GREENVILLE – The Lady Wave defeated the visiting Fairborn Lady Skyhawks 41-34 in Saturday afternoon MVL varsity girls basketball action.
“That’s what this group does,” Greenville coach Shane Hillard said of his team’s unselfish play. “That’s why we’ve made the progress we’ve made. They don’t care who scores, they’re not selfish — they just want to be successful. They want to be pushed, they want to be good, and on any given day, they just want to win. They play together, and that’s one of those things that is so fun to coach because I can just coach them. They do everything together.”
Greenville jumped out to a quick 4-0 lead with a Jayda Lyons layup off the opening tip followed by back-to-back Megan Loudy free throws. An Aubrey Baumgardner three-pointer with 30 seconds remaining in the first quarter helped the Lady Wave take a 14-9 advantage before settling for a 14-12 lead at the end of the period.
Baumgardner paced Greenville in the opening quarter with five points, including a trey, while Lyons added four. Sara Loudy knocked down a three-pointer, and Megan Loudy chipped in two points.
The Lady Wave extended the margin in the second quarter, outscoring Fairborn 12-7. Megan Loudy connected on two three-pointers, Lyons scored on a basket, and Makenzie Legenzoff added a bucket, sending Greenville to halftime with a 26-19 lead.
Greenville continued to build momentum in the third quarter, holding a 9-6 scoring edge. Megan Loudy buried her third three-pointer of the game, Baumgardner and Leah Force each scored inside, and Lyons added two free throws as the Lady Wave pushed the lead to double digits at 35-25 entering the final period.
Fairborn made a late push, taking the fourth quarter 9-6, but Greenville held on to secure the seven-point conference victory. Sara Loudy paced the Lady Wave in the final period with a three-pointer and a free throw, while Lyons added a basket.
“Defensively we’re really good — we give people a hard time,” Hillard said. “Early in the season and even here lately we’ve struggled to score, but the last few games you can see them starting to figure things out offensively and become more comfortable. Once we start scoring the basketball a little bit better, we’re going to be hard to deal with.”
“We’re always going to be in games defensively,” he continued. “They play so hard, they’re usually in the right spots, and we rebound pretty well. If we can score in the 40s, we should always have a chance to win because we don’t give up too many points.”
Fairborn junior guard Jaida Mills led all scorers with a game-high 17 points. The Lady Skyhawks had just three players score, while Greenville placed six players in the scoring column, led by Lyons with 12 points and Megan Loudy with 11.
“She’s just figured out what she’s capable of doing,” Hillard said of Lyons. “She’s a natural athlete, she enjoys what she’s doing, and she plays extremely hard. Nobody is going to play harder than her, and she’s a great teammate. She understands what she needs to do for us.”
First-year Lady Wave coach Hillard — quickly becoming compared to the late Jerry Tarkanian — has also become known for the green towel he carries on the sideline.
“I about chewed a hole in it today,” Hillard joked. “We made some ridiculous turnovers, but we outplayed them. When you can outplay your turnovers, you’re doing okay, but we’re not always going to be able to do that. We have to cut back on them.”
“My towel is like my ninja toy on the sideline,” he added. “I get up and down the sideline, and I’m active. If I’m going to ask them to play hard, I’ve got to coach hard, too. I try to be the sixth player for them.”
BOX SCORE:
GREENVILLE 41, FAIRBORN 34
GREENVILLE – J. Lyons 12, M. Loudy 11, A. Baumgardner 7, S. Loudy 7, L. Force 2, M. Legenzoff 2 – TOTALS 9 5-12 6 41
FAIRBORN – J. Mills 17, 4 B. Kimball 9, 12 A. Jones 8 – TOTALS 7 2-3 6 34
3-POINTERS
Greenville 6 (M. Loudy 3, S. Loudy 2, A. Baumgardner 1)
Fairborn 6 (J. Mills 3, A. Jones 2, B. Kimball 1)
SCORE by QUARTERS
14-12-09-06 41 Greenville
12-07-06-09 34 Fairborn
