BY WAYNE PHILLIPS
SPORTS EDITOR
West Greene's girls picked up their first conference win of the year, while the Claiborne boys showed why they are currently the premier team in the Blue Ridge Athletic Conference.
The Lady Buffs knocked off Claiborne 61-52 Monday night, avenging an earlier season loss to the Bulldogs and collecting their first league victory of the campaign. Later, the Claiborne boys rolled with ease to an 81-42 victory over the Buffs to keep their league championship hopes alive.
West Greene closes out their conference season tonight at home to Grainger. They are back at home on Friday night to Cherokee.
FRANKLIN LEADS BUFFS
Lady Buffs sophomore Victoria Franklin had a big night, scoring 19 points and raking in the same number of rebounds as her double-double performance guided her team. Alison Brooks chipped in with 11 points and Kayla Murphy had nine points and seven boards.
Aerial Nickell led Claiborne with 12 points.
The turnover-marred game saw a grand total of 66 floor errors, but despite all the mistakes and throw-aways, the Buffs still had enough firepower to put away the visitors.
West Greene (5-17, 1-10) led 16-6 at the close of one and commanded a 31-17 halftime margin. Franklin scored 10 points in the third and the Buffs improved their lead to 48-32.
Claiborne (8-11, 1-7) tried to rally in the fourth but could get no closer than the final margin of nine points.
Claiborne (52): Taylor 2-4 1-3 5, Aerial Nickell 4-9 4-8 12, Killion 0-3 0-0 0, Hall 4-9 0-1 8, Bussell 1-4 0-1 3, Snodgrass 3-7 1-1 7, Estep 2-10 3-6 8, Bishop 0-4 8-9 8, Bolden 0-1 1-2 1. TOTALS: 16-51 18-31 52.
West Greene (61): K.Murphy 3-5 3-3 9, Haire 2-10 1-2 5, Victoria Franklin 9-12 1-4 19, Alison Brooks 4-9 1-1 11, Turner 1-2 1-2 3, Adams 2-2 0-1 4, Carter 3-5 1-1 8, M.Murphy 1-1 0-0 2. TOTALS: 25-46 8-14 61.
3-Point Goals: Cla-2 (Bussell, Estep). WG-3 (Brooks 2, Carter).
Score by quarters:
Claiborne 6 11 15 20--52
West Greene 16 15 17 13--61
BULLDOGS RED HOT
Claiborne came out on fire at the outset and never let up, knocking down nine 3-pointers in the first half and 12 for the contest as they rolled past the Buffs 81-42.
The Bulldogs scattered their points around. Clark Debusk hit four 3-pointers and finished with 14 points to lead the way. David Sweet scored 11 while 6-6 Dennis Ramsey and Austin Neeley each netted nine points.
Ryan Roberts was high man for the Buffs and the game with 16 points.
Claiborne maintains the conference lead with a 7-1 mark, 11-7 overall, and hit four long shots in the opening quarter as they pulled away to a 17-6 lead. Five more treys hit the bottom of the net in the second frame as the lead ballooned to 46-13 by intermission.
West Greene drops to 4-18 on the year and 1-10 in the conference.
Claiborne (81): David Sweet 4-7 0-0 11, Ramsey 3-9 3-6 9, Harmon 3-4 0-0 7, Clark DeBusk 4-6 2-2 14, Noe 1-2 0-0 3, Atkins 3-5 0-2 8, Neely 4-6 1-2 9, Green 2-2 0-0 4, Mills 4-4 0-0 9, Malone 1-4 0-2 2, Jessee 1-1 0-0 2, Givens 1-1 0-0 2, Estep 0-0 1-2 1. TOTALS: 31-51 7-16 81.
West Greene (42): Dickenson 0-1 0-0 0, Lowery 3-7 0-0 6, Evans 0-1 0-0 0, Ryan Roberts 6-13 3-5 16, McCamey 1-4 0-0 2, Kelley 3-8 1-2 8, Julian 0-4 0-0 0, Myers 2-3 0-0 4, Smyth 0-0 0-0 0, Ramsey 1-4 2-2 4, Rednour 0-3 0-0 0, Day 0-4 0-0 0, Rhinehart 1-3 0-0 2. TOTALS: 17-55 6-9 42.
3-Point Goals: Cla-12 (Sweet 3, Harmon, DeBusk 4, Noe, Atkins 2, Mills). WG-2 (Roberts, Kelley).
Score by quarters:
Claiborne 17 29 21 14--81
West Greene 6 7 21 8--42
