The Rams took a 41-29 lead with 5:50 left in the fourth quarter after a 3-pointer from Kenzie Harding. Southeastern went on a 9-2 run over the next three minutes to close the gap. After a timeout, Greeneview refocused on defense and held the Trojans scoreless through the rest of the game.
“If we’re going to be in games, we’ve got to play defense,” Greeneview coach Tim Hoelle said. “That’s the way our program has always been. We try to focus defensively, because you’re going to have off nights offensively where you have trouble scoring. Our defense has been getting better as the season has went on. In the last two minutes today, we executed perfectly.”
Harding and Frankie Fife each made three foul shots in the fourth quarter to help Greeneview hang on. Harding led the Rams with 14 points, while Fife finished with 13. Fife, a 5-foot-6 point guard, is the team’s leading rebounder and came up with two big rebounds in the final minutes.
Fife and the rest of Greenview’s players were able to contain Southeastern forward Jessica Erwin, who is one of the OHC’s top scorers. Erwin, a 5-11 senior, scored 13 points.
“It’s hard, but we find a way of stopping her,” Fife said of Erwin. “Our defense was definitely the key. We had to eliminate their good players that we knew could score.”
When Southeastern’s good scorers did get the ball, they struggled to find the net. The Trojans had several shot attempts in the last two minutes, but all were misses. Greeneview dominated the boards late and didn’t let Southeastern get any second-chance shots.
“We missed things at the bucket, missed them at the free-throw line and missed some open ones here and there,” Southeastern coach PJ Bertemes said. “Greeneview is if not the best defensive team we play, certainly one of the best we play. They certainly have something to do with us missing shots, but we just don’t score enough points to win these kinds of games.”
Leslie Flores led Southeastern (13-5, 6-3 OHC South) with 14 points.
Greeneview (9-7, 5-3 OHC South) will try to carry momentum from Saturday’s game through the rest of regular season and into the tournament.
“The way we’re playing, I really feel like we can get on a roll heading into the tournament,” Hoelle said. “The biggest thing is to keep getting better as the season goes on, and I’m thrilled that we have done that.”
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