Like the girls’ game before, Greenwood came out blazing as the Gators held a 11-4 lead at the 4:36 mark of the first quarter.
But very similar to the Lady Raiders, the Raiders would answer the bell.
Warren East cranked up the defensive pressure to take a 35-26 lead into halftime, and the Raiders held off a furious Greenwood rally late in the game to hang on for a 60-54 victory over the Gators on Monday night.
“We often talk about playing from tip to buzzer and I thought tonight we did that,” Warren East coach Brandon Combs said. “I can’t say enough about the defensive effort that Thomas Maxey, Brevon Whitney and Bryson Wallace gave in the first half. We got back to what I feel like we can be defensively: holding opponents into the fifties.”
The Raiders (11-7, 2-2 District 14) ended the first quarter on a 12-2 run to lead 16-13 after the first eight minutes. East widened the gap even farther and took a 35-26 lead into the locker room thanks to 16 points (four 3-pointers) from Tashawn Neal in the first half.
But Greenwood was far from finished.
The Gators (8-10, 0-5) saw the Raiders build their lead up to 41-30 in the third quarter before Greenwood went on a 10-0 run to end the third quarter—capped off by senior Luke Littrell’s off-balance floater in the lane just before the buzzer.
The fourth quarter is when things became crazy.
By the time the smoke cleared and the final whistle blew, there would be 11 lead changes and two technicals all within a short eight-minute time frame.
Greenwood was leading 44-43 before a technical was called on Chandler Wilson. Whitney made four straight free throws to give the Raiders a 47-44 lead before the Gators scored four unanswered to make it 48-47 Greenwood.
Maxey then gave the lead back to East before Littrell connected on a 3-pointer to give Greenwood a 51-49 lead. Maxey put the ball into the cylinder yet again for the Raiders to force a 51-51 deadlock with 2:28 left in regulation.
Greenwood’s Jack Roberts raised Maxey’s bucket with a trifecta to put the Gators back in front, but that would be Greenwood’s last hurrah — as well as points of the game.
Whitney answered with back-to-back buckets to put the Raiders back in front, and Warren East pulled away for the victory after a steal by Maxey and yet another technical foul was assessed to Greenwood.
Combs had a good deal of praise for the way Whitney stepped up in the clutch despite having a rocky shooting performance early where he shot just 1-of-9 from the field.
“He still competed and did an excellent job for us even when his shot wasn’t falling,” Combs said. “We talk to the kids in practice about what they can control when their shot’s not falling. Well we can control our effort on defense and rebounding. He stepped up as seniors need to do in a big District 14 game and he made some big free throws and baskets for us.”
Whitney finished with 12 points—eight of them coming in the fourth quarter—while Neal had 18. Maxey added nine points in the win. Roberts led Greenwood with 15 points, while Ben Carroll had 13 in the loss.
Warren East will travel to Russellville on Tuesday night before travelling to Greenwood on Friday night for round two.
“It doesn’t get any easier for us,” Combs said. “We turn around and go to Russellville (Tuesday night) before going to ‘The Swamp’ on Friday.”
Meanwhile Greenwood will host Allen County-Scottsville on Tuesday night before the Gators look to get revenge on the Raiders on Friday night.
