South Greene In Semis

BY WAYNE PHILLIPS
SPORTS EDITOR

South Greene has advanced to the semifinals of the Ladies Classic forthe second straight year after beating Wilson Central 61-45 Tuesday night.

The Lady Rebels used their strong defense to make up for some poor shooting from the floor in beating the team that has won the past two Classic titles. Wilson Central dropped the Rebels in overtime in last year's championship game.

South Greene forced the Wildcats into 20 first half turnovers on their way to gaining the upper hand with a 26-14 halftime edge. They quickly spread the lead to 20 early in the third. Wilson Central clawed back to get within 13 with 3:30 left in the period, and had a chance to get closer but missed on a one-plus free throw opportunity.

The Rebs responded with a 3-point play by Shelby Hicks and two more free throws by Hicks to get the lead back to 41-23, and the Wildcats couldn't make another serious run.

Four Rebs were in double figures, led by Hicks with a double-double of16 points and 10 rebounds. Brandi Crum and Maelyn Cutshaw each scored13 and Ansley Ricker added 12. Rechelle Dye was saddled with early foul trouble, but finished with six points, four assists and five steals.

Taylor Peterson had 15 points and nine boards for Wilson Central (6-5). Sydney Vanlandingham added 10 in support.

The Rebs (9-3) shot only 36 percent from the floor but made 26-of-33 foul shots in the contest.

Wilson Central (45): Thomason 2-4 1-2 6, Hall 0-4 2-2 2, Wright 0-2 0-0 0, Taylor Peterson 7-14 0-0 15, Sydney Vanlandingham 2-8 6-8 10, Comer 0-2 0-0 0, Speck 1-2 0-0 2, Hopkins 2-4 0-1 4, R.Bean 3-7 0-1 6, L. Bean 0-0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 17-47 9-14 45.

South Greene (61): Dye 1-6 4-6 6, Ansley Ricker 2-7 7-9 12, Maelyn Cutshaw 4-7 4-4 13, Brandi Crum 3-9 6-8 13, Shelby Hicks 6-14 4-4 16, Renner 0-1 0-0 0, Johnson 0-0 0-0 0, Wilhoit 0-0 0-0 0, Tweed 0-1 1-21, Waddell 0-0 0-0 0, Shipley 0-0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 16-45 26-33 61.

3-Point Goals: WC-2 (Thomason, Peterson). SG-3 (Ricker, Cutshaw, Crum).

Score by quarters:
Wilson Central    5    9    15    16--45
South Greene    11    15    21    14--61