GREENVILLE – The Greenville Green Wave hosted Hall of Fame Night at Greenville High School but came up short in a hard-fought 54-40 non-conference loss to a strong Wapakoneta Redskins squad.
Greenville entered the night riding momentum from a 51-41 MVL road win Friday at Fairborn and showed plenty of fight against a Redskins team that improved to 13-4, with losses only to Lima Shawnee, St. Henry, and Van Wert.
“I told the guys in the locker room that it’s nothing to be ashamed of,” Greenville coach Matt Hamilton said. “We hung with a really good team that is 13-4. We’re starting to play some good ball. Obviously, there are some things we can learn from, but nothing to be ashamed of.”
The Green Wave struck first as Johnny Barr drove to the basket, helping Greenville build a 7-2 lead midway through the opening quarter. Wapakoneta responded with a decisive run, scoring 13 unanswered points to take a 15-7 advantage after one period. Michael McMahon connected from beyond the arc for Greenville, while Barr and David Conway accounted for the Wave’s first-quarter scoring.
“They’re big, talented, and they hit shots,” Hamilton said. “It came down to one run in the first quarter, going into the second — that stretch proved to be the difference.”
Wapakoneta opened the second quarter with another basket to push its lead to double digits at 17-7 before McMahon drained a 3-pointer to snap Greenville’s scoring drought. The Redskins edged the period 13-10, with McMahon hitting his second triple of the half and JiJi Jim knocking down his first of four on the night, sending the teams to the locker room with Wapakoneta leading 28-17.
Greenville matched Wapakoneta point-for-point in the third quarter, playing the frame to a 14-14 draw. JiJi Jim scored 10 of the Wave’s 14 points in the period, burying three 3-pointers and adding a free throw, but the Redskins maintained control with a 42-31 lead heading into the final eight minutes.
“I told JiJi before the game that with Flatter sick and out, this was an opportunity for him to step up,” Hamilton said. “He came in and shot the ball confidently. That was huge, and Landon Noble did a great job as well. Landon wanted the ball inside — both of those guys stepped up.”
Wapakoneta sealed the win by taking the fourth quarter 12-9, closing out the 54-40 victory in a cleanly played game that saw limited fouls called on either side.
“Before the game, we talked about the physicality we were going to see,” Hamilton noted. “When they set a screen, they’re going to set it. When they box out, they’re going to box out. I thought we did a good job matching that.”
Wapakoneta 6’1″ sophomore Trent Lisi led the Redskins with 14 points, while 5’6″ senior JiJi Jim paced Greenville with 13.
“The program continues to turn the corner and show that we’re here to compete and doing some good things,” Hamilton concluded.
BOX SCORE:
WAPAKONETA 54, GREENVILLE 40
WAPAKONETA – T. Lisi 14, R. Richardson 11, E. Black 7, C. Moyer 6, B. Rogers 6, Z. Hower 6, C. Adams 4 – TOTALS 14 5-13 7 54
GREENVILLE – JJ Jim 13, M. McMahon 9, J. Barr 6, D. Conway 4, L. Noble 4, G. Denham 2, I. Kerg 2 – TOTALS 9 4-5 6 40
3-POINTERS
Wapakoneta 7 (T. Lisi 4, R. Richardson 2, B. Rogers 1)
Greenville 6 (JJ Jim 4, M. McMahon 2)
SCORE by QUARTERS
15-13-14-12 54 Wapakoneta
07-10-14-09 40 Greenville
