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RUTLEDGE – Things looked to be going fairly well for the Grainger Lady Grizzlies in their game against 6th-ranked Greeneville Friday night but then disaster struck.

Alyvia Sneed hit a wide-open three-pointer to pull the Lady Grizzlies to within one point at 13-12 with 26 seconds remaining in the first period. Greeneville’s Lindy Carter hit a shot on the other end and then Grainger quickly turned the ball over twice which resulted in baskets as the Lady Greene Devils netted seven points in only 14 seconds. Grainger fell behind 20-12 and never recovered as Greeneville rolled on to a 59-37 win at The Den.

“We hit a big shot and then we absolutely lose our minds,” Grainger head coach Rusty Bishop said of the messy end of the first period. “They get a bucket and then we turn it over on the press and they get an and-one and it seems like for the 15th time, we dribble up the sideline and let them trap the ball and take it from us to shoot another layup. That was the difference in the first half.”

The effects of the seven-point play lingered on into the second period where Grainger only managed five points: a three from Taylee Rutherford and a two-pointer by Maddie Hurst. The Lady Grizzlies were down 32-17 at the half and things didn’t get much better in the third period as Greeneville padded their lead up to 47-19 at one point before Marlee Tanner hit a duo of threes to get the score down to 51-25 at the beginning of the fourth. It was a 12-8 advantage in scoring for Grainger in the final period as Rutherford hit a downtown shot, Hurst had a hoop-and-harm play for three with a two-pointer as well, Adison Hayes hit two free throws as did KatiAnn Dossett to wrap things up in the 59-37 setback. “Greeneville is super talented and our margin for error is so small, we have to do everything correct to beat a team like them. We had a lot of bright spots but at the end of the day, we just didn’t play well enough to win,” Bishop said.

Greeneville (19-6, 7-0) was led in scoring by Chloe Marsh who had 14 points. Carter and Anna Shaw each finished with 12 points for the Lady Devils. Hurst led the Lady Grizz. (11-13, 3-4).

Grainger will host Cosby in a non-district matchup on Monday and then travel to Rogersville on Tuesday for a crucial league matchup with serious post-season implications as the regular season winds down. “We don’t want to play in the play-in game in the first round of the district tournament,” Bishop said. “Also, if we win on Tuesday, we guarantee ourselves a regional berth so that’s a big deal. We know that Cherokee is very talented and with playing Cosby on Monday, we will have very little prep time for Cherokee. We need to get that one on Tuesday.”