GREENVILLE – The Greenville Green Wave turned a one-point halftime deficit into a runaway victory Friday night, using a dominant 45-18 second half to defeat the visiting Piqua Indians 76-50 in Miami Valley League varsity boys basketball action on Senior Night.
Honored prior to the game were Greenville seniors No. 1 JiJi Jim, No. 2 Ethan Flatter, No. 15 Johnny Barr, No. 45 David Conway, and No. 51 Landon Noble.
“Whether it’s basketball or football, they have bought in, and despite our record, they are coming out every night to put all the effort in to do what’s needed,” Greenville coach Matt Hamilton said of his seniors. “We’ve had a lot of games where we were close and didn’t come out on the winning end, but they still show up every night and at practice. That’s leadership showing the younger generation coming up.”
Propelled by Senior Night energy—and with the Greenville football coaching staff seated behind the team bench in support—the Wave quickly erased Piqua’s narrow 32-31 halftime lead and surged to the conference win.
“Well, Landon Noble hit a three and JiJi Jim got a technical—who would have thought that,” Hamilton said with a chuckle. “We’ve talked all season about the type of team we could be with our depth and different guys doing different things. We really showed it tonight. I love it for the seniors to go out with a win like that.”
Piqua opened with a 6-2 lead before Greenville answered with a 13-7 run to take a 15-13 advantage after one quarter. Junior Michael McMahon paced the Wave with five first-quarter points, including a three-pointer, while Ethan Flatter and Johnny Barr added four points each, and Conway chipped in a bucket.
The Indians edged the second period 19-16 to carry their one-point lead into halftime. McMahon scored seven in the quarter, connecting on a field goal and going 5-of-6 at the free-throw line.
“The talk we gave at halftime, down one, we end up winning the half by 27,” Hamilton said. “That’s the intensity we have to play with every night. We’ve been growing game by game, and tonight we put it all together.”
Greenville seized control midway through the third. With the game tied 36-36 at the 5:47 mark, McMahon buried back-to-back three-pointers to spark a decisive run. Moments later, Barr— a First Team All-MVL football wide receiver—electrified the crowd with a two-handed slam dunk that pushed the Wave lead to 44-36.
“Between the dunks and threes, it’s all excitement, and the students feed on it,” Hamilton said. “It’s a lot of fun.”
A Noble finish inside gave Greenville its first double-digit cushion at 46-36, and the Wave closed the quarter ahead 54-41.
“Landon did a great job coming in tonight—he was a force inside,” Hamilton noted.
Jim opened the fourth quarter with a three-pointer to extend the lead to 57-41, and Greenville continued to pull away, outscoring Piqua 22-9 in the final frame. The Wave bench added two more triples in the quarter—Jim’s second three of the night and a 3-pointer from Noble, a First Team All-MVL football offensive lineman.
McMahon led all scorers with 25 points, while Barr added 19 for Greenville.
“He’s put the work in to shoot the ball,” Hamilton said of McMahon. “He hit big buckets at key times. Being able to score from the perimeter opens things up inside for Johnny and David.”
Also in attendance were members of the Greenville football coaching staff supporting Wave football players competing on the hardwood, including Conway, Isaac Kerg, Gage Denham, Barr, Noble, and Cullen Schmidt.
With the Senior Night victory, Greenville showcased the growth, depth, and determination Hamilton has seen building throughout the season—sending its seniors out on a memorable note with a convincing MVL win.
BOX SCORE:
GREENVILLE 76, PIQUA 50
GREENVILLE – M. McMahon 25, J. Barr 19, E. Flatter 9, Landon Nobele7, JiJi Jim 6, I. Kerg 6, J. Male 2, D. Conway 2 TOTALS 18 16-28 8 76
PIQUA – C. Belt 15, Z. Allen 13, J. Hancock 6, O. Sampson 6, J. McMaken 4, A. Bryant 3, G. Sorell 3 – TOTALS 13 6-12 6 50
3-POINTERS
Greenville 7 (M. McMahon 4, JiJi Jim 2, E. Flatter 1, L. Noble)
Piqua 6 (C. Belt 2, O. Sampson 2, Z. Allen 1, A. Bryant 1)
SCORE by QUARTERS
15-16-23-22 76 Greenville
13-19-09-09 50 Piqua
