Jeff Davis defense suffocates Greenville
Published 12:00 am Saturday, December 17, 2005
Back in the hey day of when Nolan Richardson coached the Arkansas Razorbacks to a national championship, he called his style of play 󈬘 minutes of Hell.”
Jeff Davis coach Terry Posey has adopted that playing style for his undersized team. It has worked so much so that his club is ranked in the top 10 in Class 6A. It worked so well that his Volunteers (11-1) eased by Greenville to snap the Tigers' three-game winning streak Tuesday night.
Jeff Davis began pressuring the ball from baseline to baseline starting with the opening tap and finally eased off the pressure in the fourth period when the Vols had the game well in hand before settling for a 86-52 victory.
“We like to play people 94 feet and hope to wear them down with our press,” Posey said.
It certainly worked against Greenville.
The Tigers (5-3) had too many turnovers just from the pressure and could not rebound like they had against other teams earlier in the season.
Jeff Davis jumped out to a 21-14 lead at the end of the first period and settled in for a comfortable double-digit advantage by intermission that was never of jeopardy.
Greenville's best game has come in the second half in the last four games, but this time Victor Smith's club could not overcome the Vols' constant pressure.
“We just had way too many unforced turnovers,” Smith said. “We have seen this type of pressure before, but we have not turned the ball over as much as we did tonight. If we don't have as many turnovers tonight, it's a different ballgame.”
Varezz Ward led Jeff Davis with 26 points, while Courtney Fortson added 20.
Demetrius Posey led Greenville with 14 points, while Josh Hawkins came off the bench to add 12.
While the Greenville boys team faced a pressure defense that just suffocated the Tigers, the Greenville girls team was held scoreless for an entire period by the state's No. 1-ranked team en route to a 42-point defeat.
Jeff Davis held the Lady Tigers scoreless in the opening period to jump out to a 30-point advantage before Greenville even scratched the scorebook. The Lady Tigers netted their first 2 points of the game with 5:50 left before intermission before settling for a 46-7 deficit at the half.
Brittany Thomas led Jeff Davis with 21 points, while Latonda Bruce added 10.
Kendra Mitchell paced Greenville with 14 points.