Harrells falters to Greenfield
Dec. 1—It was a barnburner out at the Store on Wednesday when the Greenfield Knights to face the Crusaders of Harrells. High tempo action with clutch shots and powerful drives, ended in a heartbreaker for Harrells. Knights cap win with big three pointer with seconds left to take the win, 69-66.
Greenfield came out hot, leaving Harrells behind in the opening minutes of the game. Quick reaction steals and pass disruption put the Knights in a precarious position, however, with Samiir Gibbs dropping buckets past the perimeter, propelling the Crusaders ahead. Dashaun and Antonio McKoy would each drop a three furthering them from the Knights. They were holding the Crusaders well, but the home team wasn't staying down. The freight train of offense from the Harrells held the visitors in check in the first quarter and the Knights trailed going into the second, 24-15.
The momentum remained in the second and Gibbs recovered a missed three pointer and rushed it back to score to open the quarter. The Crusaders however ran into control issues and Greenfield capitalized on these mistakes. The perimeter was hot as the Knights were able to sink two threes while keeping Harrells out of their paint. They tied it up 26 all. The battle continued and both squads tightened up, making open shots harder to come by. Greenfield had figured out how to handle the ravenous advance from the home squad. A. McKoy broke the lull in action with a highly contended layup under the basket to break the deadlock. By halftime, Harrells held a tenuous lead separated by just a point, 34-33.
Zicarein McNeil and A. McKoy were relentless on the court following the break. McKoy powered his way to the basket and McNeil's dancing into the paint added 12 to their score. Strong defensive play held the Knights to a mere four points. The comfortable lead morphed into a heart racing affair as the Knights woke up and sank a three that would lead to Harrells' lead dwarfed to four. The score remained unchanged until the waning seconds of the third when a rebound from A. McKoy turned into a breakaway for D. McKoy who cleaned it up to end the quarter. Harrells held a six point lead walking into the fourth, 50-44.
The final quarter had everyone on the edge with Greenfield sniping a three closing the gap once more. The Crusaders took the shot in stride and pulled away with ten unanswered, shunting whatever momentum the Knights managed to muster. However, the miscue monster found the Crusaders again and they couldn't seem to find the basket or each other. The opposition had no problems taking the free opportunities and found themselves within striking distance as the Crusaders would only add one point during their run.
The game shifted and Harrells was in trouble with less than five minutes left in the game, the pendulum swung against them Greenfield sank a three uncontested to tie it up. From here, the Knights kept it incredibly close and the Crusaders couldn't gain the separation they had in the previous quarters. A. McKoy managed to breakthrough their rank and file to slip in a slick layup in a crowded lane making it 61-59. Greenfield answered in kind to tie it up again but they weren't done. The Knights broke out and set up on the edge. They nailed a three to silence the home crowd. Harrells answered by still trailed by one before McNeil answered the call with a long snipe from the side and swished the three pointer with 22 seconds on the clock, 65-66. Greenfield played the clock and doggedly drove into the lane for the layup, once more silencing the Crusaders. The Knights played keep away with precision and the Crusaders were powerless as the remaining second drained away, leaving them with the loss, 69-66.
Antonio McKoy led the team in points with 21, going 9-12 on the evening. Dashaun McKoy followed suit with 17 points and raked in five assists. Zicarein McNeil was the rebound leader with seven total and 14 points to his name.
The Crusaders sit at 4-3 as of this writing and following their conference game against the Rocky Mount Eagles on Friday, Dec. 1, they will face off against the Fayetteville Academy Eagles in another round of league play.
Reach Anthony McConnaughey at amcconnaughey@clintonnc.com or on Twitter @SportsSampson
