The Greene County boys basketball team’s season ended Feb. 13 with a 64-55 loss to the Southeast Valley Jaguars in the first round of Class 2A District 12 post-season play. The Rams finished with a 7-16 record. The Jags improved to 8-14 and will move on to play the 20-1 Titans of South Central Calhoun in the district final.
The Rams played well in the first half, building a 15-14 lead after one quarter to a 28-22 lead at intermission. Trey Hinote, the only senior on the team, scored 14 points with four 3-point baskets and a field goal. Carter Morton made three 3-point baskets and a field goal for 11 points in the half.
The Rams committed six turnovers in the first half. They committed seven turnovers in the third quarter, some of them unforced. The Rams built their lead to 11 points, 33-22, early in the quarter, but between the turnovers, missed uncontested lay-ups, and the Jags’ ability to hold Hinote to only three points, the quarter ended with the Rams up by two points 44-42.
The Rams turned the ball over seven more times in the fourth quarter. In the first 3:15 of play the Jaguars scored eight unanswered points to take a 50-44 lead. Morton made a pair of free throws for the Rams’ only points in the first four minutes of the quarter. The Rams were down 56-46 when Hinote scored a field goal with 1:43 to play. Morton hustled and stole the ball three times in close succession, but the Rams weren’t able to capitalize on any of them. Tyler Miller made one of two free throws, Morton made one of two at the line, and Hinote made a field goal and his final 3-point basket of his high school career. Hinote’s tres was the last score of the game.
The Jaguars committed their share of turnovers at 17. Both teams took 58 shots from the floor. The Jags made 24 of them for 41 percent shooting and the Rams made 18 for 31 percent. The Jags made seven of 23 from 3-point range for 30.4 percent while the Rams made 10 of 29 for 34.4 percent.
With more help scoring the outcome of the game may have been different. Hinote finished with 24 points, scoring 18 of them from afar and six of them in 2-point range. Morton scored 23 points with four 3-point baskets, three 2-point baskets, and five free throws. Miller scored five points, three of them at the free throw line, John Rosado added a field goal and Xavier Hayes made a free throw.
The Rams will have four very experienced seniors for the 2019-20 campaign. Morton and Nick Breon started in every game in which they played this season, and Cael Fisher, Rosado and Miller all had considerable playing time. Miller was ineligible to play until mid-January due to his open enrollment status.
