None of the overflow crowd at Jerome Woolsey Gymnasium wanted to leave Saturday night after the North Greene Lady Huskies earned only the school's second-ever trip to the TSSAA State Tournament and the first since 1999.

With a splendid defensive effort and playing with plenty of poise despite the absolute craziness of a home Sub-State game, Coach James Buchanan's squad beat Wartburg Central 62-45 Saturday and will move on to Murfreesboro where they will open the tournament Wednesday morning at 11:00 against Middleton.

"I tried to stress to them they had to have poise under pressure, that they were going to see something they hadn't seen before," an elated Buchanan said after the game. "Not only was the gym packed, but people were hollerin' and screamin' and poise was what it would take. They did it, and I'm just so happy for these girls."

The team had spent the day together, basically locked away inside the friendly confines of their home gym, and Buchanan's strategy seemed to work.

"Actually a lot of credit goes to Larry Ricker (the former South Greene coach, whose teams were regular participants in Sub-State for many years)," Buchanan said. "I spent years over there (at South Greene) and that's how he did it. He would spend all day with them on Saturday leading up to the game. I didn't know what to do because I've never been here, so I did what he used to do. We watched a movie, fed'em lunch, had a walk-through. The kids really enjoyed it."

And his hope that the lack of distractions on this special day would have his team totally focused on basketball worked. The team came out with no nerves showing, jumped to an early lead against Wartburg Central and seemed to have the game in control by halftime with a 33-13 lead.

"We've been here since 11 (this morning)," said senior Dakota White, who scored 13 points and yanked off 11 rebounds in the game. "It was a good idea. It gave us a chance to get focused. Who knows what we would have been doing today otherwise. When we first came out (on the floor for pre-game warmups), it was a little bit of a shock but we got to playing North Greene basketball and everything was OK."

The Huskies applied the heat to the Lady Bulldogs from the outset and they had trouble handling the pressure. Junior Mariah Britton, who led all players in the game with 21 points and five assists, got the squad off to a good start by scoring eight first quarter points to bolt the Huskies to a 15-8 lead. An 18-5 run in the second quarter had the Huskies in command at 33-13.

Wartburg Central had some success in the second half when talented post Crystal Fountain, who scored 19 in the game, touched the ball. But the Huskies made her work for shots, and the constant pressure applied to the Bulldog guards kept them on their heels.

The Huskies never let up in the second half. Shyler Miller, Haley Vaughan, Megan Taylor and Britton hounded the ball-handlers, and it took its toll. The lead grew to as many as 25 points before the Bulldogs closed to 49-27 after three periods.

Buchanan was able to let everybody play in the fourth quarter, and the Bulldogs did slice into the lead, but it didn't matter. The outcome was never in doubt.

When the final horn sounded, the Huskies gathered at one end of the floor to cut down the nets.

"I've only been involved in that one time in my life, and that's when I played at Milligan and we won a championship," Buchanan said. "I remember climbing that ladder to cut the nets and there was no other feeling like that. My coach at Milligan (Tony Wallingford) was here tonight and I appreciate that. I wanted the girls to experience that."

North Greene moves on to the state tournament with a 20-13 record and Buchanan, in his ninth year as coach, was elated.

"My first year here we won five games, and the past two years we've won 20," he said. "We still keep trying to climb. We have a hard time beating the county schools, and winning in the Ladies' Classic. But for a school our size ... we were on the doorstep (of the state) last year, and we knocked that door down this year."