 in the final 4:26 to tie the game at 20 headed to the halftime break.
The third period was tight for the first 51/2 minutes as Byhalia only led 28-26 after a bucket by Devontae Darby pulled Greenwood to within two at the 5:22 mark. However, it all fell part for the Bulldogs in the last two minutes.
Byhalia’s pressure defense paid off as the Indians outscored GHS 11-3 to hold a 39-29 advantage going to the fourth period. The Indians pulled out in front 47-29 by the 5:37 mark before Moody scored to end the 8-0 run. Byhalia went on to outscore Greenwood 20-9 in the final five minutes to secure its spot in the next round of the playoffs.
Ra’Mond Tuggles led Byhalia with 15 points. Kavonte Tunstall tacked on 14, and Antwon Parker had 11. Jerrell Brounson had 10 points, and Demetrius Jones finished with eight points.
For Greenwood, Jaydon Nwachi had 11 points, and DeAndre Smith had eight points, five rebounds and four assists. Moody had six points, three assists, three steals and three rebounds, and Applewhite and Quanterius Silas had four points each. Applewhite also had seven boards.
Delta Streets Academy: The Lions had their season come to a halt as they dropped a 69-51 decision to Union Christian in the consolation game of the State A Tournament Saturday at Rebul Academy in Learned.
Delta Streets ends its season at 17-12, while Union Christian moves on to the MAIS Overall Tournament next week as the third seed from Class A.
Union Christian put the game away in the first half as it led 24-4 after the first period and 42-12 at the half. DSA outscored Union 14-12 in the third and 25-15 in the fourth.
Jaylen Jackson led the Lions with 23 points. Qua Fuller notched 13. Leading scorer Braxton Lewis was held to three points, and point guard DJ Alston only had two points.
