[wpbvideo id=”863089″]
By Scott Vanscoy (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
The Greenwood Blue Jays (17-5) traveled to Crane on Friday night to take on the Pirates (16-5) in a game that was added to the schedule late the night before. Both teams are ranked #2 in the Coaches Poll in their respective classes so a good contest was expected. The Blue Jays had their full squad in the game and Crane was missing a key player in Brecken Vaught, out with an injury.
Crane outworked Greenwood in the first quarter but still trailed by one, 17-16. Crane’s defense was stifling and the Blue Jays couldn’t get things working. Crane used a balanced attack with five guys scoring in the quarter.
In the second quarter, fatigue started to set in as the Pirates got into some foul trouble and Greenwood started hitting their shots. Greenwood’s lead swelled to 14 at one point in the second quarter before Crane managed to cut the lead to just seven at the half, 45-38.
The second half started off with Greenwood running the fast break and gaining the momentum which they would not lose the rest of the game. A couple of dunks and offensive rebounds saw Greenwood start to pull away from Crane. The Blue Jays led after the third quarter, 78-60. The pace of the game never slowed down until the last two minutes when the reserves were put in to play. Even then, the reserves pushed the ball. When the dust had settled, Greenwood came away with the win, 100-81.
CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS OF THE GAME
“It was an unexpected game; we found out around 8 pm last night that we were playing so we had to prepare quickly,” said Crane senior Isaiah Smith. “We did what we could and it just didn’t come out our way. We knew they were more athletic, more physical, so we knew that we had to figure a way out. They started running and we were getting gassed there towards the end. They are a really good athletic team that can run and finish well.”
Georgetown signee Aminu Mohammad had a game-high 34 points to lead Greenwood. Many times he led the fast break, dishing off to his teammates for the layup.
“It was pretty good; being able to play was fun for us,” said Mohammad. “The Crane team gave us all they’ve got, and they have a pretty good team. We’ve not been playing for a long time; it’s great to see guys running up and down the floor. We play well when we run the open floor. That’s very important for us and we’ve got to keep it like that.”
Crane’s coach Kevin Smith was impressed with his team’s effort and hopes to build on what was learned in this loss.
“It was a good pick-up game for us,” said Smith. “Coach Taylor does a great job at Greenwood and we saw last night that we could pick them up. I thought the game, their physicality, size and length, would help us as we try to push ahead and get better. Something about Crane kids, we look to play good people, tough people, all the time; we don’t shy away from competition. We showed tonight that we have a lot of guys that can shoot and score, so you’ve got to be aware of a lot of players for us. We hate to lose but not a lot of people are going to want to play Greenwood right before districts in Class 2. Hopefully it helps us to juice us up for districts next week.”
Due to weather and quarantines, Greenwood hasn’t practiced much and played just one game since Jan. 30, so coach Darren Taylor didn’t know what to expect tonight.
“I though offensively we looked really sharp,” said Taylor. “Defensively, we didn’t look so sharp but that’s something we can work on. Early in the game they outworked us; they got to too many loose balls and knocked the ball out of our hands too many times. We got stronger with the ball there in the second half and were able to get the ball out and moving. Obviously, we have more size and our post players do such a great job, they play so hard. Like I said, they outworked us the first quarter and after that we came to life a little bit. Being out for two weeks, I think that was part of the slow start, I mean that has to be part of it, I’m sure, but I thought the kids responded well after the first quarter.”
After the game, Crane senior Isaiah Smith was honored as the new all-time career assist leader in Crane Pirate basketball history.
Greenwood—Grant Harper-8, Tommy Pinegar-6, Victory Naboya-25, Kaden Stuckey-6, Ryan Gibbons-8, Aminu Mohammed-34, Nic Burri-14
Crane—Aric Spyres-9, Isaiah Smith-20, Taylor Calzaretta-12, Zander Mayne-16, Tanner Graham-2, Nolan Brawley-2, Aidan Vaught-18, Seth Steele-2
Greenwood 17 28 33 23 100
Crane 16 22 22 21 81
