FRANKLIN — Greenwood guard Jack Roberts did not score a single point through the first three quarters, but he would step up when it mattered most.
The junior scored seven points in the fourth quarter as his Gators erased a late five-point deficit, and in overtime he pulled up and banked in a 10-footer to give Greenwood a thrilling 48-46 overtime victory over Franklin-Simpson on Thursday night.
“I didn’t do so hot in the first three quarters,” Roberts said. “I just decided that I need to stop playing like that and step up.”
The Gators (1-0) not only picked up a win in their season opener but they were also able to avenge two losses to the Wildcats last season despite having the odds stacked against them.
“It is a very young and inexperienced team that we have out here but it’s a really gutsy team that just fights the entire time,” Greenwood coach Bob Pels said. “We are brutally undersized but we just switch up our defenses and we are very unselfish.”
Trailing 39-34 with just over a minute in regulation, the Gators cut the deficit to one after a putback by sophomore Ben Carroll and a layup in transition from Roberts. Senior Luke Littrell then knocked down one-of-two free throws to tie it up before Franklin Simpson sophomore Dayveon Harris missed a game-winning putback by inches on the last play of regulation.
Both sides battled back and forth in the overtime period until the Gators had the ball with 25 seconds left.
Roberts then made the play that ultimately decided the game, pulling up off the dribble and banking in the game-winner on the right side with just 3.4 seconds left.
Franklin-Simpson (0-2) had a chance to win the game once again, but sophomore DeMarco Chatman’s three-pointer from the left wing fell a couple of feet short.
Even though it was crunch time, Roberts said that he did not feel the pressure.
“I just had the confidence to pull up and make it, Roberts said. “I saw the defense was collapsing and I was like ‘I can’t go in there and get a charge’ so I pulled up and hoped for the best.”
But while Roberts made the shot that ultimately decided the game, the Gators made multiple gut-check shots to leave Franklin with a victory.
“Three or four times we needed a big shot in that game,” Pels said. “It wasn’t just one guy (Roberts). It was just whoever was open takes the shot.”
Littrell led the Gators with 17 points, while Roberts added nine points—all of them coming in the fourth quarter and overtime.
Senior Dee Ragland led Franklin-Simpson in the loss with 15 points (four three-pointers), and fellow seniors Alex Gilbert and Dayveon Harris each had 12.
The Wildcats fell to 0-2 for the first time since Dec. 2013, and Franklin-Simpson will look to rebound at Clinton County on Friday night.
Greenwood will also make a road trip tomorrow, travelling to Glasgow to take on the Scotties.
“It’s going to be the same type of game and we’re going have to work hard,” Pels said. “We’re going to have to work hard every night because there’s not a single game that we can go into thinking ‘Okay, we have this one.”
